John Douglas, former FBI Special Agent and former head of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, offers this fascinating insight into the work of serial killer profiling and psychological analysis to re-construct gruesome murders.

Throughout each chapter, Douglas shares details of the cases he has worked on as well as offering pro-active advice on how to protect your children from pedophiles and stalkers. He delves in great detail into the case of a raped and murdered US Marine and he also offers his own analysis of the OJ Simpson murder trial and how he sees in his own mind the murders of Simpson's wife and friend occurring. He basically re-constructs the crime based on the clues and evidence left behind by the killer. Douglas then pronounces who he thinks the killer is.

Douglas comes across in the book as a rather right-wing kind of person. He scoffs at the idea of forgiveness, redemption and second chances for criminals. He dismisses the potential usefulness of therapists and psychiatrists in trials saying that you can't excuse a killer's actions by the fact he had a bad childhood. Douglas also shows strong support for the death penalty. I guess in his line of work, you see a lot of gruesome things which hardens you and makes you less inclined to forgive someone for a crime they committed.

Finally we hear Douglas' views on the long drawn out appeals process in the US and how death row inmates can delay their executions for up to 20 years.

Throughout the book, we are gradually introduced to other members of the Investigative Support Unit and we follow some investigations that the other unit members carried out, on behalf of other police forces and law enforcement agencies. Each crime scene is analysed, conclusions are drawn and then we see at the end when the guilty person is brought to justice how each of the conclusions turned out to be true. This shows that behavioural science and criminal profiling has a big, important and prominent place in police work and it has helped to put many dangerous criminals on Death Row or prison for life.

Overall an excellent, well researched and well-written book. This is a kind of a sequel to Douglas' previous book "Mindhunter" which I am now going to buy. All in all, a fascinating insight into crime solving and the inner workings of the FBI at Quantico. If you have any interest in criminology, this book is definately for you. Highly recommended! ( )

John Douglas's follow-up to the fascinating Mindhunter isn't quite as good, but still provides compelling reading for those interested in true crime stories, especially serial killers. Douglas, who pioneered profiling, is obviously bursting with knowledge -- this book's style, much like Mindhunter, is almost manic, reflecting Douglas's passionate desire to communicate the ugly realities of real murders and murderers.

One interesting note: Douglas does his own profile of the killer of two young people in a Brentwood, CA home in 1995 (i.e. Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman). His conclusion? The guilty party just might have been a former NFL star . . . . ( )

If you ever wanted to know how to profile a murder scene, you will learn it here. ( )

A good quick read but not as good as I had hoped. Meandered from topic to topic for a number of chapters. ( )