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112 reviews for:
Talking with Psychopaths and Savages: Letters from Serial Killers
Christopher Berry-Dee
2.89 AVERAGE
112 reviews for:
Talking with Psychopaths and Savages: Letters from Serial Killers
Christopher Berry-Dee
2.89 AVERAGE
This is the first time I'm reading this book by the author. Only 5 chapters in (less than 40 pages) and I absolutely think this book is rubbish. I understand some readers may like the kind of tone and language he uses in his books, but personally, I think it sounds like a teenage boy starting his own blog. Which is where I think this belongs to - just a blog.
I absolutely hate giving up on my books so pushing myself to even read this is mental torture.
I absolutely hate giving up on my books so pushing myself to even read this is mental torture.
✧ Review ✧
Title: Talking with Psychopaths and Savages
Author: Christopher Berry-Dee
Pages: 288
Genre: Non-fic
TW: Death, murder, mutilation, child abuse, sexual assault
This book got one star for not being DNFd and another for covering a topic I find interesting. That’s about as good as it got for me.
I was really looking forward to this book because I love true crime. I was under the impression it was an actual deep dive into the minds of people who commit such heinous acts, however it was essentially a retelling of a handful of cases.
Zero insight into what makes a killer a killer was gained… what was abundantly clear is the author loves to talk about himself and plug his other work and books. We were told to go read his other books and even watch a YouTube interview… he quotes notorious criminals and high professionals in criminology talking to him/about him as just a way to brag that he had close contact..
The book is full of irony, as Berry—Dee comments on these killers grandiose sense of self worth, while continuing to brag about himself and even the way he cleverly manipulates these evil people when he interviews them.
This isn’t an insightful book into some of the most notorious killers. It’s a bunch of case studies researched from Wikipedia, with half the effort compared to true crime podcasts and YouTube videos.
This book needs a new title because it’s misleading… I have however, heard his other book Talking with Serial Killers is much better and more of an in depth dive into their minds.
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Title: Talking with Psychopaths and Savages
Author: Christopher Berry-Dee
Pages: 288
Genre: Non-fic
TW: Death, murder, mutilation, child abuse, sexual assault
This book got one star for not being DNFd and another for covering a topic I find interesting. That’s about as good as it got for me.
I was really looking forward to this book because I love true crime. I was under the impression it was an actual deep dive into the minds of people who commit such heinous acts, however it was essentially a retelling of a handful of cases.
Zero insight into what makes a killer a killer was gained… what was abundantly clear is the author loves to talk about himself and plug his other work and books. We were told to go read his other books and even watch a YouTube interview… he quotes notorious criminals and high professionals in criminology talking to him/about him as just a way to brag that he had close contact..
The book is full of irony, as Berry—Dee comments on these killers grandiose sense of self worth, while continuing to brag about himself and even the way he cleverly manipulates these evil people when he interviews them.
This isn’t an insightful book into some of the most notorious killers. It’s a bunch of case studies researched from Wikipedia, with half the effort compared to true crime podcasts and YouTube videos.
This book needs a new title because it’s misleading… I have however, heard his other book Talking with Serial Killers is much better and more of an in depth dive into their minds.
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
challenging
dark
slow-paced
dark
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
dark
informative
medium-paced
dark
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
The grammar is appalling, first off. The writing style is lazy, with big chunks not making sense and others being repeated god-knows how many times. Surely Christopher could think of a better analogy than 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', which I think I read six times in one chapter.
His previous books have been much better. It feels like he was told he had to write another one but really couldn't be arsed.
Also very unsure as to why people's sexuality was brought up so much. 'Bisexual John Wayne Gacy' was unnecessarily repeated and at one point he calls someone's wife a 'lesbian, jailbird lover'. It almost feels like he's insinuating that their sexuality someone makes them 'cowardly and weak-willed'. His words.
It reads like a tabloid newspaper and I ended up just Googling the people myself and researching them without his annoying voice constantly coming through.
His previous books have been much better. It feels like he was told he had to write another one but really couldn't be arsed.
Also very unsure as to why people's sexuality was brought up so much. 'Bisexual John Wayne Gacy' was unnecessarily repeated and at one point he calls someone's wife a 'lesbian, jailbird lover'. It almost feels like he's insinuating that their sexuality someone makes them 'cowardly and weak-willed'. His words.
It reads like a tabloid newspaper and I ended up just Googling the people myself and researching them without his annoying voice constantly coming through.