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Rating: 
Summary: It might have a purpose for some, but not me
Review: Although most reviewers of this book have given it excellent scores I am afraid that I will have to break the trend. Had it not been for the coverage of the Richard Trenton Chase case (a delusional psychotic who killed his victims and then drank their blood because he though his own was turning to powder) and a few other interesting accounts this book includes I would have gave it two stars. For starters the premise of this book is that you join a classroom of aspiring criminal profilers. While some of the discussion its entertaining, at many times it leaves the reader feeling like they are sitting in a classroom. Do you find sitting in a classroom fun? This book does not probe the depths of human depravity and the minds of the depraved as the title might imply. It merely gives accounts of depravity and then challenges the reader to find out what of the offenders personality was reflected in the crime before revealing the answer. I would not call this book terrifying but would rather say "shocking". It does not create in the reader a feeling of fear for the hapless and helpless victims of crime but instead just gives you in your face gory accounts of crimes and crime scenes. I suppose I have ragged on this book enough now and can shed light on its good side and give my opinion as to who would benifit from this book. As said earlier this book includes an engaging account of the Richard Trenton Chase case and does have a few insights into the dynamics of the criminal mind. It also provides plenty of info as to how an offenders personality will be reflected in his/her crime scene. I would say that this book would be good for those involved or who wish to be involved in police work, investigations or profiling but not many others. If you are a detective and wish to test your IQ as a sleuth (or to build it up) then go for it. I will put it this way- think of the game of chess. Now think of a chess player and a non chess player. The chess player will undoubtedly be absorbed into a book like "Chess Tactics for Tournament Players" because chess is something he is into and he desires to know more, however the non chess player will be quite bored and unentertained by the same book. The same thing applies to this book. If you are an aspiring profiler then this will definitely entertain and better prepare you for your line of work. On the other hand, if you are just your average true crime fan and are looking for in depth interesting tales of criminals, their life stories and captures the look elsewhere. Robert Resslers Whoever Fights Monsters or I Have Lived in the Monster will whet your criminal profiling appetite without sounding like a seminar.
Rating:
Summary: Great content, miserable presentation--
Review: As a student of forensic psychology I found the content informative, fascinating, and a great take-off point for further research and study. However, I must take GREAT issue with the manner in which this book was authored. Apparently an editor's pen has never been set to this manuscript in that it was one of the most poorly written books I have ever had to fight through. Replete with spelling and grammatical errors, confusing and clumsy fake-verbatim dialogue, I found the writing obscured the subject more than illuminated it. All in all, this is an annoying, rambling and tangential third-person account of what should have been an exciting, concise first-person narrative. My advice: Read it for the information, but if ever you need a ghost writer yourself, avoid the one chosen by Mr. Vorpagel.
Rating: 
Summary: a profile in stellar crime-fighting
Review: I believe I've read all the books by Douglas, Ressler, and all the others writing about psychological profiling, yet I still found this an absorbing and fascinating book. Vorpagel presents a number of cases in which the crime scene is not always what it appears to be, and the unexpected (but plausible) explanations are more surprising than the rabbit-out-of-the-hat endings of 99.9% of crime fiction. The story of the training exercise in Chapter 7 alone is worth the price of the book. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: a profile in stellar crime-fighting
Review: I believe I've read all the books by Douglas, Ressler, and all the others writing about psychological profiling, yet I still found this an absorbing and fascinating book. Vorpagel presents a number of cases in which the crime scene is not always what it appears to be, and the unexpected (but plausible) explanations are more surprising than the rabbit-out-of-the-hat endings of 99.9% of crime fiction. The story of the training exercise in Chapter 7 alone is worth the price of the book. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating
Review: If you are interested in the whys and hows here it is. When this man decided to put pen to paper he decided to let us into the deserted corridors of the killers mind. Upfront, in your face, and right on the mark. If this is the first book you buy on this subject than you are starting with the best.
Rating:
Summary: Russell Vorpagel's Profiles In Murder
Review: In this engrossing book Russell Vorpagel instructs a class in death investigation. He uses some known (and some no-so-known) cases to teach his class (and the reader) about some of the intricacies of death investigation, which include critical thinking in solving cases in profiling. One of the major strengths of this book is Vorpagel's use of a myriad of cases to demonstrate his points. His instruction to his class followed by a case study demonstrates his points in full detail. This book is "must read" for anyone interested in death investigation and profiling.
Rating:
Summary: Russell Vorpagel's Profiles In Murder
Review: In this engrossing book Russell Vorpagel instructs a class in death investigation. He uses some known (and some no-so-known) cases to teach his class (and the reader) about some of the intricacies of death investigation, which include critical thinking in solving cases in profiling. One of the major strengths of this book is Vorpagel's use of a myriad of cases to demonstrate his points. His instruction to his class followed by a case study demonstrates his points in full detail. This book is "must read" for anyone interested in death investigation and profiling.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Emotions
Review: While reading this book I had mixed emotions,(kinda like watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your new Mercedes). To begin with, I loved certain aspects of this book. On the other hand, the editing was horrid! This book leaves no doubt about the expertise of Mr. Vorpagel's knowledge and ability as a criminal profiler and it is written in a unique format. It is presented as if Mr. Vorpagel is teaching a "light" course on criminal profiling to a class of 28 students, however, he only designates 4 class members as actual participants that he communicates with in a question and answer forum that encompasses a two-week long course. He picks two women and two men. The first woman is Asian, a public defender from Fresno; the second, a Latino,
works with the California Dept. of Corrections. The first man, described as pale-faced, is with the Sacramento District Attorney's Office; and finally, a young African-American patrolman from San Francisco. I assume he presents it in this manner to keep the confusion to a minimum. For the most part, it works, but I would still get confused from time to time, as to who was doing the talking. I attribute this to poor writing. Another plus in dealing with a small group of people is that you get to know the varied personalities and you feel like you are part of the class.
Another thing I liked about the presentation was that Mr. Vorpagel teaches by example. I found this to be a very precise way to make his points and he took them case-by-case, one at a time. In this way, I felt that I came away from each example with the maximum amount of knowledge, understanding and retention. It also made the reading much more exciting and the book much harder to put down. As I mentioned, there are some flaws in this book, and a few are glaring, but in the overall picture, the "good" outweighs the "bad" and I would still highly recommend it. I know that I learned a great deal from reading it.
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