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55th out of 268 books
—
354 voters
Alone With the Devil: Famous Cases of a Courtroom Psychiatrist
From Publishers Weekly
This engrossing if disquieting study, and the strongly held views of forensic psychiatrist Markman, treats the role of psychiatry in the courts. Despite frequent "battles of experts," psychiatrists determine whether the accused was sane at the time of the crime and is competent to stand trial, and their findings influence the prepetrator's fate, stre...more
This engrossing if disquieting study, and the strongly held views of forensic psychiatrist Markman, treats the role of psychiatry in the courts. Despite frequent "battles of experts," psychiatrists determine whether the accused was sane at the time of the crime and is competent to stand trial, and their findings influence the prepetrator's fate, stre...more
Hardcover
Published
1989
by Doubleday
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(showing
1-30
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432)
Jun 23, 2008
Rebecca
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
richard chase fans, polanski fans, charlie manson fans, students of abnormal psychology
Recommended to Rebecca by:
no one.
Shelves:
books-i-own
This book is written fairly well compared to most "serial killer gets analyzed by high profile psychologist" books.
The thing that drew me to it is that it contains the most information about Richard Chase, aka 'The Vampire of Sacramento', that I have been able to find.
In my opinion the book was worth the price just for the Chase story, as the author seems to have been on of the people to speak with Chase the most in the short time between Chases' incarceration and suicide.
There are, however, o...more
The thing that drew me to it is that it contains the most information about Richard Chase, aka 'The Vampire of Sacramento', that I have been able to find.
In my opinion the book was worth the price just for the Chase story, as the author seems to have been on of the people to speak with Chase the most in the short time between Chases' incarceration and suicide.
There are, however, o...more
I read this in 2007 and recieved a crippling panic attack after reading the section about a team of serial rapists from the 70's who terrorized Malibu. Its like reading about genocide. Depressing and painful. I had been biking with my then girlfriendand we lost eachother and i became convinced she had been abducted -something i blame this book for. it put me off of true crime for years. read at your own risk
oh man, this one had a dollar general store tag still on it when i found it. two bucks. and i paid a quarter at this creepy/cute little old ladies' yard sale. she had trashy true crime and taxidermy eeeverywhere. while said old lady was awesome, i'm glad i didn't pay two dollars for this book. and i especially didn't like how this read inspired me to have a sex dream about Tex Watson.
This book is remarkable in that Dr. Markham gave psychiatric evaluations to many very famous criminals, including two of the Manson family members. However, it's also quite dated. This book was published in 1989; the laws pertaining to criminals and the mentally ill have changed significantly since then. So I couldn't give it as many stars as I might have. But it was a good book.
Nov 08, 2012
Travis
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone who likes to be scared
Recommended to Travis by:
Tex
scary book. I read this book when I was relatively young, and I remember being terrified and yet compelled to read more. It is about serial killers and the psychiatric assessment of them (psychopath or sociopath.) I was truly frightened at what humans can become. I was more scared of the psychopaths, because they don't know what they are doing and I think I felt sorrier for them, although what is written in this book are gruesome, detailed accounts of their murders, which is terrifying. I still...more
Wow!! If you love reading about infamous crimes, this is THEE book to read. Some of the stories are extremely graphic and disturbing.. while I was reading this, eating red meat was not an option, weird, I know!! Highly recommend if you follow The Manson Family, Bundy, or any other famous terrors.
When I first began reading this book I was not sure it was something I wanted to finish. I was sucked in to the bizarre things people do.
Very interesting. It is obvious that the author does not really agree with his role in court decisions. He states many times that the courts are biased toward the defendant and not the victim. In the many cases he lists this does seem to be the case. The courts are full of people whose crimes are argued down based on diminished capacity at the expense of the victim and what they have suffered.
This overall was a very interesting read with a good mix of clinical, legal, and dramatic information.
This overall was a very interesting read with a good mix of clinical, legal, and dramatic information.
Feb 09, 2012
Roni
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Someone who wants a good scare and has a strong stomach
Recommended to Roni by:
Cory
I know it's odd to give a 4 star rating to a book I'm putting on my abandoned shelf. It's well written and interesting, but I couldn't take any more after the Vampire of Sacramento case. So while this book was fascinating (like ogling a car accident), it was too disturbing and I'm too squeamish to finish.
This was interesting, but it was a rough read. There are a few stories I wish that I had skipped over, due to the graphic details of brutality. If you've ever wondered whether a criminal was really crazy under the law, this book gives you a better idea.
May 11, 2008
Rae
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
true-crime-and-forensics
A forensic psychiatrist recounts his creepier cases including the Manson family murders. This was extremely interesting and, at the same time, maddening. Justice is not always served, in my mind.
Parts of it were really good, but some of the legal stuff was boring and some of it was very gory. Overall, not horrible.
I mean, it IS amazing, but I wouldn't read it over and over. It's pretty disturbing.
Jun 17, 2013
Blakely
marked it as to-read
Jun 16, 2013
Dearmonia
marked it as to-read
Jun 11, 2013
Shantanay
marked it as to-read
Jun 11, 2013
Jamie
marked it as to-read
Jun 10, 2013
Tessa
marked it as to-read
Jun 06, 2013
Janelle Feldes
marked it as to-read
Jun 04, 2013
Khalidah Kamal
marked it as to-read
May 21, 2013
Laura Z
marked it as possible-reads
May 21, 2013
Jim
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Tami Nelson
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Kelly Eichman
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do the courts serve the accused or the victims? | 1 | 8 | Oct 29, 2008 12:18pm |
