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spyder_trauma_rose's review against another edition
4.0
A book on serial killers written by a particularly disgusting murderer. The analysis of the killers themselves is well thought out and frankly honest, but the opening few chapters are an exercise in trying to drag other down to his own level as he imparts his thoughts on society and humans as a whole.
themodvictorian's review against another edition
Strange, strange book. Very interesting, if nothing else.
cdvalentine's review against another edition
1.0
A book about serial killers by a serial killer sounds intriguing, but what can you hope to find here? Something that will help catch them? Possibly prevent them? Ian Brady doesn't have any extraordinary insight for you. Nothing new; nothing helpful unless you want to delve into the thoughts of a narcissist psychopath. Filled with inaccuracies, Brady's analysis of varies serial killers tells more about himself than his subjects.
He waffles on about 'moral relativity', which is only brought up by those who want to commit atrocities and think they're smart enough to confuse people. In order for a society to function and thrive, there has to be core principles and values that everyone agrees upon or else all chaos ensues. Morality serves a purpose for society, and has some stable principles throughout different cultures. It's pretty clear raping and murdering children to get off is wrong. Brady's claim he doesn't see it as such falls flat when we understand his crimes were intended to violate morals in the most abominable way possible, thus unintentionally acknowledging he knew his actions were wrong.
Blaming society and politicians and war, Brady attempts and fails to portray serial killers as mistreated antiheroes fighting the establishment... I guess by raping and murdering? Not sure how that works, and I doubt Ian Brady did either.
He waffles on about 'moral relativity', which is only brought up by those who want to commit atrocities and think they're smart enough to confuse people. In order for a society to function and thrive, there has to be core principles and values that everyone agrees upon or else all chaos ensues. Morality serves a purpose for society, and has some stable principles throughout different cultures. It's pretty clear raping and murdering children to get off is wrong. Brady's claim he doesn't see it as such falls flat when we understand his crimes were intended to violate morals in the most abominable way possible, thus unintentionally acknowledging he knew his actions were wrong.
Blaming society and politicians and war, Brady attempts and fails to portray serial killers as mistreated antiheroes fighting the establishment... I guess by raping and murdering? Not sure how that works, and I doubt Ian Brady did either.
mst3kmoxie's review
5.0
While I know my appreciation for this book is not something the average person would understand, I found this amazingly insightful. Regardless of how you feel about Brady, or the idea of serial killers in general, there is no doubt this work exposes some dark thoughts and ideas that while we might like to pretend don't exist, are worth pondering. I've always believed that anyone is capable of anything given the right circumstances, and this book raises the question of how easily the right circumstances can come about.
An extremely insightful view into the human - not just "criminal" - mind.
An extremely insightful view into the human - not just "criminal" - mind.
molesworth's review
1.0
This book sucked. Hardly any interesting insight into serial killing even though its by a serial killer. Also poor taste? ALSO I read the updated version with an afterword by Peter Sotos which was unreadable. Who the fuck breaks up their sentences with unnecessary periods?? Does he know that makes it hard to follow and doesn't add emphasis like he thinks it does? WHERE IS THE EDITOR?? Hard pass.
imrath's review against another edition
This book is unreadable and has nothing to offer. As Peter Sotos writes in the afterword that Brady objected to:
First off, you don't ask a child molester to write a book on serial killing. ... Because the child rapist and murderer and pornographer will obviously lie. ... He can adopt the dime-a-dozen serial killer front of puffed-up superiority, all from his tiny cell, and serve the typical cold dish of chest-beating mental clarity over personal introspection.
First off, you don't ask a child molester to write a book on serial killing. ... Because the child rapist and murderer and pornographer will obviously lie. ... He can adopt the dime-a-dozen serial killer front of puffed-up superiority, all from his tiny cell, and serve the typical cold dish of chest-beating mental clarity over personal introspection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Death, Blood, Violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
chelsea_mh's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, but really struggled with the writing style of Sotos who provided the afterword.
uti_survivor's review
3.0
a mixed bag! the foreward and introduction both fellate Brady to a mind-numbing degree, and i'd recommend a quick explainer on Brady and Hindley's crimes in its place as it offers pretty much nothing but myth-making that Brady doesn't really deserve. the text itself is pretty good, when Brady isn't going off on how great he is he actually makes decent cases for moral relativism and rightly implicates class power structures as the exogenous factors beneath serial sexual murder, and some of his forensic analysis is quite interesting. as you can guess, i really enjoyed the Peter Sotos afterword, which acts as a fine foil to the rest of the book by reminding you of Brady's cowardice, the things he's afraid to reveal in his grandoise text, and the real and not rhetorical impact of his crimes on the families of his victims.