Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit

This is not a book for true crime aficionados like myself. By my estimation, it was written for members of the John Douglas fan club and anyone else who needs to know the minute details of his life. In fact, I'd say it's written for people who love Douglas at least as much as he clearly loves himself. HOLY COW can this man bloviate! It is barely an exaggeration to say that pretty much every sentence in the first 100+ pages (that's how far I got before throwing in the towel) is crafted to show how amazingly smart, cool, brave, athletic and good-looking John Douglas is. Even his supposed attempts at self-deprecation are really just thinly disguised backdoor brags. When as a reader you're continuously losing your place on the page because your eyes keep rolling into the back of your head, it's time to put the book down. Perhaps my mistake was reading Robert Ressler's books first. Ressler was truly a man of humility with a love for his craft. He was instrumental in wresting the FBI from the hands of stodgy old timers convinced of their bureaucratic omnipotence and gearing it towards mining a wealth of other disciplines for their knowledge. He had true empathy for the victims and their families, yet was not beyond seeing the humanity of the monsters whose unforgivable crimes would lead others to write them off as the embodiment of pure evil, thereby forgoing time and again the opportunity to truly understand what made them -- and those like them -- tick. While being respectful overall to the individuals with whom he worked over the years -- Ressler does use the forum of his book to briefly address certain intra-office gripes he had over his illustrious career. It should come as no surprise that he intimated very briefly that Douglas had a habit of overstating his own role in certain major cases (Ressler says he straight-up LIES with regards to his relationship with John Wayne Gacy). Unlike with Douglas, the bulk of Ressler's books focus on the cases and their psychological underpinnings, in addition to the perpetrators and victims. In other words, his books deliver what true crime connoisseurs are seeking. In Douglas, I found a writer far too consumed by the cult of his own personality to focus much on actual crime. Perhaps that story changes somewhere well into the triple-digit pages, but I eventually lost interest in slogging through how amazing John Douglas is to find out.

This is an amazing book. I loved the Netflix series and look forward to season 2. I picked this book up to read the REAL story of John Douglas. John is a real person with real problems he had to deal with. I admire the fact he didn't hide them to make him look like a supercop. He is a man that is detail oriented and took notes. Putting all he heard together with some gut instinct, came up with a manual cops can use today to locate prolific killers and even those who may have only had one killing incident. He can be caught before he can take another life. This is what I found to be so interesting as John leads the reader through the painful beginnings of the BAU. He captured my interest and held it throughout the entire book. I bought the audio version and I'm glad I did. The reader made John come alive for me. He sounded firm, yet vulnerable, aggressive yet sensitive. If you want to know how profiling became an integral part of criminal investigation this is the book to read. I hope to read more of his books this coming year.

Wanting to read the book because of the show I decided to give this book a try. All I can say after that is.....Man! I was hooked! This book is incredibly well written and a total page turner. Whats most appealing about it compared to other books that deal with the same topic is that it is very simple to understand. A lot of criminal books are very complex and you have to go into them already knowing some aspects of the system it presents to you but thankfully, this book is written knowing you probably aren't an FBI agent yourself. The author John Douglas, starts off the book going into his background and how he got involved with the Bureau and after that, the book just literally goes case by case, crime by crime, killer by killer, from chapter to chapter with some elements of the author's personal life progressing through. If you are really into knowing what the mindset of serial killers are (just like the author was) then this book is totally for you. You could probably finish it in just a couple days if you have nothing else going on. The book is about 409 pages long but that felt like nothing by the time I reached the end due to how addictive it was to read. The Physical Book Itself: It looks like Amazon now sells the Netflix TV show edition of the novel which is the one I received and its a rather large paperback but the font size of the words in the book is large and easy to see and/or read if thats a concern you might have. My book came in a little beat up which was kinda annoying but nonetheless, this edition is a worthwhile purchase.

Compelled by Netflix's excellent series based on this book I bought it. Couldn't even finish it. It's John Douglas's homage to John Douglas. The ego on this guy is incredible! Too much about him and not enough substance about the work he did.

I loved this book!!! A mixture of his life story and profiling cases for the FBI. Very close to the Netflix series, I watched right after reading. Not sure why some reviewers say he is full of himself, I didn’t get that at all. There are times you have to mention certain things because it’s simply part of the story and can’t be left out. I also saw people saying it was boring. I can only guess these people are paid trolls to leave negative feedback, or aren’t interested in behavior science because it was never boring, it was fascinating. Full of cases. I just ordered Obsession, looking forward to it!! *The book was bent up pretty bad from shipping, but that was Amazons fault and I didn’t want to have to wait and go through hassle to return. Fixed it best I could.

A compelling look at how criminals think and what you can learn about the criminal, from the crime. Your feelings on the book will be swayed by how you feel about the writer himself. He's very convinced of his skill and his personality really comes though in the writing. The only downside to this book is that the first 3 chapters are all context and background on the writer himself. Its well written and does help in a better understanding of the writer, but for a book about profiling killers its not nearly as engaging as the rest of the book. But overall quite a unique and thought provoking book.

...to learn how not to write something! Every time I've heard an editor tell me: "Show me! Don't tell me!" I would get confused and not know what their getting at. Well this book is the best example I can give to you! The whole book is an old dude telling you stories of when he was on the force. A terrible narration at that! At the same time, that old dude telling you stories is the legendary John Douglas. This book is an amazing source of information from the procedural perspective of a criminal profiler that was one of the founders of the BSU in the FBI. If you want to learn more about that, dive right in. If you want a very interesting book with good narration, different perspectives, nuanced view of criminal justice or other, go elsewhere.

These are interesting stories, though the story telling us a little tiring. It feels a bit self-serving, which while understandable, is grating after a while. Otherwise, the author has had some singularly unique experiences.

John Douglas is an impeccable and intelligent author. This updated version of his original is definitely worth your time!

I'm sure that as with many readers, I came to the book "Mindhunter" after watching the Netflix series. While both are highly worthwhile, the TV show is heavily fictionalized. Parts of Douglas's book--like the interviews with Kemper, Manson, and Berkowitz; and the Atlanta child murders--make their way into the show, but the characters are composites, and a number of plot points are made up. So if you want the true skinny on profiling, read Douglas's "Mindhunter." The book is filled with actual cases Douglas assisted with, so if you're a fan of true crime you'll enjoy it. I was intrigued by the novel techniques Douglas used to capture killers. His profiles were often spot-on, but he was also a pioneer of using the media to draw out criminals, and he also created some effective interrogation tactics. Some of the cases Douglas describes are familiar to fans of the Netflix show, but he also highlights many cases not on the show. (I recognized a couple from episodes of "Forensic Files.") And he moves beyond serial murder to talk about a bomber, a pill bottle tamperer, a potential political assassin, even Jack the Ripper. Once again, I recommend the book to any true crime fan for the wealth of law enforcement information. I loved reading about how Douglas and his team solved these terrible crimes. However, "Mindhunter" flags whenever Douglas inserts too much of his personality--primarily his ego--into it. He constantly boasts about how busy and successful he was, how he flouted FBI conventions to get things done, how he singlehandedly developed the profiling wing, how his profiles were never wrong, even things as unnecessary to the story as how successful he was with women and how attractive his wife was. I suppose it takes a great deal of confidence to create profiles of unsubs and pass them off to other law enforcement personnel, convinced of their accuracy. But I think this book would've benefited from far more humility. Why didn't the co-author keep this in check? Toward the end of "Mindhunter," Douglas veers from his profiles and starts giving the reader his opinions on capital punishment and ways to fix the amount of violent crime in the US. He's of course entitled to his beliefs, and he has a lot of direct experience to base them on, but they don't really have a place in this book. Douglas never shows us any adversity. With the exception of one case (Green River killer), he never mentions a profile that didn't work. He even depicts his relationship with his wife as more successful now than ever, even though she divorced him. And he talks up his TV appearances and the fact he advised Thomas Harris ("Tom") when Harris was writing books like "Silence of the Lambs." We get it: Douglas is awesome. But he never seems to realize that his ego and opinions take a backseat to the gruesome killers in this book and how they were ultimately caught.

This is not a book for true crime aficionados like myself. By my estimation, it was written for members of the John Douglas fan club and anyone else who needs to know the minute details of his life. In fact, I'd say it's written for people who love Douglas at least as much as he clearly loves himself. HOLY COW can this man bloviate! It is barely an exaggeration to say that pretty much every sentence in the first 100+ pages (that's how far I got before throwing in the towel) is crafted to show how amazingly smart, cool, brave, athletic and good-looking John Douglas is. Even his supposed attempts at self-deprecation are really just thinly disguised backdoor brags. When as a reader you're continuously losing your place on the page because your eyes keep rolling into the back of your head, it's time to put the book down. Perhaps my mistake was reading Robert Ressler's books first. Ressler was truly a man of humility with a love for his craft. He was instrumental in wresting the FBI from the hands of stodgy old timers convinced of their bureaucratic omnipotence and gearing it towards mining a wealth of other disciplines for their knowledge. He had true empathy for the victims and their families, yet was not beyond seeing the humanity of the monsters whose unforgivable crimes would lead others to write them off as the embodiment of pure evil, thereby forgoing time and again the opportunity to truly understand what made them -- and those like them -- tick. While being respectful overall to the individuals with whom he worked over the years -- Ressler does use the forum of his book to briefly address certain intra-office gripes he had over his illustrious career. It should come as no surprise that he intimated very briefly that Douglas had a habit of overstating his own role in certain major cases (Ressler says he straight-up LIES with regards to his relationship with John Wayne Gacy). Unlike with Douglas, the bulk of Ressler's books focus on the cases and their psychological underpinnings, in addition to the perpetrators and victims. In other words, his books deliver what true crime connoisseurs are seeking. In Douglas, I found a writer far too consumed by the cult of his own personality to focus much on actual crime. Perhaps that story changes somewhere well into the triple-digit pages, but I eventually lost interest in slogging through how amazing John Douglas is to find out.

This is an amazing book. I loved the Netflix series and look forward to season 2. I picked this book up to read the REAL story of John Douglas. John is a real person with real problems he had to deal with. I admire the fact he didn't hide them to make him look like a supercop. He is a man that is detail oriented and took notes. Putting all he heard together with some gut instinct, came up with a manual cops can use today to locate prolific killers and even those who may have only had one killing incident. He can be caught before he can take another life. This is what I found to be so interesting as John leads the reader through the painful beginnings of the BAU. He captured my interest and held it throughout the entire book. I bought the audio version and I'm glad I did. The reader made John come alive for me. He sounded firm, yet vulnerable, aggressive yet sensitive. If you want to know how profiling became an integral part of criminal investigation this is the book to read. I hope to read more of his books this coming year.

Wanting to read the book because of the show I decided to give this book a try. All I can say after that is.....Man! I was hooked! This book is incredibly well written and a total page turner. Whats most appealing about it compared to other books that deal with the same topic is that it is very simple to understand. A lot of criminal books are very complex and you have to go into them already knowing some aspects of the system it presents to you but thankfully, this book is written knowing you probably aren't an FBI agent yourself. The author John Douglas, starts off the book going into his background and how he got involved with the Bureau and after that, the book just literally goes case by case, crime by crime, killer by killer, from chapter to chapter with some elements of the author's personal life progressing through. If you are really into knowing what the mindset of serial killers are (just like the author was) then this book is totally for you. You could probably finish it in just a couple days if you have nothing else going on. The book is about 409 pages long but that felt like nothing by the time I reached the end due to how addictive it was to read. The Physical Book Itself: It looks like Amazon now sells the Netflix TV show edition of the novel which is the one I received and its a rather large paperback but the font size of the words in the book is large and easy to see and/or read if thats a concern you might have. My book came in a little beat up which was kinda annoying but nonetheless, this edition is a worthwhile purchase.

Compelled by Netflix's excellent series based on this book I bought it. Couldn't even finish it. It's John Douglas's homage to John Douglas. The ego on this guy is incredible! Too much about him and not enough substance about the work he did.

I loved this book!!! A mixture of his life story and profiling cases for the FBI. Very close to the Netflix series, I watched right after reading. Not sure why some reviewers say he is full of himself, I didn’t get that at all. There are times you have to mention certain things because it’s simply part of the story and can’t be left out. I also saw people saying it was boring. I can only guess these people are paid trolls to leave negative feedback, or aren’t interested in behavior science because it was never boring, it was fascinating. Full of cases. I just ordered Obsession, looking forward to it!! *The book was bent up pretty bad from shipping, but that was Amazons fault and I didn’t want to have to wait and go through hassle to return. Fixed it best I could.

A compelling look at how criminals think and what you can learn about the criminal, from the crime. Your feelings on the book will be swayed by how you feel about the writer himself. He's very convinced of his skill and his personality really comes though in the writing. The only downside to this book is that the first 3 chapters are all context and background on the writer himself. Its well written and does help in a better understanding of the writer, but for a book about profiling killers its not nearly as engaging as the rest of the book. But overall quite a unique and thought provoking book.

...to learn how not to write something! Every time I've heard an editor tell me: "Show me! Don't tell me!" I would get confused and not know what their getting at. Well this book is the best example I can give to you! The whole book is an old dude telling you stories of when he was on the force. A terrible narration at that! At the same time, that old dude telling you stories is the legendary John Douglas. This book is an amazing source of information from the procedural perspective of a criminal profiler that was one of the founders of the BSU in the FBI. If you want to learn more about that, dive right in. If you want a very interesting book with good narration, different perspectives, nuanced view of criminal justice or other, go elsewhere.

These are interesting stories, though the story telling us a little tiring. It feels a bit self-serving, which while understandable, is grating after a while. Otherwise, the author has had some singularly unique experiences.

John Douglas is an impeccable and intelligent author. This updated version of his original is definitely worth your time!

I'm sure that as with many readers, I came to the book "Mindhunter" after watching the Netflix series. While both are highly worthwhile, the TV show is heavily fictionalized. Parts of Douglas's book--like the interviews with Kemper, Manson, and Berkowitz; and the Atlanta child murders--make their way into the show, but the characters are composites, and a number of plot points are made up. So if you want the true skinny on profiling, read Douglas's "Mindhunter." The book is filled with actual cases Douglas assisted with, so if you're a fan of true crime you'll enjoy it. I was intrigued by the novel techniques Douglas used to capture killers. His profiles were often spot-on, but he was also a pioneer of using the media to draw out criminals, and he also created some effective interrogation tactics. Some of the cases Douglas describes are familiar to fans of the Netflix show, but he also highlights many cases not on the show. (I recognized a couple from episodes of "Forensic Files.") And he moves beyond serial murder to talk about a bomber, a pill bottle tamperer, a potential political assassin, even Jack the Ripper. Once again, I recommend the book to any true crime fan for the wealth of law enforcement information. I loved reading about how Douglas and his team solved these terrible crimes. However, "Mindhunter" flags whenever Douglas inserts too much of his personality--primarily his ego--into it. He constantly boasts about how busy and successful he was, how he flouted FBI conventions to get things done, how he singlehandedly developed the profiling wing, how his profiles were never wrong, even things as unnecessary to the story as how successful he was with women and how attractive his wife was. I suppose it takes a great deal of confidence to create profiles of unsubs and pass them off to other law enforcement personnel, convinced of their accuracy. But I think this book would've benefited from far more humility. Why didn't the co-author keep this in check? Toward the end of "Mindhunter," Douglas veers from his profiles and starts giving the reader his opinions on capital punishment and ways to fix the amount of violent crime in the US. He's of course entitled to his beliefs, and he has a lot of direct experience to base them on, but they don't really have a place in this book. Douglas never shows us any adversity. With the exception of one case (Green River killer), he never mentions a profile that didn't work. He even depicts his relationship with his wife as more successful now than ever, even though she divorced him. And he talks up his TV appearances and the fact he advised Thomas Harris ("Tom") when Harris was writing books like "Silence of the Lambs." We get it: Douglas is awesome. But he never seems to realize that his ego and opinions take a backseat to the gruesome killers in this book and how they were ultimately caught.

If you'd like to read a narcissistic autobiography, then this is the book for you! John Douglas surely wants you to know just how amazing he truly is. I thought this book would talk about some of the big cases he worked and then how evidence and his profiling skills helped catch the killer. That makes up maybe 10% of the writing. I'm over 100 pages in but I don't know if I can finish it, it's truly that awful. Not at all what I thought it would be.

This book takes you on a journey into the real life minds of violent criminals via FBI profiler John Douglas and his Investigative criminal Profiling Unit. It is the basis for the Netflix Series of the same name based on his interviews with them. Really seems to make the case and question why do we think these guys can rehabilitated? Some were released and committed even worse crimes. And that these guys are usually made via life circumstances rather than being born this way. Great Book.

I read this book following another book of the sake ilk by the author's colleague titled, "Whoever Fights Monsters". That book was very scientific with sprinkles of background on the author to support it as a narrative. This book felt almost like a brag session by a self-proclaimed criminal mind for at least the first 110 pages. The author's mini-biography left me feeling that he's a bit sleazy and somehow proud of his choice to be so. But I read on hoping for more actual insight into the topic that had been so well covered by his colleague. The author was very judgemental, almost as if he couldn't help himself, calling people (not just the criminals) "losers" frequently. Seeing as how he proclaims to have founded scientific methodology, such subjective and entirely unnecessary remarks seemed cheap and detracted from his already shaky credibility. This isn't to say that he may be a great profiler and good for him for it but as a human being, he seemed egotistical and often times shallow as compared to his colleague who was always professional and informative. I'd seen the show on PRIME at one point and am doing some psychology courses for school. I thought that it would be as interesting as the other book but was disappointed. I would recommend his colleague's book.

Like some reviewers have stated, this reads more like a (self-congratulating) autobiography of the author than anything else. The very first chapter dives straight into his own near-death experience (due to stress and overwork). And while there are quite a few brief, overly-summarized case studies, none are super detailed or fully analyzed. And the suspect profiles are never wrong!!! He reiterates again and again and again how the profiles were exact matches that led local cops straight to their guy. I kept wondering, well, what about the ones they got wrong...? There had to have been some...? Overall, the book was readable, I actually finished it in about three days. The peek inside this fascinating niche of criminology was worth wading through the less than objectionable, self-congratulatory vibes throughout.

When his other book "Journey into darkness" was released many years ago I read it with great interest. This book though, is nothing like it. If you wanted to wander deep into the minds of the killers, if you wanted to walk carefully onto the actual crime scenes alongside the forensic crews, if you wanted to track each madman with clinical methods and use facts and logic like Sherlock - then this book will disappoint you. This book, only hints at those things, only drops small morsels merely as annecdotes to this purely autobiographical work. It takes a full 106 pages before you are offered any case and details of worth, and even then it appears as a side note to the continuing biography of the "founder" or even creator of this field. I'm sure Douglass has done many very helpful things for this field of profiling, but this book reads like a 1980s B-movie monlogue of his life and accomplishments.

I enjoyed this frank tale of how the FBI s behavioral unit came into existence. Douglas relays the birth of his career as a behavioural profiler and walks the reader through cases. 'Criminal Minds' and 'Silence of the Lambs' clearly have taken a great deal of their story lines from the many serial killers Douglas and his team interview over the years. This is fascinating to see in retrospect. But what I enjoyed the most was reading his ideas on whether a killer is born or made. And where does America as a society go from here.

Basically if you’re here because you like serial killer books and like reading about all the case details and perspective of the killer. I would recommend you skip this one. In fact most complaints I see, seem to come from these people. Now of like me you are a little tired of the killers perspective of crime novel and want something more on the other side of the curtain. This is the one. He gives a lot of great detail and perspective of classifying serial killers. I agree with a lot of his assessments as well of them. Particularly the argument that they are not sane. I believe his quote is then how come they never kill in broad daylight in front of a cop? The truly insane people never meet the serial killer standards because they are caught pretty quickly. Overall I enjoyed it and found it to be quite insightful from a law enforcement perspective.

I bought this book after reading another one of Douglas's novels, "The Cases that Haunt Us." The first few chapters focus a lot on Douglas's personal life and the workings of the FBI before transitioning to the actual cases. The book is formatted so that the cases are used to support the discussion of FBI techniques and profiling. If you're more interested in the specific cases themselves, I'd suggest you read "The Cases That Haunt Us" instead- it focuses on certain cases, and the FBI profiling aspect is secondary. If you're more interested in how the FBI works, then go with "Mindhunter." It does include a lot of information about specific serial killers and cases, but criminal profiling is also a major part of it. Overall, it's a little slow at first, especially with all of the details about FBI administration and Douglas's personal life, but once it picks up it's hard to put down.

I bought this thinking it would be a kind of a textbook more or less, complete with "if you see this, you get that" type of thing. But this book is written more like a story or a personal narrative of someone's experiences. Initially I was fairly disappointed, but the book picks up quickly--it wasn't long before I found this book to be interesting to the point of being compelling. VERY compelling. The author is retired FBI and he discusses a lot of the history and development of criminal profiling. He discusses many of the cases he worked on and offers tremendous insight into the criminal mind and criminal behavior (mostly murderers and serial killers). The writing absolutely flows and makes the content come alive and jump right off the page. The only thing difficult about this book is some of the content itself...A lot of what's described is absolutely sickening, truly awful and completely heart wrenching. But if this stuff interests you (I'm interested in it from the standpoint of personality disorders), this author/book just can't be beat.

Got this to RE-READ when NETFLIX produced current series of the same name. I first read long ago... but not with a TV series in mind. DOUGLAS is one of the most fascinating people in FBI history. And NETFLIX does a good job of showing WHY. I can't wait for SEASON 2 & highly recommend this book to fans of Douglas... or of Netflix's MINDHUNTER!

This was a great book. It goes into the depths of profiling and the historical cases of serial killers. It touches on a number of subjects that force you to pause, think and consider - especially in regards to the human species. It also makes you never want to let your kids out of your sight again. I have to give it 5 stars because it was so well done. But I did have to put it down on at least three occasions after reading some of the cases. I'll definitely be taking a break from reading something like this for a bit.

Like many others in these reviews, I came to this book after being completely enthralled by the Netflix series, which is outstanding. The book, on the other hand, is really kind of a mixed bag. Certainly, there are fascinating case summaries and analysis throughout. If you’re a fan of the true crime genre, serial killer books, etc, you will find a lot of the material in this book very interesting. However, like others I was a bit put off by Douglas’ consistent bragging and boasting in the early part of the book, even about trivial things (or perhaps especially). Also, I found some of the anecdotes about colleagues, especially “attractive” female ones, slightly odd and possibly inappropriate. But I get it, Douglas is “old school” and he’s blunt. Also, this was written in the mid 90’s; so in a way maybe it’s a product of its time. My sense is Douglas probably had a rather substantial ego boost after the phenomenal success of Silence of the Lambs, and absorbed it into his writing style. But maybe that’s just me “profiling” him. Also, I was surprised at how much the phrases “this guy” and “losers” were thrown around in a book presumably about the objective, scientific endeavor of psychologically profiling criminals. Although I acknowledge that even Douglas himself says profiling is part science and part “art”, it’s not exact. Clearly he knows what he’s doing and has many years of experience chasing monsters, but his style, at least in this book, was less professional than I would’ve expected. If you can get past the braggadocio on display in the early chapters, there is a lot of riveting and worthwhile material in this book. If you’re a fan of true crime, it’s worth a read.

This book was very interesting... but the chapters were extremely long and I felt like certain stories lead to random tangents that the author tried to tie together. Majority of the book is fascinating... the authors really break down the process and do a great job explaining how they build a profile. It would be nice if some of the cases that have since been solved could be amended and updated in this book (example, the book states that the Green River Killer hasn’t been found/caught yet, when we know now it was Gary Ridgeway). I mostly wanted to read the book before I watched the tv show, but I honestly don’t know how much it will matter after reading the book. Good read, but it definitely took me a lot longer to get through than I’m used to.

Wow!!!! This book is really fascinating. John Douglas has done a wonderful job at putting all this information together and what a “factual “ story teller he is. This is very well written. I honestly hope that Mr. Douglas will consider writing more books on this topic. To give us a deeper understanding not only of the importance of understanding the why, what and The Who, but also the tremendous toll and weight that these investigators carry with them. The families of all the investigators, the victims and the criminals are forever affected. Again, I say WOW! Thank you FBI and local law enforcement for the dedication and sacrifices that you make continuously to protect and serve as well as bringing justice, one case at a time.

This is a comprehensive and engaging book on the start of the behavioral studies of the FBI and the backward design of profiling. It is both interesting and completely logical! Not for the faint of heart as the details of most cases are incredibly disturbing and simply heartbreaking. I learned a lot and found it insightful. Highly recommend for the mind that likes to study criminology, sociology, psychology, and systemic investigations.

I stated this to compare to the Neflix series Mind Hunter. The first third reads like an autobiography. Lots of stuff pre FBI that I wasn't interested in. Next third tracks the cases shown on Netflix. Interesting to see the spin TV put on it: the agents on TV are composites, not real people. Most of the investigations align well with book. It's nice to see them grounded in reality. The last third looks like more of the same. Serial killer after serial killer. I lost interest and didn't finish. It gave me what I was looking for and other stuff I didn't want.

I should have taken the fact that the cover was almost torn clean in two upon arrival that this book just wasn’t for me. I have been trying since I purchased this in October of last year to push through it, but nearly 100 pages in, and I feel like I’m just reading about a guy bragging about himself and name-dropping people I’ve never heard of. I can’t grasp a real timeline, and haven’t come across a real profiling case yet, and I sadly think it’s not worth struggling through any longer. Im so disappointed as true crime and the investigation behind it is incredibly interesting to me. As epic a failure as this sounds, I may resort to watching the Netflix series based on the book, and say I read it...

The author presents a memoir, how he ended up as a profiler in the FBI. The story keeps a reader's attention and is full of detail about criminals and crimes, particularly serial murderers. It has a triumphalist feel to it. Since it was written, we have seen many problems in the FBI, but none of those issues is addressed in the book. I would have liked a more balanced approach to the FBI.

It’s really mind-boggling trying to grasp the sheer volume of information one must acquire in order to be able to effectively & accurately become a criminal-profiler as elite as those working of the Investigative Support Unit of the FBI. Can’t imagine what law enforcement (and conversely, violent crime rates) would be like had Mr. John Douglas not pioneered & implemented such an essential branch of the field. Really refreshing knowing there are those in law enforcement who approach cases with common sense & pragmatism, rather than by a mere numbers game, as is so often the case. Would highly recommend if you’re a True Crime book genre fan such as myself. Oh, and it was really awesome going back to the many other True Crime books I read to re-read portions that referenced John Douglas and his dispositive contribution to serial killer investigations and their ultimate convictions.

I liked the book but it went all over the place which is why I rated it this way. SPOILER ALERT: The suspect is usually that the UNSUB feels inadequate (this was mentioned 30 times in the book), is a white male, late 20s-Early 30s, and drives a busted car and lives with his parents or girlfriend or wife and has been in the military maybe, and/or has had a divorce and doesn't like ladies, or has a drug problem or something. Sound like you? Serial killed anyone yet? It would also have been helpful to have some more chapters on when the FBI failed, as I'm sure that it happened much more than mentioned in the book. How you fail is how you learn, and it's not a bad thing. Anyway, the Netflix show was entertaining, although it strayed very wide of the source material. Probably for the best.

I thought this book waa extremely detailed and eye opening. Douglas really takes a magnify glass to each case and explains and describes what has ocurred in a way thay makes you feel like you're peering right over his shoulder as he does so. The only thing I HATED was how he introduced most of these female victims and other women in these stories. Douglas annoyingly describes these people as being beautiful, pretty, and knockouts as if it's the only thing about them. And then he talks a bit about his attractive female acquaintances in the same manner. I'm almost sure if i remember correctly that he even mentions someones nice figure. It was probably unintentional but it felt like these people were being sexualized on some level.

Author used a lot of filler that added no value to the story

This books is based on the life of FBI's profiler John Douglas, the Netflix show is also based in this book. He describes how he join the FBI and how the Behavioral Science Unit was created. There is a lot of detail into crime investigation from the analysis of the crime scene and the victim to recreate a profile of the perpetrator. Is really a very descriptive book that gives hints of the mind of serial criminals and how behavior reflects personality. I enjoyed the book a lot as I enjoy law enforcement subjects. But is definitely recommended for anyone with interest in behavioral science and criminals.

i bought this book expecting to read about awesome cases and interesting techniques of the FBI profilers BUT.... this is a long dull speech that never ends. Reminds me of college math classes that I hated but was forced to suffer through to graduate.

Starts a little slow, but still keeps you interested. But really picks up speed as the stories get shorter. It is amazing how much insight the author conveys about offenders. And beyond that, how much detail about how the author and his colleagues gleaned that information from victims, crime scenes and offenders themselves. But, most of all, you see get a first hand view of how the "Mindhunters" think. You can see how the author and his colleagues view the importance of their task and the toll that it takes on their personal life. Along with that, you see how the author reaches conclusions about subjects from such a different approach than has ever been attempted. And then compare and contrast one subject with another. All of this information with a backdrop of riveting stories.

I picked this book up for multiple reasons. I have a personal interest in criminology, including criminal profiling. As a writer, I picked up this and several other books as research material for a future book I am writing. I also write nonfiction pieces on public safety, and know John Douglas' name comes up often in criminology circles. As a husband and a father, I am always interested in learning all I can to keep my family safe. I have to say that this book was emotionally draining for me to read too often, so it took me a ridiculous amount of time to finish. I had to keep reading other things and sprinkling in readings from Mind Hunter. Douglas does not pull any punches in portraying how horrific the crimes committed by serial offenders are. Instead of painting them as victims, he shows these offenders as the selfish and manipulative individuals they are. I have done volunteer work with inmates, and I learned quickly that they know how to get foolish people to sympathize with them. The start of Mind Hunter is a little slow as Douglas talks fairly in depth about his winding pathway into his career with the FBI. I thought Douglas could have eliminated most of the information and kept what was essential to one short chapter--but that is just my opinion. Many of the chapters hop around. It kind of reminded me of some of my college courses, with the professors who were brilliant but they just rambled during each lecture. You take notes frantically and just try to piece it all together later, because the information actually is invaluable. I learned quite a bit that I did not know about serial offenders and profiling, even though I have read fairly extensively on both subjects. For those who say Douglas is conceited, they may be right. Regardless, Douglas is one of the trailblazers in criminal profiling, and so he does deserve a degree of respect. Some people complain that Mind Hunter does not really explain how to profile. Well, many offenders actually read books like this so they can try to outsmart law enforcement, and Douglas even states that the book is not a "how-to" on purpose so these offenders do not have a leg-up on the cops. If you have the stomach and the interest, I say read Mind Hunter and learn from a brilliant man's own experiences in the field.

A book that I will never ever forget. Compelling evidence that criminals should never ever be released. After reading this, I learned that I was not as paranoid about my children's safety as others said I was. I am glad that I was as cautious as I was. I also learned that I am not the only one who believes that behavior is predictable even though I have been told that it is not. I cried after reading this section because I have observed when crimes are committed and the perpetrator is caught and then released, they go back and commit more crimes, most times the crimes are even more violent than before. I could predict what a criminal was going to do next. I also learned how to accurately know what type of person did a certain crime.

After watching the Netflix special (which is really good), I was interested to read the book that was written by one of the first law enforcement people to ID and hunt serial killers. This book is full of information on murders and tracks how a team learned who they were hunting and, maybe more interestingly, WHY the killer did what they did. The book is well-written, detailed, compelling and I was ready to read more when I got to the end of it.

John Douglas is the originator of profiling for the FBI being one of the first agents in the Behavioral Science Unit who interviewed, profiled and spoke to notorious serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgway, and Ed Kemper. From those interviews Douglas and others from the FBI are able to take a crime scene and develop an "UNSUB" from the information in that crime scene. If you are interested in the history of the development of the famous BSU then this book gives a lot information regarding this particular interest. If you are interested in criminal profiling then Douglas gives you a taste but if you were looking for a health meal then.....meh!!!! Overall I think it is worth it if you are a true crime buff!!!

Though I could only read this book in small doses, I found Douglas’s account of profiling serial killers riveting. Douglas himself is a man of his times and as such, may grate against one’s modern sensibilities but there is no doubt as to his commitment to identifying and catching dangerous killers.

Understand going in that this is not exactly like the Netflix show This is the book the show was based on. This is a true life account of the FBI's early profiling development. It doesn't make changes for story telling purposes. This is the guy who helped create killer profiling telling you how they did it. It's really interesting (if you're into criminal psychology and history) and well worth reading

The Netflix series was great. I found the book better, as with most books, the real in depth story flushes out so many more details. The book reads more like an autobiography. The Netflix series took liberties with some of the real facts of the original behavioral science unit. Facts are more fascinating than fiction.

Very interesting story, but very disorganized writing. After a while the overlapping cases got a little hard to follow. Still, very interesting.

I was so excited to read this book based on the reviews. However, the first 110 pages I could barley get through. Way to much background on the authors life that I suppose was important but I could barley stand reading about minuscule stories of his dating life, college life, sports life. So, my recommendation if you want to start reading about the killers...skip to page 110. That’s where the interesting stuff has started. I’m still not through this book and I would usually finish a book like this in a weekend.

This book is a great read for those in the field of homicide and behavioral science. The language and inferences used throughout are understood by those working homicides. I honestly recommend it to anyone interested in the field, but will caution you, this book is not intended to teach you profiling. John clearly states that up front in the book. Not that I was expecting that, but for the average reader, just understand that it’s a reflection of John’s very unique career with the Bureau.

Another great book from John Douglas. The way it's written, with all of the case examples - defining the BAU's profiling work, along with Mr. Douglas' personal opinions and emotions makes this book seem like a master class in FBI profiling. Definitely a must read for anyone interested in the way(s) serial killers and other violent offenders are brought to justice.

This book has so interesting! I strongly recommend it for those who are fans of the Netflix show (it follows the book to a tee) or are just generally interested in crime solving. I would have given this book all five stars, had it not been so confusing at times trying to follow who exactly Douglas was referring to (he worked with MANY FBI agents and cops throughout the years and named all of them, so it was easy to forget who such-and-such was when he referred to them by name). I was also expecting more narrative when it came to the prison interviews in the book, instead of just briefly talking about the interview itself or mentioning a couple words that the killer said. Other than those two aspects, I really enjoyed the read. Super intriguing to learn about motives and some of the killers' backgrounds.

This book grabbed me by the throat and would not let go. I had to go back several times just to make sure that the book was not fiction! When you think you know what man is capable to do to his\her fellow man\woman, reading this book can make you understand that there are people out there walking this earth capable of doing unimaginable things to us. As I read the book, I started to profile people that I know and it scared the carp out of me! This is a solid read by an author i trust!

Resourceful and insightful! A great look into the FBI’s development and instrumentation of the BAU. I couldn’t stop reading it; it’s fascinating how these profilers use their analytical and critical thinking skills to assist police in narrowing down their suspect pool with such precise techniques.

Felt like someone was telling me stories. They were good stories, but no overall narrative. It jumped all over the place chronologically. You will hear a bit about a specific case in one chapter, then a bit more in the next, then quite a few pages on a 3rd. This is one of those rare cases where the TV show is better than the book.

I have read Stephan King since the early 1970’s! I own just about every book. Now, I have a Kindle...that I LOVE! I bought this as soon as I saw the very first episode of the HBO show. The book seems to be quite different then the show. As usual,the book is always better then the movies or TV shows that are made. Read This!

A friend recommended this book to me and I found it a fascinating look into behavior profiling. It is somewhat disturbing due to the subject matter, but I didn't find it overly graphic for what had to be described. An excellent read for anyone interested in true crime, murder investigation, and law enforcement.

This is one of the most significant books on societal ills I've ever read. Law enforcement's new ability to profile and find serial killers is nothing short of amazing. Just after reading it, a 15 year old in our small city raped and murdered an 8 year old. The murderer is to be tried as an adult. Douglas's book gives me important insight into this decision. But the book is much more than simply relevant to that event. It describes the very complex and demanding effort of Douglas and his colleagues to bring an awful and misunderstood dark side of the human mind into the mainstream of FBI and other police procedures.

Self serving. Does not go into enough details about the cases. I understand that this is the beginning of this new craft but it did not fulfill my curiosity concerning how it works.

I've read almost every book written by Douglas since this series about him aired on Netflix. He goes into the demented minds of some of the most horrible individuals to ever walk the earth. An easy read, yet very unsettling. There are some real "monsters" walking among us every day. We just don't know whom they are. Highly recommended.

This book does stand the test of time but do not expect riveting prose. While reading, please be aware the FBI, forensics, forensic analysis, and behavioral analysis, have come a long way over the past decades. On the other hand, some things such as organizational malaise have not altogether disappeared.

A great book for all those out there who are fascinated by criminal psychology, and how these detectives come to their seemingly uncanny and precise criminal profiles. The updates are quite satisfying, since some of the cold cases referenced in the original text are now solved! I couldn't put this book down!

A very informative and entertaining book, John knows how to keep you engaged, he is very descriptive and personable and knows how to keep even bleak subjects entertaining. This is not a book with a neutral viewpoint however, John very clearly points out what he believes and explains why he thinks it's right, so it's a great character study of the author as well as the killers and crimes he discusses. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the show, criminal justice, or thrillers like Silence of the Lambs.

This is a factual account of the research done on serial killers and the development of profiling. This is told by the FBI agent who did the work.

It was an interesting story about the beginning of "profiling" here in the US. Some of the information is a bit vague as apparently they feel the need to conceal things from people who might want to use the information to help get away with crimes but an interesting read nevertheless.

I got this after watching the Netflix series. I thought the book was great. Very interesting and insightful, even if I never want to let my kid/wife out of my sight now. Much like the Netflix series, I wish there was more emphasis on the interviews so if anyone knows where that detail may be I am all for suggestions.

Great book about FBI profiling if you want to learn about FBI profiling this is one of the books that you need very easy read very interesting read take the time to buy this book I believe you would enjoy it if FBI profiling is once you're interested in

This book gives fascinating insight on the early stages of FBI profiling and how it became recognized as a valuable and accepted investigative tool. My only criticism is that so many names and cases are included that it can be difficult to keep track of who is who, and what timeframe you are currently at as you do jump around the timelines a bit. Unless you have a really good memory you'll probably want a notebook if you're going to keep track. Overall, this was a good book and an informative read.

The first time I read this book I borrowed it from a friend. She took it back, and I borrowed it another time. I tried to steal it. It is excellent insights into the mind of serial killers. It is also true life insights into the brave agents who risk their sanity in hunting these depraved sociopaths. Nothing in fiction will bring you closer to the inner workings of the mind of an actual killer. I sleep better at night having read this book. I take this opportunity to thank John Douglas and the others who contributed to the publication of this book. It has opened my eyes as a conscientious individual, as a reader, and has been helpful in my own fiction writing endeavors. A resounding 5 stars, and then some. ...........dhole

This is a great book for those interested in how the BAU came about. It's well written and truthful. Good book for any crime researcher or enthusiast. John references a few famous criminal investigations, and you get the "inside" scoop.

This book is well a written, true account of how the Behavioural Investigation Unit was formed at the FBI. If you're into discovering why people do what they do, why they kill and how their minds work, this is an excellent read.

Wonderfully written, Douglas takes you behind the scenes on how the FBI came to develop it's serial profiling systems and some of the insights into the minds of killers he learned along the way. Thought provoking and deep in meaning, Mindhunter will lend perspective to all of those scenarios that give normal people nightmares and killers a deadly thrill.

Truly haunting as well as insightful reading. For those with the fascination to not only catch, but understand the "bad guy", this book relays a true understanding of individuals. Also, I would read this book again as opposed to watching the Netflix series. Also, you feel the interpersonal tension that occurs in agents who, in studying and catching these men, have had to way lay their own families. I appreciate all these agents, local police departments, and various agencies. NOT recommended for children under 18.

A fascinating look at the development of the Investigative Support Unit, the profiling program at the FBI. Reads a bit like a "war story" but still an interesting read. Very thankful to these men and women for their service.

Awesome book! I am a criminal justice major and I am fascinated by Sexual Homicides (including serial killers). After watching the show I decided to read this book and it is amazing! I have read other books from John Douglas as well and this one did not disappoint. I am a big fan! I finished it in a week. Couldn’t put it down.

Spectacular read. Richard Davidson’s narration is spectacular. Knowing John Douglas’s backstory provides much needed insight, and provides all the behind the scenes details of the formation Of the serial crimes unit. Once you start listening, it’s hard to stop. Brilliant work.

Shows how meticulous and tedious this work can be. Not exaggerated or mushed together like the TV show. Also shows how how political (like the private sector) work environments can be, Also contains some fascinating interviews with Serial Killers. I came away thinking that many of these men were ruined by mothers that hated their abusive spouses and took it out on the child. And I also cam away believing also that medical science doesn't know how to fix men this broken and that they remain extremely broken.

this is a fascinating book. I have always been interested in murders. This details the start of the FBI profiler and how he solves crimes. This book was the inspiration behind the series Mindhunter on Netflix. Easy to read

Wanted to read the book after I saw the show on Netflix. The book strikes a perfect balance between informing you and entertaining you. And if you're wondering, the book and the show are very similar in some ways and in some ways very different. So don't pass over the book just because you've seen the show.

Great book, this copy is good quality. Paper is thick enough to feel substantial in your hand, not too thick where it is annoying. The cover of the book is plain. Showed up with a protective coat for the paper cover. I highly recommend this books, and the story within it is great.

I think I made the right choice of reading this book after reading Whoever Fights Monster by/about Robert Ressler of the FBI who held John Douglas' job before him. Mind Hunter seems to be the same book but in a slightly different style and it really seems to be written only to try and capitalize on the success of Whoever Fights Monster's success. WFM's was a good read, this, not so much... This is sorta blah... bland... Probably because the good stuff was already in WFM's, but I do think it's worth reading if you are into stuff on the FBI and/or serial killers.

The book brushes a lot on the show. Its not only interesting and fun to read but can also be helpful for those looking for a career in criminology. A lot of the topics and theories are those used in sociology classes. If you want to learn something new along with being entertained i would recommend this book.

If you liked the show, you’ll LOVE the book even more. It does have some graphic parts, but that’s the reality of such horrific acts of violence that were committed by the criminals he helped to track down! Great read, especially for those interested in criminology and psychology!

It's alright. I was hoping for a behind-the-scenes look into the profiling process and some cool interview stories. What you get is a dude congratulating himself on being athletic, brilliant, good with women, and manly for many chapters. I actually couldn't finish I got bored, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Maybe it gets better.

If you watched the show, buy this book to learn about the team that worked to create the profiling task. Did you know that an RN researcher was a member of the team? Fascinating read about a tough topic.

Such an interesting book. I decided to read this after watching the show that is based on this book. It so interesting to see a prospective from an FBI profiler and how he dealt mentally with all the serial killers. Also fascinating to see how he profiled the serial killers and got into their heads. Truly an interesting read.

This book was amazing!! To "see" how the very prominent department was created and how it rose is spectacular. This amazing group of individuals along with our amazing local law enforcement have captured some of the most notorious serial killers in history. I highly recommend this this book.

Not a piece of literature but an absolutely chilling and fascinating read. I am reading this after watching the Netflix series of the same name and what that series is based on. Truly great insights into what makes serial killers, serial killers.

This book was very easy to read about a difficult subject. It was written for the non law enforcement people by an expert in the field. The book makes a great companion to the Netflix series

This is a must read for anyone interested in criminal investigation. The author describes the process of profiling and manipulating the most violent criminals of recent times. He also educates the reader with personal accounts of prison interviews of some of the most dangerous and sadistic killers currently incarcerated, as well as some who have been executed for their crimes. Facinating, and disturbing, reading.

Although I believe it is good to know about how not to become a victim, I won’t read another book like it. It really gave me the creeps. It’s one of the scariest books I’ve read.

Interesting reviews of criminal cases, but it jumps around a lot, and the author pats himself on the back at every opportunity. I know he is a leader in the field - that is why I bought the book, so the constant self-praise accomplishes nothing. The book editor did a poor job as well. Some of the writing is at about a 12th grade level. I say save yourself a few bucks and watch the Mindhunter TV series.....now that is a five star.

All these stories and profiles are just so interesting. I enjoyed the way Douglas recounts cases and his own story in the FBI. Of course all the cases are eye-openers for all the creepy things that people do, but it's also a story about great guys putting the clues together and doing something. So that's good. I picked up this book after reading Anatomy of Murder and I'll definitely keep buying Douglas and Olshaker' s books.

This is an outstanding read for those who like Law Enforcement and Murder Mysteries. This book goes into information on the FBI setting up the profiling department that has been so successful in assisting local Law Enforcement Departments in bringing the criminal to justice. I highly recommend this book.

The book is fascinating, but a little choppy. It jumps from one story to another without a clear beginning or end. The physical book was damaged when I got it, which sucks.

Bought it for my granddaughter’s 18th Birthday. She wants to be an FBI profiler, so this book gives her a good insight into little known areas of the profession. She loves it!

Did not get detailed about a lot of the interviews which was disappointing, but gave some insight on how the behavioral dept was formed in the FBI. Good book, but author liked to talk about himself a bit.

This book was an in depth, excellent, and fascinating look into the minds and crimes of violent criminals. In understanding more about how these folks see the world I believe it is possible to reduce one's chances of becoming a crime victim. Also, a very interesting read. Highly recommended .

Excellent and fascinating book. Everyone should read this book. I am going to lock my doors now and be more aware that there are more dangers than I ever realized. Which won't make me negative or afraid but smarter.

The book has a lot of content already shared in the mindhunter series but also lot more that is not shown. The book is easy to read and good but felt that the the author dragged on a little bit than needed. A good part of the book is about how the BS unit was built over time. It was amazing to learn about it.

JOHN Douglas as mindhunter, agent, lawman and human being is just the tip of the iceberg. His landmark tell-all is tantalyzing in all the right places - giving just enough information regarding the Bureau's developing school/s of thought with respect to applied psychoanlytics during it's early years to have you literally begging for more. Case history, per se, as an agent of delivery is used sparingly. Information on methodologies are without any [tedious] detailing while Douglas consistently follows up with effective, sometimes harrowing!, anectodal implementation of such. ( more often, a second consideration or 'extra-' careful analysis yields Douglas himself to have been the direct causal agent of the [eventual] apprehension of UNSUB X, lending a 'real-life Superman' air to an outwardly simple man, nd one whom is unlikely to toot his own horn regardless of a legendary status.) ...Over-all : MINDHUNTER spares us lackluster minutiae of statistics, development, Bureau directives, etc. Instead, any average untrained John Q finds himself priveledged to - fortunately & fleetingly - prowl in the shoes of an elite: an expertly-trained, man-to-machine - MindHunter

I love learning the history and personal life details of one of the founders of the Inves. Unit. As well I enjoyed the respect given to the victims; instead of festishizing putting them against the harsh light of the truth. They are towards who although dealt terrible childhoodd allowed there desires to outweigh others lives and robbed their families of seeing them live full happy lives. I personally thank Mr.Douglass from everything he's sacrifird to bring these ppl to Justice.

Excellent book with comments from the authors about the cases that they had written about in the past book edition. The content is amazing, 100% recommend. Plus it shipped super fast and in excellent condition.

Everything written by joh e Douglas is wonderfully written. I like reading the reasoning of all the criminal knowledge he has it's very interesting have to have a good stomach, heart, and mind.

I thought this book was fascinating. I read it within a couple days. I will say it's a little heavy, and leaves you feeling a little overwhelmed that such evil exists in the world. Gorey details are not spared, so you might need to read it slowly. But it is a excellent and informative glimpse of FBI profiling.

A very easy read. Written in a very conversational and relatable style; it was more of a memoir than I was expecting. Content is really interesting. Lots of very cool insights about psychology.

I thought I might like this but was a little disappointed in all of the past growing up stuff the author added to the book. Kind of disappointed.

I read this after seeing the Netflix series. It was better then the series. I felt for the FBI that had to live all of the crimes.

After reading reviews, I contemplated on getting this book. But honestly, I’m glad I did. I agree with some reviews that the first 100 or so pages, Douglas does write about himself; however, once you get to chapter 5ish, the stories begin and it’s rather good. I was bored the first few chapters, but once he got into the BSU and everything else, I couldn’t put it down.

Very easy read, interesting, moves quickly ….adds more background that the series doesn't get in to. Glad I got it. Enjoying it for nighttime reading.

Incredible book on the making of the F.B.I. Behavioral Analyst Unit and the cases they had and how they solved them. Detail on the cases are interesting and at times frightening. Watched the Netflix series it is worth seeing, book is more detailed.

This book is good if u are interested in how serial killers are motivated.the profilers evolve as the knowledge is collected

John Douglass tells the intriguing story of the creation of the FBI behavioral science unit along with stories about interviews with killers and the crimes many committed.

I've never been so satisfied with any non-fiction book than I have with this one. It was so great! If this dude ever retires, he should really pursue a career in fiction writing. I often put down non-fiction after getting through the first few chapters, but I could imagine each scene and the emotions involved so clearly that it was incredibly hard to put down. Each chapter gave me a lot to think about and now I realise that crimes in fiction and crimes in reality are truly worlds apart.

This is a book I read and while sharing some of the information in the book with my father he was interested and wanted to read it as well. Unfortunately I was reading it on my kindle so I ordered him the book. He has enjoyed it immensely.

I read this after hearing about a television series based on the story. I always prefer to read a book rather than watch TV or a movie. Very interesting read from start to finish. Would highly recommend.

Even though retired from 35 years of a clinical mental health career, I continue to appreciate interesting, solid, research-based insight into the aberrant mind of the violent killer. John Douglas went to the source to build his hypotheses. The killers themselves. The book is well written and informative. Thank God that brilliant minds like John Douglas and his colleagues have given over their own personalities in order to enter the violent mind and understand both the human and the monster.

I was approximately 10 years behind Agent Douglas at the Academy. I believe he under sells how difficult it is to create change in our organization. One has to be relentless, extremely confident and have a "product" that the BU and Law Enforcement needs. Even with those elements existing there would have been strong resistance to change. All of law enforcement owes Agent Douglas, and the original profilers, a debt of gratitude.

Oh my god I am amazed by this book. It’s so detailed and so perfect if you’re into non-fiction crime I definitely recommend. The show on Netflix is amazing as well I recommend you watch it as well!

Decided to read after watching the show... .................... . .... ... ... .... ... . . . . . .

Great Book . Great read if your into true crime etc. if you watch mind hunters on net flix it will feel like your in the story hard to explain but its great very happy i bought it and read it. Hard to put down .

Good read if you are curious about the history of profiling, especially involving serial murders. This is the guy who helped to establish the field.

It looks interesting, hopefully my recipient will read it and let me know what they think. 3 stars until then

Fantastic! Criminal profiling is one of my main interests or hobbies if you want to call it that and this is like the classic primer. John Douglas is the man who coined the term "profiling"; he didn't invent it, but he basically started the modern science we know today. I didn't learn anything new about the psychology, but this was fascinating from an historical point of view as a memoir and a history of the BSU and the FBI itself. Douglas joined the FBI when Hoover was still the Chief and if you know anything about those times you'll know J. Edgar thought the "soft" sciences were a bunch of b.s. and a small clandestine group was working behind his back quietly using psychology on an inquiry-based only system and this is where Douglas first found himself. However, the book starts with Douglas' birth, childhood, college drop-out, military service, etc. before it even gets to his enrollment in the Bureau. I enjoy memoirs and found his writing style highly readable, relishing the book from the get-go. Then, of course, I became fascinated when Douglas turns to his work in the FBI, relates how profiling worked its way into being a legitimate technique, his famous study of interviewing living serial killers to find out how they thought and his work on famous cases including everything from The Trailside Killer, The Atlanta Child Murders and The Tylenol Murders. Douglas has earned himself some controversy over the years; some people find his writing style arrogant. This is the only book I've read by him but I've got its sequel on hold at the library already! so it won't be my last. Obviously I didn't find him arrogant in the least and his serial killer interviews (conducted with two others) are admittedly a giant breakthrough that even his detractors cannot dismiss.

One of the best books I've read in a long time! I am fascinated with books about true crime and this went a step further! It's "behind the scenes" of actual crimes from the mind and experience of someone catching the killer!

Fabulous book and a great Netflix series as well. This book fascinating and so interesting if you are a true crime fanatic like me.

I love the book!! I don't know what happened during shipping, or wherever this book was being held previously, but my copy has some sort of water or liquid damage on the back. It's a cosmetic issue, and the text is unaffected so I'm not mad about it! Just wanted to give a warning to those who it would bother!

Seems to be more about author personal life then getting directly into the facts of how profiling came directly about. His ego also tends to be read into (I could care less) great show on Netflix!

Great book. However I agree with other reviewers that the author is arrogant and self absorbed, makes me wonder if he could be a serial killer himself.

Shocking realistic one learn actual cases are more scary than fiction ones. Teaches one to be aware.

I like reading John's books, but this one kinda hurts in the aspect of how much he toots his own horn. He does it in an obnoxious way, too. But he really does a great job putting you into the scenes with him and explains more than you'd ever expect without being involved and in the Behavioral Unit.

Without letting it become a "how-to" manual for would-be killers, Douglas shares the from and gritty reality of hunting the !pat dangerous criminals. I plan to read much more of his writing.

Well written narrative that also explains and educates about the criminal mind and how criminals operate and how they are made.

Fast, easy, enjoyable read. A little basic for a True Crime fanatic but still a great glimpse into the development of the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI.

Couldnt put it down. It's mostly about his life, but it does go into some of the killers he has interviewed. Very interesting read.

Have read Anatomy of Motive and now Mindhunter, and am currently reading Journey Into Darkness, all just fascinating "escape" reading!

The book keeps moving, doesn't spent too much time on any one case. Kept me turning the pages. Great stuff the way they can look at the evidence in a case and give law enforcement an accurate profile of who to look for. Mindhunter is about real people, real life and real death. Told in a way that is straightforward, interesting and respectful. It's a great read unless you're rooting for the bad guy.

I gave this 5 stars because it was so interesting to me that I could not put it down. John Douglas did a great job of explaining the history of his career & all of the horror he had seen. It is a humble reminder that there truly is evil in this world & unfortunately to not be too trusting. Great book

Well worth the money to get a glimpse into the world of forensic profiling and the life it produces.

I watched the Netflix show and decided to read the book it was based on. I'm fascinated with criminal profiling and this was a really interesting read.

I never wanted to put it down. Gives you detailed insight into what profiling is and why it's such an extremely valuable tool. The authors have shared the gruesome facts about some of the monsters they've helped to catch and the price they themselves have paid to make it happen. You can't help but to be horrified, by the case information and at the same time, grateful. Grateful for their successes.

Absolutely great read, details how profiles are constructed, especially the why!?

Great forensic psychology book. A must have for your library if you are interested in tracking serial killers and criminal psychology.

Buy this book! If you have any interest in criminology, or in the earliest foundations of the Behavioral Sciences Unit at the FBI, or in the psychoses of serial murderers, this book is fascinating

I enjoyed this book quite a bit heard it was a good read for the money

This book was so good that I got my sister and my 14 year old niece to both read it. My niece even did her honor's English project on it. She wants to go into law enforcement.

If you like the TV show criminal minds you will love this book! The special unit of the FBI are truly amazing and so glad we have them to help rid the world of evil

Trailed off and got repetitive a little by the end but overall a good read

If you are into podcasts or Netflix shows like Serial or Making a Murderer you will love this book.

Great book! I love reading books with information that comes straight from the top. John Douglas was the mind master of the FBI, so this book is filled with the best information on profiling the psychopathic criminal element. At most times his ability is so dead on that you would swear he was psychic! Amazing read! It could have been ten times longer and it still wouldn't have been long enough. It makes me want to spend a year with him, just picking his brain. Brilliant!!!

I found it very interesting, and the tv show followed the facts kind of. Enjoyed it.

I could not put this book down...read it cover-to-cover in 2 days...I am also a big fan of the TV serie.

Very interesting and often disturbing first hand account of violent crimes and the people that commit them.

Mr. Douglas has put some of the most horrific serial killers behind bars as an FBI agent. He shares his stories in a series of books. These stories range from his beginnings with the FBI to his visits with the killers behind bars to create a basis for criminal profiling. His books are a great read. They kept me on the edge of the seat for the whole book. It keeps you entertained and does not get boring as it goes through a bunch of different offenders.

Loved the book. Had watched the Netflix series and really found it interesting. The book was a good follow to the series.

Very good read and very interesting especially if your watching the series.

Thanks for the speedy delivery, I am eager to read this

I ordered this for my husband for our 13th anniversary. He is away on a deployment and was excited to receive it. We are big fans of the Netflix series and he finished the book within the week. It reads like a novel and gives plenty of backstory and explanations to keep you from getting lost.

I wanted to know some of the history behind the unit. It was very interesting and educational. Not for everyone but I enjoyed it.

This book provides a very well written view on real criminal profiling and provides very accurate case study. I learned many new things such as the use of crime scene analysis to profile an UNSUB and I also was provided a very interesting look into the minds of many infamous killers: The Atlanta Child Killer, Edmund Kemper (Co-Ed killer), and even David Berkowitz (The Son of Sam). Douglas is an amazing story-teller and I even laughed out loud a few times. It's an interesting read and if you're looking into learning more about criminal profiling and its uses read this book! Happy reading! -Heather

Like many of you, I bought the book after watching the TV series. If you like the series, you'll love the book. Compelling, fascinating, and goes into more detail than the series did.

I have read many, many true-crime books over the years, and many books by former law enforcement. This is one of the most fascinating, incredible books I've ever read. Literally hard to put down, yet sometimes I had to force myself to put it down, due to the gruesome reality of the cases John Douglas covered. My daughter is in a Criminal Justice college major, and I think this should be required reading for students!

I thought this was a raw and honest telling of fbi profiling as Douglas experienced it. It doesn't give a lot of information about the crimes themselves but does provide fascinating information about the process the fbi went through to develop a way to catch serial killers and rapists.

Fascinating read! I would recommend this to anyone who likes this genre.

I love this book! I had it in print several years ago and I had read it multiple times! I lost it, so I bought it on my kindle.... I love John Douglas! His cases are fascinating and scary at the same time.. .The man is amazing!!

Thoroughly enjoyed! Great insights and material.

I can't wait to get started on this book.

great stories. Will keep you interested.

A must read for the serial killer fan!

Loved the book and how it explains the reasons and why of serial killers. I highly recommend this to anyone

I applaud the TV guys who wrote the series - they took a somewhat over-detailed and under-detailed memoir and turned it into a great series - that was brilliant job, but kudos to Mr. Douglas for his perseverance in life and book!

Great book. Better than the series.

Well researched, well written book. As a former District Attorney I had the opportunity to have a case reviewed at the FBI unit, in late 80's when it was still a small, basement level unit.

Absolutely fascinating book if this type of thing intrigues you. Definitely a great read.

Such an interesting book. Loved it

Awesome book. Read it from a library, had to own it.

I ordered this in 2017 and I am almost finished with it and as you can see in the photo that I shared, it’s missing pages 325-356. Please send me a new and finished copy. Thank you.

Great book! I recommend to all who are interested in crime or study criminology.

This book provides a fascinating and insightful look into the work done by the FBI's BSU unit in solving the serial murder cases of the 70s-80s. This book is written for the layman and is easy to understand. Cases that stood out in the author's career covered in the book include the Green River killings, the Atlanta child killings, Susan Smith, murder of Shari Faye. A lot of facts and great details are presented in the book. However, if you are looking for the explanation behind the methodology and analysis that the profilers use, then this book is not it e.g. age of suspect is 20-30 yrs old but they do not explain how this was determined. A downside of the book is that a large part of it is about Douglas' early days, life in college, marriage, etc. It would have been better if those sections were used to talk about other cases or more details behind the profiling. Another irritating aspect is that at times Douglas comes off as being egotistical and cocky in his writing.

Brilliant piece of work! This is a great biography/analysis of John Douglas and his work. Well worth the read.

This book was fascinating and far better than I was expecting. Do not buy the audio version because it's abridge. I have no idea why a publisher in 2016 would still be making abridge audiobooks....

This book truly allows you to understand how Behavioral Scientists profile the most dangerous criminals known to man. The way they choose their victims, how they kill them, and how they dispose of them. Every horrific detail is meticulously examined, allowing to get a glimpse of how detective work has become Science.

Great Netflick series, book is even better

For those of us who enjoy true stories, and the REAL truth behind all the celebratory media stories, this is a great read! It fascinates me how the profiles are created, and how close in description they are to the actual killers. God bless John Douglas, Roy Hazelwood, and so many others who have literally given their lives in pursuit of justice, and the real truth.

Every audiobook disc was scratched. Very disappointed. It was well written.

This is a must-read for true crime fans. Product came as described.