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!
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