bookblather

True crime, wooo!

Ahem.

Okay, so, this is a pretty good book talking about Robert Ressler's experiences consulting on cases and interviewing killers after his retirement from the FBI. He talks about investigations like the ABC killer and the Railway Strangler from South Africa, the Wimbledon Common murder of Rachel Nickell and a serial killer of gay men, and he includes bits of two interviews, one with John Wayne Gacy and one with Jeffrey Dahmer. He mostly summarizes investigations and doesn't talk a whole lot about profiling, but it's still an interesting read.

That said. Ressler is kind of a bitter jerk in this book. He throws shade at just about everyone he's ever worked with, except for one person who he refers to as "my friend." He consistently feels the need to justify himself: this shows up particularly in the Wimbledon Common murder but pops up throughout the book. Plus, the last three pages of the book turn into an abrupt "kids these days" justification. He also seems to believe that serial killers were invented in 1888? Like, dude.

I did enjoy reading about the details of the cases and investigations, but Ressler seems like a deeply unpleasant man, so I suppose make your own call on whether or not you're willing to put up with the author for the stories.