Crime & Law Books > John Douglas Crime & Law Books

Advantages: Easy to read, very informative
Disadvantages: You need to have an interest in the subject

I work in forensics but have always had an interest in Criminal Psychology. I found this book very easy to read, it is autobiographical but it does not focus too much on the author, there is a good balance between the authors experiences and the cases he has worked on. There are a lot of details that I had not read in other books so it was good to find out a few extra bits of information. I paid around £5 for this book new, and feel my money was ...
...an interest in crime or criminal psychology then this is a good book to read. This book gives a very good insight into how The FBI Behavioural Science Unit works, the type of work they undertake, including lectures, and the types of cases they are called in to work on. You get to see some well known cases from the point of view of the people who helped to catch the purpotrators of the crimes. I enjoyed reading this book so much I have now ordered ... Read review

Advantages: An amazing insight into FBI profiling techniques
Disadvantages: Author sometimes judgemental

This book explores the motive for various crimes ranging from fire starting, through serial killing, mass murdering to random acts of violence. It's a really interesting book for anyone interested in crime or psychology. This book examines various real crime cases, portraying killers such as Lee Harvey Oswald and Timothy McVeigh. The analysis of the crimes shows how the evidence points to why the crime happened (the motive) which in turn points ...
...shows how the criminals are products of their upbringing and environment without using this to excuse them from their crimes. Interestingly many of the criminal have similarities but there are also differences that differentiate say a serial killer from a spree killers or mass murderers. The book shows how the criminals' sociopathic behaviour worsens over time and shows society how to predict potential violent behaviour. At the end of the book there ... Read review

Advantages: keeps you in the know
Disadvantages: none

...asked me to teach her the highway code,so out came my old faithfull book that i kept,pleased that i did,only to find my daughter had brought a new updated book,i was shocked to find so much had changed .enbarrassed by this.I thought its time to learn again, my daughter and i sat down together ,every night and learned the highway code,it taught me many a thing i did not know,Also my daughter and i had fun,and quilty time together. So keep up to date ... Read review

Advantages: Well argued case, easy to read format
Disadvantages: Does not present an alternative

I think most people will recall this story which made headline news around the world. But as a quick recap, two British backpackers had bought an old VW combi van and were using it to explore Australia. One night in July 2001, they were driving the Stuart Highway through the outback when they were stopped by somebody driving another vehicle, Peter got out of the car and was never seen again. Joanne was tied up and bundled into the other van, she ...
...until she managed to flag down some help. I remember the story breaking in the UK and being filled with horror at the ordeal described by Joanne Lees. I subsequently kept up to date with the developments right through to the trial. When some opinion started to turn against Joanne, I thought it was unfair and some of it truly ridiculous. For example she was criticised for not attending press conferences and when she did for wearing a T-shirt with ... Read review

Advantages: A sober, restrained and excellently-written catalogue of murder
Disadvantages: A grim and unsettling subject

...it used to be. For the Victorian aficionado, murder, however depraved, was a human act to be savoured at arms length in front of a roaring fire while sipping a glass of Madeira (or absinthe, for those of a more bohemian persuasion). Those old-fashioned connoisseurs of crime were able to detach themselves from the swirl of emotion and anguish that inevitably clung to each case and examine methods, motives and consequences calmly and with cosy fascination. ...
...in murdering. Nowadays, however, the great beast of 24-Hour-News means that heinous acts demand our attention almost as soon as they happen, and when we direct our gaze towards them they are still cocooned inside a seething ball of emotions: the shock; the horror; the reactions from family and friends; the inevitable tearful press-conferences. We hyper-emotional moderns are more inclined to fixate on, even consume, newsworthy anguish, and to see ... Read review