Kayla Reviews MINDHUNTER

Summary:

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.

My Take:

This is hands-down the best true crime book I’ve ever read. I don’t know if that’s because it’s written by the man who actually solved the crimes and not a reporter, or if it’s because of the crimes themselves.

I love the history of the FBI profiling system and the way Douglass explains it to the reader. I feel like I learned more from this than my college criminology course.

Now, let’s talk about that Netflix show because before I read this, I loved that show. Now, not so much. The show greatly misrepresents Douglass. The character, Holden, who’s based on Douglass is nothing like the man. In fact, I think that Douglass would probably find Holden to be wimpy and annoying. Just saying, Netflix could have stayed closer to the truth without actually losing a good story.

Trigger warning: Douglass does not skimp on the details of the brutal, infamous crimes he’s solved, and if this book doesn’t make you a little paranoid, I don’t know what will.