Whoever Fights Monsters - Robert K. Ressler

Robert Ressler was an FBI agent who helped hone methods to investigate serial killers. Famous murderers were interviewed to help guide police when they encountered gruesome scenes in the future.

The book has a lot more crime scene detail than I was expecting. I didn't realize that serial killers had so much sexual motivation in their crimes. It made reading some of the details of the scenes a bit rough.

Ressler was against the death penalty because he felt killers were too valuable as fonts of information. The things to be learned from them could help build a profile later on and prevent a killer from remaining on the loose. He figures that as long as they're securely locked up with no chance of getting out, everyone is safe. I'd say the flip side of that is life sentences don't mean life anymore (if they ever really did), and I wonder what Ressler would've thought today (he passed away in 2013). 

While the writing style was easy, the subject matter is pretty disturbing at times. Reading about the insanity that exists and can never be satisfactorily explained is frustrating. I did find it fascinating to learn how the behavior section of the FBI differed from what is portrayed on TV. It was also interesting to read that Ressler was interviewed by Thomas Harris for his novels about Hannibal Lecter. Even though Ressler could still find fault, he was happy to have been asked for accurate input. Maybe I'll get around to reading Red Dragon one day.

I think overall this was a really interesting book. To see how the FBI dealt with serial killers early on and were able to identify patterns that helped profile other killers is pretty extraordinary. I'm glad people like him were around to lend their minds to the fight against the monsters that have walked among us. Good Book!

Monster: The Perfect Edition - Naoki Urasawa (9 book series)

I was addicted to the anime for this title, so I was super interested in the books. You can read my review of the anime on my movie/show blog. I was fortunate to get my hands on the whole set of them, so once I was done with one, I was able to start the next one. Needless to say, it didn't take me long to get these done.

Again, I'm not saying much about the plot. Dr. Tenma saves a young boy who grows up to be a serial killer. Tenma is under suspicion and feels responsible since he's the one who saved the boy.

I was impressed how faithful the show was to the manga. The beats hit very close if not exactly the same. Dialogue was added here and there for obvious reasons, but the story itself remained intact, and I was so happy about that. I was able to catch those small details that I missed when I watched the show, and it's going to be great to be able to go back in the future and read these again.

My copies were all in pristine shape except Volume 6. I have no idea what happened there, but the cover page and the first page of the story were missing. I wasn't lost, and it's not worth pitching a fit over. Seriously, though. If you like a good, complex story where you're not sure where it's going next, see if you can track this down. Give it a shot. Good Book!

When the books are lined up together, they create a cohesive picture.

 

Monsieur Maurice - Amelia Edwards

In the past, I read The Phantom Carriage and Other Stories by this same author. Those were ghost stories, but this one was a bit different.

Gretchen is a girl living with her father in the country. He's a loyal soldier to the king, so when word comes that he needs to keep a prisoner at his home, he readily complies. The mysterious man goes by the name Monsieur Maurice and immediately captures Gretchen's imagination. As time goes by, events get more mysterious and even Gretchen's father is getting suspicious.

This book is short and is something of a slow burn. With it being so short, that's kind of impressive, but it struck me as a bit slow in the beginning and then picked up toward the end. SPOILER: My main issue is that we never find out who Monsieur Maurice really was. They reveal how he got there, but never really why or who he really was.

I suppose it was okay, but the end was a bit strange. M. M. writes them a few times, and then it trails off. The old lady is just telling the story of a man she once knew. I liked the ghost stories better.

 

Before Egypt - Robert Bloch

I've seen Robert Bloch's name many times when I'm watching older movies, and I've read This Crowded Earth and wanted to try his other public domain title, Before Egypt.

Mike and his partner, Nicko (a Martian), are going to take a man and his daughter on a trip through space to find a planet where the early Egyptians originated from. On the way, the ship is attacked, and the old man is kidnapped. The ship is disabled, but they make their way to the ground and have to navigate a foreign world and get back out alive.

Every once in a while, I try to dive into science fiction, but it doesn't work out for me often. It's just a genre that I very rarely enjoy. It was a quick read, though, so it was ok. 

Thunder Dog - Michael Hingson

This is the story of a man and his guide dog on the day of the 9/11 attacks. But it's a lot more than that. Mike and his dog, Roselle, were on the 78th floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center when a plane was flown into the floors above them. 

From there, it's a trek of 1,463 stairs to the lobby. Mike has Roselle to be his eyes, and he also has his friend, David, to tell him what's going on around them. They have no idea what's happened and no cell service, but the smell of jet fuel in the stairwell gives them a clue.

Sprinkled in the tale of the Tower are memories of Mike's childhood. He was never brought up to see his blindness as a handicap, and now he's using everything he's learned to make it through one of the worst days America has ever seen.

At first, I was a little annoyed at the interruptions of the narrative. It made the story pretty nonlinear to start with 9/11, then go back to the past, then jump back and forth. Then, I understood what Mike was doing. He didn't want to just tell the story of that day. He wanted to use his experience to educate people about blindness. Seeing it from that point of view, the story made more sense, and I was more on board with the structure.

I'm going to say this is one of the most interesting things I've read in a while. Experiencing that day from the point of view of a person so close to it, someone who had to describe not what they see, but what they felt and heard, was so different. I commend Roselle for her calm and dedication that day. She helped more people than just Mike, and I was glad to read she was recognized for her work. The downside of loving dogs is we don't deserve their love back, and they're never here long enough for us to even get close to try and earn it. Good Book!