The Evil That Men Do: FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey Into The Minds Of Serial Killers (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
It is certainly a good book if you like crimes and hearing about the specific cases and profiling behind those cases. I personally really like it, though I found myself having read it over the course of a year and not just sitting down and being able to read it in a few days, as it is under 300 pages in length, it should have been easy. I found myself picking this up for a few chapters, getting either overloaded or bored, and remembering it a few months later. It might just be me, but I have to be in the right sort of mindset for this kind of subject, usually after reading something particularly happy or positive. I also had a few other books from the same category to wade through, and a healthy balance is needed when dealing with typologies of rapists or one gets over-paranoid. I think my issues with this book were mainly in the biography phase, in that it was quite boring. Maybe because I am not into biographies or because I was looking for the criminal profiling and intstead was wading through a rather pompous narrative about how Roy Hazelwood turned from a cocky boy into a man who got very good at profiling and identifying profiling patterns. Don't misunderstand me, though, because he is very good and once you get to the details of cases and the way that he has changed the industry for the better, it gets a lot more interesting and, in my opinion, better written than the biographical portion. But the biographical portion takes up a good amount of the book and, in my opinion, it would have benefited from less biography and more research details, or anecdotes or something related to the profiling part.
A better than average book on the thought processes of serial killers, bolstered by his real life experience as an FBI profiler. Hazelwood describes the course of his career in parallel with the development of the Behavioral Science Unit. It is interesting to follow how behavioral science grew from being considered "voodoo science" to a respected part of the FBI procedures to capture criminals. The book also includes a number of specific cases from Hazelwood's files. I sense the influence of Stephen G. Michaud in many of these, as he was one of two reporters specifically requested by Ted Bundy to interview him in his final hours. They are very interesting, but certainly not for the faint-hearted. Finally, Hazelwood goes into detail about the tragedy of autoerotic asphyxiation, which is often misunderstood by local police departments as murder, rather than a form of inadvertent suicide. When it is "misdiagnosed", it becomes a waste of police resources and also traumatic to the families of the victim who lack closure from knowing the true cause of death.There are a lot of poorly written books out there on this topic, this is one of the few worth reading.
What do You think about The Evil That Men Do: FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey Into The Minds Of Serial Killers (2005)?
I admit I skimmed through this one, as well as two others on serial killers. I can read on serial killers, and horror, and even watch the documentaries and horror movies, but I think with the true text of what really happen theres only so much that can be taken at once. I did enjoy what I did read of this book though, it was scary and real, I think thats why I had so much trouble finishing it, because all the horror that I read about of clowns and werewolves and stuff I know is all fake.....well for the most part. I do believe there are ghosts,aliens,vampires, and other beings we don't always see but its not as real as this. I warn you if you read this it is very graphic and it is a struggle, it makes you think twice on you to trust, and yes I got all that after reading just what I did.
—Alexandra
Roy Hazelwood is an amazing man. I love stories about how the good guys catch the serial killers, and for some reason serial killers have always fascinated me. It's not the 'what' they do that intrigues me. It's the 'why' they do it? In my next life I want to be an FBI profiler or a forensic psychologist. It's cool when the good guys outsmart the narcissistic bad guys who think they're God. This book has several stories about serial killers, and touches on the why they chose to do what they did. It was a great read.
—Kelly
