The legendary FBI criminal profiler, number-one New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for the hit Netflix Show Mindhunter delves deep into the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing and complex predatory killers, offering never-before-revealed details about his profiling process, and divulging the strategies used to crack some of America's most challenging cases.
Twenty years after his famous memoir, the man who literally wrote the book on FBI criminal profiling opens his case files once again. In this riveting work of true crime, he spotlights four of the most diabolical criminals he’s confronted, interviewed and learned from. Going deep into each man’s life and crimes, he outlines the factors that led them to murder and how he used his interrogation skills to expose their means, motives, and true evil. Like the hit Netflix show, The Killer Across the Table is centered around Douglas’ unique interrogation and profiling process. With his longtime collaborator Mark Olshaker, Douglas recounts the chilling encounters with these four killers as he experienced them—revealing for the first time his profile methods in detail.Over the course of his nearly forty-year career, John Douglas has pursued, studied, and interviewed criminals including Charles Manson, James Earl Ray, Dennis Rader, and David Berkowitz—a veritable Who’s Who of violent predators. But he has also devoted extensive energies to helping the wrongfully accused and convicted, including several inmates of death row. Now, with longtime co-author and collaborator Mark Olshaker, Douglas addresses every law enforcement professional’s worst nightmare: cases in which justice was delayed, or even denied. Eloquently and passionately, he speaks up not only for victims of crime—but for victims of the system itself. In fascinating and meticulous detail he recreates his ground-breaking findings in the investigation of the West Memphis Three and the bungled trial of Amanda Knox; how he reached his controversial conclusions in the JonBenet Ramsey murder; and his involvement in other historic, headline-making cases. Douglas reveals what happens when preconceived ideas, bias, superstition, and even media coverage obstruct a dispassionate pursuit of the evidence—and shows what we must do to avoid modern-day re-enactments of the Salem Witch Trials.
Did Lizzie Borden murder her own father and stepmother? Was Jack the Ripper actually the Duke of Clarence? Who killed JonBenet Ramsey? America's foremost expert on criminal profiling and twenty-five-year FBI veteran John Douglas, along with author and filmmaker Mark Olshaker, explores those tantalizing questions and more in this mesmerizing work of detection. With uniquely gripping analysis, the authors reexamine and reinterpret the accepted facts, evidence, and victimology of the most notorious murder cases in the history of crime, including the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Zodiac Killer, and the Whitechapel murders. Utilizing techniques developed by Douglas himself, they give detailed profiles and reveal chief suspects in pursuit of what really happened in each case. The Cases That Haunt Us not only offers convincing and controversial conclusions, it deconstructs the evidence and widely held beliefs surrounding each case and rebuilds them -- with fascinating, surprising, and haunting results.
"Amidst all the sound and fury surrounding the Italian murder trial of American student Amanda Knox, two people have been largely forgotten. One is the victim, Meredith Kercher, who was by all accounts a lovely, intelligent young woman full of great promise. Her murder was a terrible tragedy. The other is Rudy Guede—the actual murderer. This book shows that the evidence against Guede was overwhelming from the beginning. That he committed the crime alone, without help, is also beyond question. Guede was convicted in a fast-track trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison. But with time off for good behavior, he may be able to gain daytime release privileges as early as this year. Meanwhile, the endless judicial persecution of Amanda and her Italian friend and co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, continues unabated. Many people I speak to are still uncertain what to believe. They wonder if, perhaps, Amanda and Raffaele might have had something to do with the murder. Some people find it hard to accept that two completely innocent people could linger for so long under a cloud of suspicion, or that the criminal-justice system of a civilized European country could manufacture guilt out of thin air. Others have been influenced by the online industrial complex of Amanda-haters and conspiracy mongers, who have spread their falsehoods everywhere on the web. Many have made up their minds, but there are others who genuinely want to know the truth. "The Forgotten Killer", prepared by some of the country’s leading experts in criminology, forensic science, crime scene analysis, and legal procedure, at long last presents the truth..." - Douglas Preston in Chapter One of "The Forgotten Killer: Rudy Guede and the Murder of Meredith Kercher".
Olshaker's talent for medical thrillers, evident in Unnatural Causes (Morrow, 1986. o.p.), makes this a first-rate thriller general readers will not be able to put aside. Having written the PBS series Mind of a Serial Killer, Olshaker has taken his knowledge and crafted a totally convincing work whose unexpected twists and jolts make it unforgettable. Detective Cassandra Mansfield of the Washington, D.C., police department pursues someone who is gruesomely murdering young women with the precision of a surgeon. The killer's style is reminiscent of a notorious murderer who committed suicide months before. However, the murderer's brother is a practicing neurosurgeon with a questionable past. Mansfield races against time to find the killer before he strikes again. For popular collections.
Click to PurchaseFor FBI profiler Jake Donovan, the stakes are higher than ever before: he has to get to whoever has 'disappeared' a crucial weapons researcher before nationally security is fatally breached, and he has to get to them before they get to him and those he loves most. Terrorists have blown up a Congressman's plane over Washington and the FBI Director has called on Jake to profile the possible perpetrators. But before he can get started the government mysteriously yanks him off the case. Meanwhile Jake's love life isn't going well, his former wife is no fan of his and his money is running out. However, when his financial backer, Mrs De Vries, asks the Broken Wings team to investigate the whereabouts of her missing niece, Donovan's investigation leads right to the centre of the national crisis. MAN DOWN delivers page-turning action and a stunning denouement that will attract legions of new admirers to the world of Jake Donovan and his band of profilers.