Fiona's True Crime Book Reviews: R by author

Robert K. Ressler, Tom Schachtman
I Have Lived in the Monster


"It seems that when normal life goes into eclipse, the differences in cultural patterns also fade away, and at the outer edges of behavior, deviant patterns are the same, the world over." This absorbing second book from the serial-killer expert who wrote Whoever Fights Monsters has ten chapters: 1) unusual Japanese case of a doctor killing his family; 2) examples of the use and abuse of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis by Vietnam veterans; 3) the murder of a Japanese exchange student by a Baton Rouge homeowner; 4) review of patterns found in serial murders, including those in Japan; 5) interview with John Wayne Gacy, seeking to understand his psychology; 6-7) two-part psychological interview with Jeffrey Dahmer, revealing several fascinating new details; 8) two British cases on which the author was asked to consult; 9) investigation of a South African serial killer; 10) the Aum Shinri Kyo cult (sarin nerve gas terrorists) in Japan.

INFO
Tom Shachtman, Robert K. Ressler
Whoever Fights Monsters


A overview of the career of the FBI man who nearly singlehandedly created the system for personality profiling of violent offenders. If there's a big-time multiple murderer from about 1950 until now, who hasn't been interviewed by Ressler, he probably refused the honor. Indispensable reading for serial killer aficionados, and better written than Douglas and Olshaker's Mindhunter. This book is packed with fascinating details from dozens of cases: The killer John Joubert, for example, started his life of cruelty as a kid, one day when he was riding his bike with a sharpened pencil in his hand. He rode up next to a little girl who was walking, and stabbed her in the back with the pencil. Ouch!

INFO
Ann Rule
Bitter Harvest: A Woman's Fury, a Mother's Sacrifice


Fans of Ann Rule will find much to relish in this tale of a brilliant female physician who can hold herself together well enough to put on a decent show for the outside world, but in the heart of her horrorstruck family, is a violent and baffling monster. She drinks, she abuses drugs, she spews invective, she even lights fires. At one point she learns from an Agatha Christie novel about a potent toxin contained in castor beans, and starts poisoning her long-suffering husband. And yet until the final fire that consumes two of her children, they continue to love her and defend her to attackers. Ann Rule is good at drama: she tells the story with flair, conveying all the heady feelings involved. Yet the book has a flaw: Rule fails to understand the main character. When a psychiatrist testifies that the doctor is at a younger age than a toddler in her ability to process or sustain emotions, Rule writes, "That was a shocker. Could a woman with an IQ of 165 and a biting, facetious wit, a woman who had zipped through college and medical school, be a child emotionally?" Yes, she could. Bitter Harvest would've been a stronger book, if Rule had shown us how.

INFO
Ann Rule
Dead by Sunset: Perfect Husband, Perfect Killer


Ann Rule is one of the most engaging of true-crime writers: A flair for suspenseful drama is her strong suit. This book is the tale of a narcissistic leech of a man whose typical pattern with his many women is to romance them like a dream Romeo, marry them, get them pregnant, and then drive them into emotional and financial ruin. He's litigious, he's a con man, he's a sad sack, he's a charmer, and finally, he's a murderer. The courage of the women who finally bring him to justice is remarkable and inspiring. Dead by Sunset won a 1996 Anthony Award for Best True Crime.

INFO
[All reviews copyright © Amazon.com, Inc. 1997-8]

True Crime Is Ugly Write to Fiona Ragged Entelechy