Loading...
93rd out of 212 books
—
205 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Obsession: The FBI's Legendary Profiler Probes the Psyches of Killers, Rapists, and Stalkers and Their Victims and Tells How to F
With a deep sense of compassion for the victims and an uncanny understanding of the perpetrators, Douglas exposes the chilling obsessions that compel the murderers, rapists, and stalkers of modern times.
Mass Market Paperbound, 496 pages
Published
November 1st 1998
by Pocket Books
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
804)
"Obsession" is the fourth book I've read from the John Douglas/Mark Olshaker partnership and I'm definitely grown less impressed. It's been several years since I read "The Cases That Haunt Us" (actually the next book in the series after "Obsession") and I'm beginning to wonder what I saw in them. While I recall the first two as quite compelling, "Obsession" feels like is treading some very old ground, indeed. The chapter where Douglas re-hashes the thre...more
To live in a state of fear, according to retired FBI profiler and author John Douglas, is to live with a sense of heightened awareness. Although, he goes on to say, victims of such crimes of stalking did nothing to deserve their perpetual state of terror. But living with a moderate dose of common sense fear is a precursor to living a safer life because that is the way our world and justice system does (or maybe doesn't) work.
"There is no conflict between civil liberties and v...more
"There is no conflict between civil liberties and v...more
James
rated it
Excellent, moving, and both disturbing and inspirational. Dr. Douglas, with his co-author, presents articulate, organized accounts of a variety of crimes that were based on some form of obsession, either with a particular person - stalking - or with a type of victim and fantasy. He describes the offenders, but focuses more on the victims and their families, showing the impact of the crimes. The book's last section is a primer on how people can make themselves safer and a plea for the justice sys...more
Anyone who's followed my reviews for any length of time knows that I'm a big John Douglas fan, and that I'm steadily working my way through all his books. I enjoyed this about as much as I've enjoyed the others, although I think that The Cases That Haunt Us is still my favorite. This book had more practical application and advice for victims and people seeking to avoid being victims, so in that sense it's a little different from the others, but he illustrates his points with appropriately hair-r...more
Interesting read but not as good as Mindhunter or Anatomy of Motive. Obsession focuses on victim issues and serves more as a political platform for Douglas' views.
The sections on criminal behaviour are gripping, as they were in Mindhunter; but I found these few and far between.
The sections on criminal behaviour are gripping, as they were in Mindhunter; but I found these few and far between.
This book took me quite a while to get through in spite of the interesting material and historical case descriptions, mostly because I find Douglas' point of view creepy as all hell.
The whole thing comes off as almost a fire-and-brimstone argument for retribution, with long and heavy-handed emotional arguments on behalf of the victims. Douglas' world is absolute black and white, with pure, innocent, and heroic victims crying out for vengeance against wretchedly evil criminals. I fou...more
The whole thing comes off as almost a fire-and-brimstone argument for retribution, with long and heavy-handed emotional arguments on behalf of the victims. Douglas' world is absolute black and white, with pure, innocent, and heroic victims crying out for vengeance against wretchedly evil criminals. I fou...more
Not nearly as good as Douglas's first book, largely because this book is written much more as a platform for his political views.
The parts about criminal behavior are, as to be expected, excellent. But he spends large portions of his book discussing the awfulness of criminal defense attorneys and legal rules of evidence, clearly without spending even a moment to consider why such rules exist, or if there is any value to the work of criminal defense attorneys. And that is really jus...more
The parts about criminal behavior are, as to be expected, excellent. But he spends large portions of his book discussing the awfulness of criminal defense attorneys and legal rules of evidence, clearly without spending even a moment to consider why such rules exist, or if there is any value to the work of criminal defense attorneys. And that is really jus...more
One of the best ideas I got from this book is that we can all do something. We can either donate to one of the 2 programs JD talks about. We can watch out for our neighbors and ourselves. And we can pay attention to children who are showing signs of problems and help before it is too late. The author thinks the chances of most serial criminals rehabilitating is slim- they need to be reached early and young so they can set new patterns.
I really liked this book... very informative. It really makes me want to go into this field, there are so many sick people out there. At the same time people need to be aware and that is also what this book does inform. There are so many people that just don't know, and this tells them where they can find information and can get help and that help is out there.
A great true crime book that shows what profilers go through in order to get inside the mind of the criminals they hunt. There are also some tips to help avoid becoming a victim of crime. If you're interested in becoming a profiler or just understanding the evil that walks around in our world, this a good book to read.
I got this book thinking that I would be reading more about the FBI Analysis Units. I was disappointed to find out that this book is about the author's opinions on select crimes that we committed in the 70's and 80's. Still, some of the book is fascinating; while some (especially when the author is pontificating) is tedious at best. A good book, but not a great book.
Gruesomely fascinating, as usual. Very good writer, and it's amazing how he's been able to keep his sanity, considering all of the insanity he's seen.
There was more about profiling in this book and a lot on stalking. This book told about Stephanie Schmidt. I was glad that I read this book.
I've read several of his books, this one is as good as the others. Scary the sick twisteed people that are out there. Real life is way worse that the movies.
Scary stuff, but if you like True Crime type stuff, this is also a good read.
Interesting analysis of the profiles of different types of rapists and stalkers. Not a book for the faint of heart.
Somewhat self-serving but a good read about serial killers.
Great resource on the psychology of sex criminals.
not read/available
I learned that the man But I wanted to tell you who is the person but the man name was not in the book but I can tell you what I learned that be thankful for what your family or anybody else that cares for you and treat you with respect and gives you want you need like for example give you a roof over your head to protect for anything that goes wrong . gives you food on the table when you are hungry. put clothes on your body when you are walking around the streets on walking in the house.
Obsession by John E. Douglas (1998)
This is non-fiction and was written by a former FBI profiler; I was expecting a lot of serial killer stories, but it's actually more about stalkers. If that's what you're looking for, I'm sure you'll like it.
Took me forever to finish this one. I just didn't find it as interesting as Mindhunter. BUT I think that since the whole CSI/Criminal Minds explosion, the subject matter isn't so mysterious and fascinating.
The depths of depravity of man knows no end. This is not an easy book to read, but I'm glad I did. The title of the book really tells all that is needed to know what it is about.
I love the John Douglas books! He was one of the first (if not THE first) FBI profilers. He worked on all the classic cases and has the most amazing stories!
It was good, really liked the stalking bit even though it was a little confusing at times. I lost track of son of the names and stories but it was good overall
Lesley
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people interested in serial killers and rapists
Shelves:
non-fiction
Very informative. Enjoyed Mindhunter more by the same author, and there is some overlap, but this one is more focussed on victim issues.
This book is so graphic and scary that probably 20 years after reading it, I still remember parts of the book.
Awesome in-depth and to the point.
For anyone into crime prevention and criminal minds..A MUST READ !
For anyone into crime prevention and criminal minds..A MUST READ !
interesting read but he recopies chunks from his other books: "Mindhunter" and "Journey Into Darkness"
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
John Edward Douglas is a former United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, one of the first criminal profilers, and criminal psychology author. He also wrote four horror novels in the mid 1990s.
-Wikipedia
More about John E. Douglas...
-Wikipedia
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
