Whoever Fights Monsters

I've recently discovered I enjoy true crime. I finished all of Buzzfeed's Unsolved Series and It's pretty funny and they have some light takes and jokes about unsolved crimes and mysteries. This book is a bit more heavy. If you enjoy true crime I recommend it highly, otherwise if you are sensitive to violent subjects or have a weak stomach I would skip.

I've never heard of Robert K. Ressler before this book, which is surprising because it sounds like he's done a ton of important and useful work for the FBI. He clearly has a passion and fascination with serial killers. The interviews with the criminals are chilling and really interesting. Sometimes this books kinda feels like a vanity project, he seems a bit into himself. I understand he has to establish his credentials, but sometimes I feel he goes on a bit much. Once he actually gets to the meet of his subjects it really picked up for me. I was kinda hoping there would be some transcripts, but hearing about the cases and learning more about the killers of the past was extremely interesting to me. ~Ashley

Written by the man who coined the term “serial killer”, this is a true story about how the study of “serial killers” began. It includes facts and information about the most prolific serial killers, and how those killers were interviewed and studied to gather information and build a profile of serial killers. The book was written in the mid 1990s, so some of the information about things that were in development or being talked about (like VICAP, for example) have now been constructed and put into place. It is vastly impressive to see what it took to get where we are today with the detection and apprehension of those individuals who commit multiple murders. The work that was done in this area is so vitally important to our society.

Review to come