Killing for Sport - Easy Read that Challenges Many Serial Predator Myths
Written: Mar 30 '09 (Updated Mar 30 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Defines law enforcement jargon in common language, broadly covers topic, challenges existing myths
Cons: Does not discuss specific cases; does not discuss other serial predatory behaviors (rapists, child molestors)
The Bottom Line: If you're curious about serial killers in general, this is a good introduction; for more knowledgable readers, this book is a good clear refresher
swopedesign's Full Review: Pat Brown - Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of...
I have been reading books about serial predators and serial killers for several years. I have found John Douglas' books entertaining and informative, but also somewhat complicated when trying to categorize the criminals, their behaviors and their crimes, because things are not black-and-white and sometimes cannot be easily categorized. John Douglas is also writing for fellow profilers and law enforcement officers, so he's using language and detail appropriate to that audience.
Pat Brown's Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers is a book written for another audience, the Average Joe, the layman. At first, I thought this characteristic of the book would overly simplify the serial predator problem, but I was happy to discover that it does not. The book reads well and easily enough that a 6th grader could probably read it and understand it, while at the same time it manages not to insult its readers with its simple language and to communicate its topic clearly and with the right amount of detail to feel complete, even to readers accustomed to reading more complicated and detailed books on the same topic.
Unlike John Douglas' books, Killing for Sport does not discuss any serial killers or cases in any detail, except in passing to help clarify a point being made. On the other hand, this is appropriate for its subject, serial killers in general, and its audience, the curious general public. Readers expecting to learn about specific killers or cases will need to turn to other titles.
Pat Brown became interested in serial criminals after she, a wife and mother, rented a room in 1990 to a man who turned out to be a suspect in the murder of a female jogger. When the local police proved ineffective at investigating this crime, her frustration led her to become a criminal profiler. Ms. Brown is now founder and CEO of The Sexual Homicide Exchange (SHE), which provides pro bono criminal profiling to law enforcement agencies, and The Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency.
Despite the serious subject matter, Pat Brown has a sense of humor that's evident throughout the book. The book is divided into a dozen chapters, with titles such as "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Serial Killers," "Creature from the Black Lagoon," "Better You than Me," "Smokey and the Bandit," and similarly tongue-in-cheek chapter titles. The same humor is used throughout the book, but it is well used and neither insulting nor distasteful, and helps put the reader at ease so he or she may better understand and pay better attention to the information being provided. Pat Brown's interest is to help the average citizen understand serial killers, report odd or suspect behavior to authorities, and avoid becoming a victim him or herself.
The true value of Ms. Brown's book is to challenge current law enforcement definitions and to debunk some of the myths that have been created and repeated by other profilers. Ms. Brown's focus is on prevention and capture. So she disagrees with the common definition of a serial killer, because it defines the serial killer by the number of murders known by police rather than the murders that have not yet been discovered. So it is best to capture serial killers by identifying them early by recognizing serial predatory behaviors and matching victims to the same killer as soon as possible, although the victimology may not all obviously share characteristics or occur all in the same law enforcement jurisdiction.
Among the myths challenged by Ms. Brown in this book include: 1) Unless you hear about a serial killer at large in your area, you can assume no serial killers are living in your community; 2) Serial killers are strangers who leap out at you in the night; 3) Serial Killers are super clever; 4) Victims of a serial killer all look alike; 5) Our present methods of catching serial killers work; and a handful more. Ms. Brown takes her subject matter very seriously, almost personally, in an effort to improve the identification and capture rates of serial predators. For this, Ms. Brown is to be commended.
Though the book does not discuss specific cases, sprinkled on nearly every page are relevant quotes from serial killers. While some are from well-known serial killers, such as Ted Bundy, many are from lesser known serial predators whose names and crimes are not so familiar. Of course, these quotes are morbidly fascinating and revealing, letting readers look into the mind of assorted serial killers for a sentence or two. Ms. Brown has selected these quotes carefully and effectively. Interested readers can use these quotes to begin further research into select serial killers. There are probably more than 50 names to choose from for further research.
Unfortunately, Ms. Brown does not discuss other serial predators such as rapists or child molesters at any length. She does, however, recognize that serial killers may evolve from a rapist or child molester (early attempts to satisfy their "special" needs), or may kill only once and return to the lesser predatory behavior. Though the subject of the book is serial killers specifically, since serial killers are a type of serial predator, I think a chapter on other types of serial predators would have been interesting and helpful for readers to not only define serial patterns but to possibly identify or at least acknowledge that a serial killer may experiment with other serial crimes before escalating to murder, thereby help capture him before he commits murder.
Despite its easy read and simple language, Ms. Brown has written an important book for Joe Public to learn more about serial killers lurking in our midst. With this effort, she also challenges common misconceptions or generalities about serial killers which have evolved from some of the higher profile investigations which have tried to simplify even these horrible but still complex human behaviors into orderly categories. Killing for Sport makes the public better aware that serial killers, while not geniuses, are incredibly difficult to identify because their crimes may never be credited to a single perpetrator due to the inherent difficulties investigating these types of crimes. Above all, Ms. Brown cautions each and every one of us to be vigilant against serial predators, serial killers in particular, and to help the authorities in any way possible to identify and capture these dangerous criminals. Even if they may be a friend, spouse, family member or neighbor.
A renegade criminal profiler goes beyond the complex technical language and psychobabble often used when discussing serial killers to actually tell it...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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