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sams84 's review for:
The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and Its Analysis
by Ian Brady
For me this is two books in one, the first half deals with Brady's views on society and the general psychology of your average serial killer (if there is such a thing as an average serial killer) and the second half delves into individual cases, both solved and unsolved, dissecting the whys and wherefores of each killer.
The first half is overloaded with Brady's paranoia and attacks on society as hypocritical and corrupt as the people it punishes and on the general public as being the dull herded animals that believe everything that the authorities tells them. While Brady does have some interesting points to make they get lost in the miasma of his delusions and need to use as much jargon as possible, which is a shame given that his views do raise many questions that each of us should at least consider if nothing else. Brady also dives into psychology and psychiatry in this section and how these areas of study have developed into the tools used by detectives and how the terms banded around in film, television and books actually relate to reality. Here Brady has made very good use of the prison library and the spare time he has had since his imprisonment decades ago. Although this again does become lost amongst Brady's accusations against authority and society as a whole, it does give good insight and clarity into the mind sets of the killers discussed in the next section of the book.
This second section deals with the case histories of eleven serial killers, hand picked by Brady for discussion, including John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Peter Sutcliffe and Richard Ramirez. Each of these studies focus on the killer with the victims taking more of a background role, which does make a refreshing change, as Brady focuses on the motivation behind the killer's actions in all respects of their crimes not just on the gore and horror of the killings themselves. For each Brady provides interesting and sometimes quite original opinions and views on why certain actions, methods etc were used from the view of someone who thinks the same, which (let's face it) cannot be replicated by detectives, psychiatrists, media etc no matter how hard they try. Interestingly you can sense that some of the insights Brady gives are from more than intelligient thought and hint at personal experience with some of the aspects of the crimes dealt with, making one think that even though Brady doesn't discuss his own crimes directly, he is indirectly through those of others.
No matter what you think of Brady as an individual, he is an articulate and intelligent writer, and although at times you may just want to fling the book across the room in disgust, one has to admit that he makes many a good point and gives incredible insight into the society, authority, the individual killers dealt with and himself, as a man and a criminal.
The first half is overloaded with Brady's paranoia and attacks on society as hypocritical and corrupt as the people it punishes and on the general public as being the dull herded animals that believe everything that the authorities tells them. While Brady does have some interesting points to make they get lost in the miasma of his delusions and need to use as much jargon as possible, which is a shame given that his views do raise many questions that each of us should at least consider if nothing else. Brady also dives into psychology and psychiatry in this section and how these areas of study have developed into the tools used by detectives and how the terms banded around in film, television and books actually relate to reality. Here Brady has made very good use of the prison library and the spare time he has had since his imprisonment decades ago. Although this again does become lost amongst Brady's accusations against authority and society as a whole, it does give good insight and clarity into the mind sets of the killers discussed in the next section of the book.
This second section deals with the case histories of eleven serial killers, hand picked by Brady for discussion, including John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Peter Sutcliffe and Richard Ramirez. Each of these studies focus on the killer with the victims taking more of a background role, which does make a refreshing change, as Brady focuses on the motivation behind the killer's actions in all respects of their crimes not just on the gore and horror of the killings themselves. For each Brady provides interesting and sometimes quite original opinions and views on why certain actions, methods etc were used from the view of someone who thinks the same, which (let's face it) cannot be replicated by detectives, psychiatrists, media etc no matter how hard they try. Interestingly you can sense that some of the insights Brady gives are from more than intelligient thought and hint at personal experience with some of the aspects of the crimes dealt with, making one think that even though Brady doesn't discuss his own crimes directly, he is indirectly through those of others.
No matter what you think of Brady as an individual, he is an articulate and intelligent writer, and although at times you may just want to fling the book across the room in disgust, one has to admit that he makes many a good point and gives incredible insight into the society, authority, the individual killers dealt with and himself, as a man and a criminal.