Mindhunter Book + S1 Review

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit
by John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker

"He has hunted some of the most notorious and sadistic criminals of our time: The Trailside Killer in San Francisco, the Atlanta Child murderer. He has confronted, interviewed and researched dozens of serial killers and assassins, including Charles Manson, Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, and James Earl Ray - for a landmark study to understand their motives. To get inside their minds. He is Special Agent John Douglas, the model for law enforcement legend Jack Crawford in Thomas Harris's thrillers Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs, and the man who ushered in a new age in behavorial science and criminal profiling. Recently retired after twenty-five years of service, John Douglas can finally tell his unique and compelling story." (goodreads)

 The first 100 pages of Mindhunter is slow going. It's like Douglas says a number of times throughout the book, "behavior reflects personality". Getting Douglas's background that landed him in the FBI as slow going as it was to read was interesting to see what he was like at a younger age and his brushes with the law. Seeing how he started out and where he ended up in his life and career was rather amazing to see. Douglas had no plans or idea that while he was "screwing up" as a teenager and in his early college years that he would end up retiring from the Bureau as an FBI agent.

In university, the best course I ever took was Forensic Psychology. While reading Mindhunter, Douglas mentions several times that even though when interviewing a suspect and they are often given a polygraph they usually don't give any breakthroughs in the case. This is because polygraph exams are easy to pass, you just have to know how, and a confident serial killer will pass with flying colors. One of the first things I learned in Forensic psych was how to successful pass a polygraph exam. This is why they cannot be used as a solid piece of evidence in court. But, it's a start, and you can narrow down the list of suspects by weeding out other people based on their results, body language and nervousness during the exam. The profiling during the exam is just as if not more important than the test itself.  

It might sound silly to state the obvious since this is indeed a true crime novel on serial killers, but I need to stress this for anyone who may have potential triggers. This book is not for everyone and this book does NOT shy away from the truly horrible crimes committed, even I wasn't fully aware what I was getting myself into when I started. Mutilation, dismemberment, rape on women and children, things you would never imagine in your worst nightmare are things that the serial killers do for sexual pleasure, hatred to a group of people, to feel powerful and in control and any other reason they can find to justify their actions. It's one thing to list these acts of horror, but reading about them in specific details is extremely unsettling. Your views on the death penalty will surely change if you are currently against it, after reading this I can't imagine that it wouldn't.

Something I found really interesting while reading is the way Douglas looked at insanity and criminals who blame their actions on mental health. Agreeing with Douglas, there is no doubt these people are sick. But many of the serial killers you'll read about cannot blame their actions on mental health, they are fully aware of what they are doing, knowing the difference between right and wrong, and doing it anyways.

The FBI and police lingo was explained really well and something I was already familiar with due to Criminal Minds and my forensic psychology course. Learning to identify an UNSUB (Unknown Subject) based on the crime committed and knowing the difference between MO (modus operandi) and a signature are important keys to addressing a murder investigation.

Something that really affected me while reading Mindhunter was learning the UNSUB victimology (which will often be a surrogate for someone in their life), specifically for Ted Bundy. Not every UNSUB will have a specific victimology, some will select their victims based on opportunity. But Ted Bundy's victims followed a pattern: females in their mid twenties, usually with secondary education, and long brown hair parted in the middle. This made me anxious because it describes me exactly, which would make me a prime victim for notorious Ted Bundy. 

I felt the more I read the more, like Douglas but obviously not as well, I could predict the UNSUB's actions and give some details myself on a profile. Near the beginning of the book Douglas said he would give a profile later in the novel on Jack the Ripper. After recently reading a historical fiction story on the Ripper, I ended up reading about the crimes and victims he targeted. Based on my knowledge I wrote down my own profile for Jack the Ripper and as I learned things from Douglas throughout the novel would modify the profile as I read. Once I got to the end I had a decent profile for the Ripper that even though didn't match up exactly or was as detailed as Douglas' profile, did have some similarities.  

This book has a lot of serial killers and even more victims. If you are looking for a true crime read that doesn't skip the gruesome details and is delivered in what I considered a simple way of understanding, I recommend this book. This book made me sick to my stomach at times and feel a tremendous amount of sadness and fear for the reality of what people are capable of- both strangers and loved ones alike. 

 

Mindhunter Series:

B1: Mindhunter

B2: Journey Into Darkness

 

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

 

Mindhunter Season 1

Netflix Original Series

"They'll journey inside the deviant minds of a maximum security inmates and formulate a frightening new term: serial killers." (description given on Netflix)

Mindhunter S1 Trailer   

Welcome to the evolution of Criminal Profiling.

I felt the show had a bit of a rough start, I think that's mostly because I had such high expectations after just finishing the book and hearing such high praise from the show. Once I got past the first episode I couldn't stop, the interviews and active cases really reflected the novel like I hoped they would. The characters and the drama surrounding them was entertaining, and I was fully invested in where their dramas were going. Holden wanted to do more than expected from his job, he knew things in the FBI needed to develop to profile the types of UNSUBS that they were now dealing with, and he was willing to do, and say, whatever he needed to do to make these serial killers speak. Just like in the book, our main character, Holden Ford, wants to interview convinced murders to get insight on their mind, how it works and what makes people murder other people the way that they do. There were names that appeared in both the book and the show. Having read the book I was well aware of people like Ed Kemper, Monte Ralph Rissell and Richard Speck. I already knew their background and gruesome details of the crimes they committed. I felt I could pick up on things easier and knew how these interviews would work because I already had all the knowledge from John Douglas himself. Agreeing with Bill, it's hard to trust that someone like Ed Kemper is telling the truth rather than being smart enough to feel Holden out and tell him what he want to hear. But, I know Holden is onto something and these interviews will open his mind to the kind of information that the local police are seeking for to solve some unusual murder cases. Even the active cases Holden and Bill worked were familiar, I could always relate them back to the novel which I enjoyed, having the knowledge and already knowing identity of the killer they were looking for. Seeing Holden, Bill and Wendy develop the FBI terms we are familiar with was something I also enjoyed. Identifying the difference between high risk and low risk victims, organized and disorganized killings and even the evolution of sequence killers to serial killers.

The ending of Season 1 was amazing, and the portrayal of the BTK Killer in season two will definietly be unsettling.

I really enjoyed this show, which I binged all 10 episodes in a night, and I already want to rewatch the season. The characters were amusing to watch and the killers were portrayed extremely well. I look forward to the second season and hope to see more of the cases from the novel.

Season 2 is expected to arrive on Netflix late 2018 but no official date has yet been set.