Mindhunter

i had no interest in this book until I found out that one of the main subjects of this book was a serial killer, Ed Kemper.
He's a serial killer that i find the most interesting. He is very different and reading this just proves my point more. The detective in this book holds Ed Kemper on a pedestal to every other serial killer. “unlike Ed kemper” “they weren't acting like Ed kemper” “ed kemper this” “ed kemper that” the detective compared every single case and killer to Ed Kemper.
Ed Kemper committed insanely gruesome crimes. Decapitated girls, killed his grandparents, killed a family friend and then decapitated his mother and sexually assaulted her decapitated head. Yeah... its disturbing which makes it so damn confusing that Ed Kemper committed these crimes. The author (detective) said he liked Ed. The prison guards love ed. Everyone enjoys his company and find him to be a splendid guy. Every serial killer is “charming” but professionals have said that Ed wasn't putting on any act, he was just a very nice guy. He is famous for being 6 foot 9 and large so hes a giant. He's a serial killer that turned himself in once he killed his mum. He was very open about his murders and let police use him as research to catch other serial killers. Its insane how much everyone liked him. Hes still alive, hes like 70 now and i hope he dies in prison but i think hes more loved in prison then he would be out of it. People LOVE him. He's a teachers pet but the prison version.
So its weird, hes such a likeable guy that no one suspected, he wasnt ever suspected until he turned himself in. Police hung up on him because they didnt believe him but he kept ringing to give his confession.

watch his interviews on youtube if you want a better perspective into him. Hes insanely smart and oddly calming but his crimes make me want to vomit.

Unlike many readers, I came to the book “Mindhunter” because I wanted to watch the Netflix series. The book is filled with actual cases Douglas assisted with, so if you are a fan of true crime, you will 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. 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. Douglas at one point also 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 is of course entitled to his beliefs, and he has a lot of direct experience to base them on, but they do not always have a place in this book. Douglas never shows us any adversity. Except for one case (Green River killer), he never mentions a profile that did not 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 the killers were ultimately caught in the end. I enjoyed this and may pick up book two in this series but I did not love it.

This boom was so incredibly raw. The definition of nonfiction. These crimes were horrible, gruesome, chilling and 100% real. This made them absolutely terrifying for a woman to read about. The basis of the show ‘Mindhunter', which I am obsessed with, this book was NOT for the weary-hearted. Cases and themes explored in the show are only the beginning. John Douglas is one person and the narrator of this autobiography about his career building up the crime psychology lab in Quantico for the FBI. Although the show has 2 main detectives, they actually split real John in 2 to make Ford and Tench for the show. (Great watch, highly recommend). Anyways, this book is right up there with ones I normally read from a fiction standpoint: psych thriller, murder, mystery, etc. But this book was real. This is the difference between this book and the others. It was so incredibly graphic. The graphic nature of other books is still impactful, but because it is coming from a place of fiction, minimal truth for exact nature on a particular individual, it is easier to let it go once it is done. Douglas describes real families impacted by real, brutal murders of their family members. When he tells the stories, it is because he has seen them with his own two eyes. They have a weight to them that is more impactful and really makes it hard for the reader to progress in the kind of “detachment” that typical fiction novels possess. This book took me much much longer to get through than normal. It was not for lack of completely fascinating material (what makes a criminal psychologically do the things he/she does, nature vs nurture,etc.). It was because it was so damn heavy. I needed to take breaks to let the thing sink in. I learned a lot from this book though. I come from the standpoint that people who believe in fairytales and kindness and happy endings solely are doing themselves a disservice. The world is full of good, but it is also filled with extreme evil, seen in these pages. Being a woman in the world arguably could be one of the worst things. This book gets you thinking and picking up on things that creeps would do in real life. It makes you aware (as do reading all those fiction books too). It makes you cynical, but not to a fault. Rather to a caution. I believe that these things NEED to be talked about and remembered and made aware, so that we can all be safer together. Thank you John for an amazing encounter of your career, filled with stories that you probably already put far from your mind because of the impact. Your retelling of the gruesome crimes and reopening of emotional wounds is making the world better beyond just your cop work at Quantico. It is making the general public more aware of the kind of shit that's out there. I look forward to reading more of your books on the psychology of serial killers.

Such a mind-blowing and insightful book on the human psyche and what makes people act the way that they do. It's also a fascinating look at what life is actually like for a g-man and I found myself learning a lot about the FBI, numerous cases that they've cracked and a lot about the infamous serial killers themselves.

Mindhunter wasn't an easy read though, let me tell you that! No punches are pulled when it comes to the gruesome and horrific details of a lot of these cases, and at some points I found myself having to take a break from reading just to get my mind off of the horrible acts described. The fact that it took me about two months to get through this whole thing probably speaks for itself in that regard.

In saying all of that though, I've definitely gained a newfound respect for the people who devote their lives to work like this.

Former FBI agent and criminal profiler wrote this book about how he got involved in profiling from its inception, pursuing serial killers and how it make an impact in his life at a professional and personal level. If you have watch the Netflix series, you might see some of the scenes in the series in this book although of course with some changes.
But we can't forget that Douglas was not alone. Robert Ressler deserves credit as a great profiler as well and a pioneer with Douglas in criminal profiling.

More like 3.5 stars, maybe? Feels like it should be required reading if you are a person who has a fascination with true crime (to clarify- not as in the crime is good/something to be a fan of but more like it makes the world a little less scary to know the monsters by their names, to know what to look out for)