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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
This book was the January non-fiction selection for the book club I run on Goodreads.com for fans of the My Favorite Murder podcast. Fans of the show Mindhunter on Netflix may recognize bits of this book from the show (as well as the book of the same name, obviously). This should not be surprising since both Ressler and John Douglas, the author of Mindhunter were founding members of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico and have traveled extensively interviewing some of America's most brutal murderers as well as giving training seminars to Law Enforcement Officers in the hopes that serial murders and stranger murders will be easier to identify and solve.
Ressler gives details of his early life in the military and then the FBI. The post Hoover years were a time of change and he found himself having to do a balancing act between following Bureau protocol and plowing head using the adage "it's better to get forgiveness than permission." But the effectiveness of criminal profiling as a law enforcement tool proved to be undeniable. By the 1990s, FBI profilers had a someone glamorous, if not entirely accurate image in pop culture. He also relates some of his interviews with some of the most infamous American serial killers and uses the lessons learned from them to illustrate some of the major points in criminal profiling. Where the book falters, in my view is in Ressler's arrogance. Granted, a certain arrogance is probably required to buck FBI tradition and go full steam ahead with a program that was unheard of at that point. But it would have been nice to hear about times when Ressler had been wrong about something or how he'd learned from past mistakes instead of how he was constantly showing up other profilers and local experts.
Overall this book gave me a greater understanding of the evolution of the Behavioral Science Unit and how criminal profiling developed as a discipline. Many of the anecdotes can be seen in the show Mindhunter but there is lots of new information in there. Despite the title, there is never indication that Mr. Ressler ever had any concerns about becoming a monster of the Abyss staring back at him. It lacks the ingredient that all great memoirs contain; a dose of humility and self examination.
Ressler gives details of his early life in the military and then the FBI. The post Hoover years were a time of change and he found himself having to do a balancing act between following Bureau protocol and plowing head using the adage "it's better to get forgiveness than permission." But the effectiveness of criminal profiling as a law enforcement tool proved to be undeniable. By the 1990s, FBI profilers had a someone glamorous, if not entirely accurate image in pop culture. He also relates some of his interviews with some of the most infamous American serial killers and uses the lessons learned from them to illustrate some of the major points in criminal profiling. Where the book falters, in my view is in Ressler's arrogance. Granted, a certain arrogance is probably required to buck FBI tradition and go full steam ahead with a program that was unheard of at that point. But it would have been nice to hear about times when Ressler had been wrong about something or how he'd learned from past mistakes instead of how he was constantly showing up other profilers and local experts.
Overall this book gave me a greater understanding of the evolution of the Behavioral Science Unit and how criminal profiling developed as a discipline. Many of the anecdotes can be seen in the show Mindhunter but there is lots of new information in there. Despite the title, there is never indication that Mr. Ressler ever had any concerns about becoming a monster of the Abyss staring back at him. It lacks the ingredient that all great memoirs contain; a dose of humility and self examination.
There’s a bit too much of the author telling us how great he is for my taste. A little humility would have made this a much more satisfying read. Really, if you took out all the robert ressler accolades, you’d be left with a pretty good, though brief, look inside the cases of several specific serial killers. As it stands, you’ll really appreciate reading this if you happen to be robert ressler’s mother; the rest of us can surely find the interesting bits online.
Robert Kessler had a long career with the FBI. He coined the term "serial killer" and was instrumental in creating the Behavioral Sciences Unite and in perfecting the science and art of profiling. He could also be credited with helping the FBI and state and local police departments work better together.
This book included his journey in the FBI. Additionally, it includes the cases he came across and the serial killers he personally met and interviewed. An excellent, interesting, and informative read, and one that I will definitely read again.
This book included his journey in the FBI. Additionally, it includes the cases he came across and the serial killers he personally met and interviewed. An excellent, interesting, and informative read, and one that I will definitely read again.
I very much appreciate Ressler’s honesty and empathy, like when he states his objection to putting the mentally ill in prison or jail instead of a hospital. Ressler’s pioneering work with the FBI is fascinating as is that of John Edward Douglas (I thought Ressler’s offhand description of Douglas was pretty funny as it’s very much how they are portrayed in things like Mindhunter.) Both of their books are fascinating in spite of the writing.
It’s worth noting that Ressler insists that profiling is more an art than a science. There was a part of this book that gave me chills, and it involved the judicial system not the criminals. While discussing the Roscetti case, Ressler references the Central Park Five as an example of justice done right. Even though I knew this book came out in the early 1990s I still had to read that a few times as a disturbing glimpse into history. I still couldn’t move on. I decided to look up the the Roscetti case: The four that were arrested and convicted were exonerated long after this book was published. While I don’t place the blame of wrongful convictions on profilers, this was an unintentionally enlightening part of the book.
It’s worth noting that Ressler insists that profiling is more an art than a science. There was a part of this book that gave me chills, and it involved the judicial system not the criminals. While discussing the Roscetti case, Ressler references the Central Park Five as an example of justice done right. Even though I knew this book came out in the early 1990s I still had to read that a few times as a disturbing glimpse into history. I still couldn’t move on. I decided to look up the the Roscetti case: The four that were arrested and convicted were exonerated long after this book was published. While I don’t place the blame of wrongful convictions on profilers, this was an unintentionally enlightening part of the book.
challenging
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Kidnapping
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Stalking
This book was interesting to a point.
While the author is not as egotistical and self-inflated as John Douglas, he still very clearly feels himself to be of utmost important and better than others.
The book is informative and well written, once you get past the ego.
Also, does he not realize fiction is exactly that…. Fiction. It’s not supposed to be super accurate and HE doesn’t really get a say in how a movie is made or chooses what would change the story line or not. I got the impression he was somehow offended at his lack of involvement in the movie Silence of the Lambs. But he’s very clearly super proud of his work with authors and consultanting.
He knows his shit, so to some degree, I suppose it’s okay.
While the author is not as egotistical and self-inflated as John Douglas, he still very clearly feels himself to be of utmost important and better than others.
The book is informative and well written, once you get past the ego.
Also, does he not realize fiction is exactly that…. Fiction. It’s not supposed to be super accurate and HE doesn’t really get a say in how a movie is made or chooses what would change the story line or not. I got the impression he was somehow offended at his lack of involvement in the movie Silence of the Lambs. But he’s very clearly super proud of his work with authors and consultanting.
He knows his shit, so to some degree, I suppose it’s okay.
informative
reflective
tense
There is a friend of mine who is fascinated with the whole concept of serial killers and we have had long conversations about this topic. A few questions we endlessly debate are : What factors create a serial killer ? Why is society so fascinated with them ? For all their morbid and brutal history, why do people flock to read true crime books, fictional accounts and movies about these characters ? Even after brooding over this for a while now, we have not really arrived at a satisfactory answer to these questions. This was when Mindhunter aired on Netflix and we both discovered Robert Ressler and his book.
When the cover of a book says : ” My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI”, then I did feel the urge to look for some answers or interpretations here. My interest was not entirely misplaced since the author has some fantastic credentials : he is often credited to have coined the usage “serial killer”, served as an adviser for Thomas Harris while the latter was creating a bare bones outline for Hannibal Lecter, has had face time and multiple interviews with many ruthless serial killers etcetera. But all considered, I still did not have a lot of answers to the questions that brought me to the book and subject matter in the first place.
Not many people can really talk about serial killers and their perverse relationships with humanity in the depth that Robert Ressler can. This is since he has had a career spanning time with the Army and the FBI and was one of the pioneers of employing psychological profiling to track down serial killers. The tone of the book is very much akin to what a professional would write – to the point, concise and clinically detached. In other words, Ressler does not sensationalize his subject even when he had ample opportunities and resources to do so. Even the most grotesque details of the savagery of the murders are mentioned as a law enforcement professional would have and the approach is to always understand why the said killer would have resorted to this behaviour. The author having been one of the forerunners of the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) in the US also does extensive conversations with incarcerated serial murderers which sheds some light into the minds of these apprehended criminals. Ressler’s classification of the criminal mind is broadly into the organized (planned, canny, adaptive killers) and the disorganized (no effort to cover trails, violent and erratic behaviour patterns etc.) is illustrated by numerous examples that he brings up during the book. Maybe it is the celebrity aspect of these infamous killers but he does extensively take case studies from the lives of Charles Manson, Ed Kemper, Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy more than most others in the book. It is equal parts fascinating and terrifying to behold such labyrinthine minds.
The aspects of this book that did not sit well with me were :
Women : Ressler mentions as an aside and devotes maybe half a page to the topic of female serial killers. Granted that there have not been as many women serial murderers as men but then this would have made a great inclusion into the book. Ressler dissects the psychological undercurrents of men and gives insights into what may have driven some of them along the point of no return and that begs the question, why are there not many women serial killers ? What aspects of their psyche could be different ? It might be too vast a topic but an inclusion of this argument would have made this more well-rounded.
Does not age too well : The book closes by the mid 90’s and there has not been any revisions ever since. This means that the cases discussed and debated close by the time the law apprehends Jeffrey Dahmer. The world has changed significantly in a myriad of ways in the last 27 plus years and how has this changed crime ? Perhaps I am asking too much and this is material for another book.
Americanized : This is a no brainer, being an FBI agent it is only natural that Ressler would stick to the geography he knows best which is the US of A. However, a quick glance around tells you that there have been serial killers in almost every part of the world. So how different are the mentalities of these individuals ? What social, cultural or demographic factors would have caused these individuals to jump off the precipice ?
“I am good and I know it” : Any memoir is about beating your own drum but a skillful writer knows how to mix this along with the events that he/she is describing so that the reader does not feel the narrative to be disjointed. From all that I have written here, it is quite easy to understand that Ressler is a very intelligent and efficient professional and it would have been great to leave it at that. In his version of the stories though he goes a few steps further and congratulates himself every now and then. I did notice these and let a few such instances pass by when I finally reached a point where he had mentioned verbatim a letter of commendation in his name that was sent to the FBI director ! It doesn’t get more explicit than this fellow readers !
All considered, if you are keen to understand the details of the criminal mind and especially of the serial killer kind then this would be a good albeit dated work. The questions that my friend and I were debating has now attained new perspectives but not answered yet. We better get back to our discussion !
When the cover of a book says : ” My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI”, then I did feel the urge to look for some answers or interpretations here. My interest was not entirely misplaced since the author has some fantastic credentials : he is often credited to have coined the usage “serial killer”, served as an adviser for Thomas Harris while the latter was creating a bare bones outline for Hannibal Lecter, has had face time and multiple interviews with many ruthless serial killers etcetera. But all considered, I still did not have a lot of answers to the questions that brought me to the book and subject matter in the first place.
Not many people can really talk about serial killers and their perverse relationships with humanity in the depth that Robert Ressler can. This is since he has had a career spanning time with the Army and the FBI and was one of the pioneers of employing psychological profiling to track down serial killers. The tone of the book is very much akin to what a professional would write – to the point, concise and clinically detached. In other words, Ressler does not sensationalize his subject even when he had ample opportunities and resources to do so. Even the most grotesque details of the savagery of the murders are mentioned as a law enforcement professional would have and the approach is to always understand why the said killer would have resorted to this behaviour. The author having been one of the forerunners of the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) in the US also does extensive conversations with incarcerated serial murderers which sheds some light into the minds of these apprehended criminals. Ressler’s classification of the criminal mind is broadly into the organized (planned, canny, adaptive killers) and the disorganized (no effort to cover trails, violent and erratic behaviour patterns etc.) is illustrated by numerous examples that he brings up during the book. Maybe it is the celebrity aspect of these infamous killers but he does extensively take case studies from the lives of Charles Manson, Ed Kemper, Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy more than most others in the book. It is equal parts fascinating and terrifying to behold such labyrinthine minds.
The aspects of this book that did not sit well with me were :
Women : Ressler mentions as an aside and devotes maybe half a page to the topic of female serial killers. Granted that there have not been as many women serial murderers as men but then this would have made a great inclusion into the book. Ressler dissects the psychological undercurrents of men and gives insights into what may have driven some of them along the point of no return and that begs the question, why are there not many women serial killers ? What aspects of their psyche could be different ? It might be too vast a topic but an inclusion of this argument would have made this more well-rounded.
Does not age too well : The book closes by the mid 90’s and there has not been any revisions ever since. This means that the cases discussed and debated close by the time the law apprehends Jeffrey Dahmer. The world has changed significantly in a myriad of ways in the last 27 plus years and how has this changed crime ? Perhaps I am asking too much and this is material for another book.
Americanized : This is a no brainer, being an FBI agent it is only natural that Ressler would stick to the geography he knows best which is the US of A. However, a quick glance around tells you that there have been serial killers in almost every part of the world. So how different are the mentalities of these individuals ? What social, cultural or demographic factors would have caused these individuals to jump off the precipice ?
“I am good and I know it” : Any memoir is about beating your own drum but a skillful writer knows how to mix this along with the events that he/she is describing so that the reader does not feel the narrative to be disjointed. From all that I have written here, it is quite easy to understand that Ressler is a very intelligent and efficient professional and it would have been great to leave it at that. In his version of the stories though he goes a few steps further and congratulates himself every now and then. I did notice these and let a few such instances pass by when I finally reached a point where he had mentioned verbatim a letter of commendation in his name that was sent to the FBI director ! It doesn’t get more explicit than this fellow readers !
All considered, if you are keen to understand the details of the criminal mind and especially of the serial killer kind then this would be a good albeit dated work. The questions that my friend and I were debating has now attained new perspectives but not answered yet. We better get back to our discussion !
How do investigators solve the most heinous crimes? This book shows how one FBI agent interviewed serial killers to develop techniques that helped develop profile future serial killers.