Books are my passion, and at the moment I’m into true crimes.

The best I have yet read is called: THE SERIAL KILLER FILES: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World’s Most Terrifying Murderers by Harold Schechter.

This is an amazing read. But with 423 pages it’s not a light read, or for the light hearted; it’s very, very graphic.

To wet your appetite, here is its list of contents…

CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Half Title Page
Introduction
ONE: WHAT IT MEANS
Origin of the Term
Definitions
Categories of Carnage: Serial/Mass/Spree
Psychopath vs. Psychotic
Psychopaths: The Mask of Sanity
“Moral Insanity”
Psychotics: The Living Nightmare
Beyond Madness
TWO: WHO THEY ARE
Ten Traits of Serial Killers
Warning Signs
How Smart Are Serial Killers?
Male and Female
Angels of Death
Black Widows
Deadlier Than the Male
Black and White
Young and Old
Straight and Gay
Bloodthirsty “Bi”s
Partners in Crimes
Folie à Deux
Killer Couples
The Family That Slays Together
Married with Children
Bluebeards
Work and Play
Uncivil Servants
Killer Cops
Medical Monsters
Nicknames
Serial Killers International
THREE: A HISTORY OF SERIAL MURDER
Serial Murder: Old as Sin
Grim Fairy Tales
Serial Slaughter Through the Ages
FOUR: GALLERY OF EVIL—TEN AMERICAN MONSTERS
Lydia Sherman
Belle Gunness
H. H. Holmes
Albert Fish
Earle Leonard Nelson
Edward Gein
Harvey Murray Glatman
John Wayne Gacy
Gary Heidnik
Jeffrey Dahmer
FIVE: SEX AND THE SERIAL KILLER
Perversions
Sadism
The Man Who Invented Sadism
Science Looks at Sadism
Wilhelm Stekel
de River and Reinhardt
Disciples of De Sade
Dominance
Fetishism
Transvestism
Vampirism
Cannibalism
Necrophilia
Pedophilia
Gerontophilia
The World’s Worst Pervert
SIX: WHY THEY KILL
Atavism
Brain Damage
Child Abuse
Mother Hate
Bad Seed
Mean Genes
Adoption
Fantasy
Bad Books, Malignant Movies, Vile Videos
Pornography
Profit
Celebrity
Copycats
The Devil Made Me Do It
SEVEN: EVIL IN ACTION
Triggers
Hunting Grounds
Prey
Targets of Opportunity
Snares
“Wanted: Well-Built Man for Slaughter”
Signature, Ritual, MO
Methods
Rippers
Stranglers
Ax Murderers
Poisoners
Shooters
Taunts
Escalation
Torture
Trophies
Disposal
EIGHT: HOW IT ENDS
Profiling
Origins
The Mind Hunters
How It Works
Capture
Psychics
Suicide
Punishment
NGRI (Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity)
Unsolved
NINE: SERIAL KILLER CULTURE
Fun with Serial Killers
Art
Music
Film
Literature
Humor
Murderbilia
Tourist Spots
Groupies

Has anyone read this book? Or have you any good suggestions for my next read?

Whoever Fights Monsters
Jack the Ripper: Case Closed

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed
The one by Patricia Cornwell? Amazing read, I enjoyed it. Do you think it was the painter?

I'm sort of on the fence with it, but mitochondrial DNA showed that he did write at least some of the letters.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Cannot go wrong with a classic.

Thanks, will check it out, and let you know what I think!

Try "The Shoemaker: Anatomy of a Psychotic". I'm sure it's out of print, but it's a great read.

[quote name='Sweetpumper' date='Mar 13 2006, 12:38 PM' post='1102613']
Try "The Shoemaker: Anatomy of a Psychotic". I'm sure it's out of print, but it's a great read.

It may be out of print, but you can still buy it on Amazon, I just bought a copy for $5.40. Thanks for the suggestion. I also got Capote's, sounds interesting. Thanks for the suggestions...

Yelekiah: I also picked up A Portrait of a Killer, but, I thought Patricia Cornwell just wrote novels.... I didn't know she also wrote true crime?? I guess you learn something new everyday......

P.S. If you like quirky little reads, another good one is Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil. It does not read like your average true crime and you know the guy did it from the start. But the atmosphere of the book and the quirkiness really make it a good read.

The book is amazing. She put a lot of hard work into it!

Simply enough, "The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers" is the most informative one I've read.

My favourite true crime book would have to be 'Body of Evidence' by Brian Innes.

this is taken from Amazon.com

I like that one to. It's really the only book I have on serial killers. A lot of the stuff I read is online like at crimelibrary.com and other sites.

if you like serial killers there is a web site i think it's just called serial killers that lists them and what happened with photos etc...it even updates them if something new were to happen like with the BTK killer....

Other then that true crime stores about Lizzie Borden are usually good as well as the old ones like helter skelter...but everyone has read that i think

I also recommend Patrica's Jack the Ripper book! Also anything by Lowell Cauffiel! His books are awesome! The research put into his books are amazing, it's almost like your reading a fiction story! I don't remember the name of it, but he wrote a book about some lezbian killer nurses which was great! Also his House of Secret's is quite a freaky tale!
Check out not only Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter, but And the Sea Will Tell.
Hope that helps, there's some good reading there!
stv

"Helter Skelter" by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, this book was my first reading encounter with a sick and murderous mind. It scared the hell out of me.

Amybutts, let me know what you thought of "The Shoemaker" when you're finished!

whoever fights monsters

human monsters

=)

any book written by the retired fbi profiler john douglas is an excellent read.the two books ex la cop mark furman's 2 books are also excellent!!!

And I Don't Want to Live This Life: A Mother's Story by Deborah Spungen about Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious. It's an excellent book: Book Description
"For most of us, it was just another horrible headline. But for Deborah Spungen, the mother of Nancy, who was stabbed to death at the Chelsea Hotel, it was both a relief and a tragedy. Here is the incredible story of an infant who never stopped screaming, a toddler who attacked people, a teenager addicted to drugs, violence, and easy sex, a daughter completely out of control--who almost destroyed her parents' marriage and the happiness of the rest of her family."


Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/044991141...glance&n=283155

Will do I just received it in the mail yesterday! I'm looking forward to reading it... Thank you for the suggestion, I would never even have known it was out there.....

The Black Dahlia Avenger is a good one.
Amazon listing for the Black Dahlia Avenger
D. B. Cooper: The Real McCoy is also great.
Amazon listing for D. B. Cooper: The Real McCoy

I like reading John Douglas books. . they have a bunch of info on profiling as well as the cases he worked on. Zodiac by Robert Graysmith was pretty good, and I really found "The Diary of Jack the Ripper" interesting, even if most people think it's a hoax.

There is a book by a man named Peter Vronsky about serial Killers. Can't remeber the title right off hand. Very good read.

Anything by John Doulgas or Robert Ressler- they are the experts on serial killers..
But it depends on what aspect of true crime you're after...

I have alot of encyclopaedia's of violent crime and criminolgy. They are excellent, but not cheap (one cost $300AUS)

One of my personal faves are The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

Also there's alot of books on Austrlaian crime for anyone who's interested. There's a series called "Never to be Released" by Paul Kidd which discusses some pretty interesting Australian crime. Although he tends to be a bit biased in some chapters and really gets to me when he gets all judgemental instead of simply giving us the facts..

The Serial Killer Files by Harold Schechter, anything by Max Haines, a Canadian writer who writes about true cases, and of course, " In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. Ann Rule is good too, but I find her style a bit "wordy"! And I don't Want to Live This Life is very very good too! As is John Douglas.