The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catch...
Every crime is a mystery story with a motive at its heart. The Anatomy of Motive offers a dramatic, insightful look at the development and e...
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Aug 16, 2009
Robert
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John Douglas, co-founder of the FBI’s behavioral sciences profiling unit, served as the model for John Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs. Since the movie, Douglas and some of his co-profilers of violent criminals have flooded the market with books on the subject. The Anatomy of Motive is a good one: it defines and analyzes what makes such offenders tick, illustrating throughout with real-world cases, some of them (for example, Cunanan, Son of Sam, the Unabomber) well-known to the general p
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Dec 18, 2011
Ensiform
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“The FBI’s legendary mindhunter” opens his case book to the public, examining a series of violent offender types, from serial arsonists to “guys who snap” to mad bombers. Some of it is lurid and chilling, like the spree killers’ rampages, or the notorious Hi-Fi murders (where victims were forced to drink Drano). However, it’s lucidly written, and the authors are obviously rational, intelligent people who make their arguments about personal responsibility and motive convincingly. I would have
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Aug 01, 2011
Suzan
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John Douglas is one of the FBI’s premier behavioural science analysts who has profiled some of the modern era’s most infamous serial and spree killers. In The Anatomy of Motive, Douglas reveals the emotional motivation behind some of the world’s most heinous crimes, revealing insightful information on real-life case studies of major league whack-jobs such as Lee Harvey Oswald, Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and Ted Bundy, as well as numerous arsonsists, hijackers, bombers, poisoners, assassins,
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Jun 25, 2011
Karen
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This book was recommended to me by someone who's family is in law enforcement, after she found out how much I love reading books about serial murderers and profiling. She indicated that this one was not the best from this author, since his first, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, was well received. Unfortunately, Mindhunter was not available on Kindle, so I bought this one to read on Kindle while waiting for Mindhunter DTB to arrive.
The beginning of the book was More...
The beginning of the book was More...
Oct 25, 2011
Laura
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This was an absolutely fascinating book, full of case studies and examples of criminal behavior. The author breaks the book down into the following chapters, each dealing with a specific type of criminal behavior:
1) What I Learned From the Bad Guys
2) Playing With Fire
3) Magnum Force
4) Name Your Poison
5) Guys Who Snap
6) On the Run
7) Shadow of a Gunman
8) Random Acts of Violence
9) You Make the Call
Good stuff in between these pages, especi More...
1) What I Learned From the Bad Guys
2) Playing With Fire
3) Magnum Force
4) Name Your Poison
5) Guys Who Snap
6) On the Run
7) Shadow of a Gunman
8) Random Acts of Violence
9) You Make the Call
Good stuff in between these pages, especi More...
Oct 14, 2008
Sam
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There was a time when I wanted to be in the FBI as a criminal psychologist/profiler. This book was one of the driving forces behind that desire. It's expertly written with a down-to-earth tone, chronically one FBI agents quest to understanding serial killers and pathological murders. Though the subject matter is intense and often disturbing, John Douglas comes across as a simple and decent man driven to understand his enemy more than condemn. The key to any criminal case is finding and under
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Jan 28, 2011
Erin
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I finished this book rather quickly as the cases the author referenced were interesting, including the Unabomber, the Tylenol poisoning, and quite a few crazies who murdered their entire families. Additionally, at the end of the book the author provides you with 5 "cases" in which he provides facts. He encourages you to use the information he discussed in the book to solve the crime. I don't know if it was my legal training or the book, but I did pretty well and found that aspect of th
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Dec 29, 2009
Corey
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Disappointing. I was hoping for a more indepth look at the psychology of criminal motivation, but what I got was some rather mundane insights (e.g. violent crimes are motivated by the desire for power and control), some questionnable psychoanalysis (e.g. killers are likely to have wet the bed), and a rambling collection of case studies. Another issue with the book is that the author clearly favors his own personal experience and intuition over the empirical research, despite calling himself a be
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Dec 08, 2011
Tiara
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This book is essentially written by John Douglas. I’m not sure what Mark Olshaker’s contribution to the book was, unless Douglas was giving him credit due to the research they’d done together. This book basically goes into details about the movtives, behavior, etc. of serial murders, rapists, career criminals, etc. Interesting read overall. I’ll have to read his book Mindhunter in the future.
Jan 07, 2012
Barbara
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When it comes to bringing serial crime psychology and profiling to a level that a layperson can understand, Douglas is peerless. He identifies several different types of serial killers and includes true-life stories of a few he's dealt with in his decades with the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit. It's an engrossing, easily understandable and fascinating read.
Jan 22, 2009
James
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A fascinating and meticulously organized and presented book. The author uses a number of cases in which he was involved as an FBI profiler to present the fundamental ideas and many of the details of his work, and of the mental and emotional processes of the offenders involved. For anyone interested in forensics, the criminal justice system, or psychopathology, I recommend this book without reservation.
Nov 05, 2010
Anita
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Anyone interested in writing crime fiction or with an interest in true crime would find this book fascinating. Douglas is one of the original FBI profilers who developed the methods for profiling serial killers. Douglas takes you into the minds of killers and serial offenders to show you what makes them tick and what motivates them. Chilling.
Nov 08, 2010
Maria
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Fantastic book, this was choosed for my course and I love teh way John Douglas and Mark Olshaker write I am now reading more of their work and if you are interested in this subject I would highly recommend reading this. It's so easy to read, but also very inforamtive as it really makes you think.
Mar 26, 2009
Cardi
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I found this book while desperately searching for the last unread Jack Reacher novel I knew I had somewhere (found it!! but then started reading this first, LOLs). I think it's my dad's book, he's got a couple of others by John Douglas that I've also read. Probably not the best bedtime read when you're spending nights alone with guard dogs that don't hear so well anymore, LOLs
Dec 12, 2008
Andrea
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Okay, John Douglas is a name dropper and a bit self involved. IF you ignore those areas, there is more than enough info to keep you interested and fascinated. It has a permanent spot in my book shelf.
Jan 05, 2009
Brian
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Very interesting book that delves into the mind of serial killers in the U.S. and really shows the mindset that these killers have when they commit these heinous crimes. Nice read for anyone interested in criminal psychology.
Oct 24, 2008
Dyah
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Ini salah satu buku referensi terbaik saya tentang kriminal selain buku teks kuliahan saya. Bahkan kalau dipikir-pikir, saya lebih banyak dapat ilmu tentang isi otak penjahat di sini, daripada di kuliahan.
Bagi penulis cerita kriminal, misteri atau penulis yang pengen menciptakan karakter penjahat, buku ini referensi yang bagus banget. Ada bab tentang pelaku pembakaran, tukang ngeracunin, pembunuh berantai, sampai mass murderer. Semuanya punya karakteristik sendiri.
Sangat More...
Bagi penulis cerita kriminal, misteri atau penulis yang pengen menciptakan karakter penjahat, buku ini referensi yang bagus banget. Ada bab tentang pelaku pembakaran, tukang ngeracunin, pembunuh berantai, sampai mass murderer. Semuanya punya karakteristik sendiri.
Sangat More...
Aug 09, 2011
Christian
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Great book if you're interested in profiling. To my knowledge, John Douglas seems to be the inspiration for the show Criminal Minds.
Jan 25, 2011
Sue
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A very interesting read, breaking down the process of profiling to show how subtle clues can lead to patterns, etc. The book came out in 1999 and I wish he could write a follow-up in the 15 years since to delve into things like the unsolved anthrax attacks that happened not long after 9/11, etc. Very fascinating.
Sep 01, 2011
Miledy
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The book title says it all. If you want to learn the reason beyond why criminals/serial killers do things, pick up this book.
Jun 17, 2011
Mindy
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I really loved this. I read it at a time that there wasn't as much on television relating to crime as today. It's brilliant~
Jan 11, 2011
Tom
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A fascinating read. A great way to clarify terms and dispel myths regarding mass murderers, serial killers, and "Men who snap".
Apr 08, 2011
Gina
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Not wbat I was looking for. Suitable for begginers ir ex-agents nothing more, nothing less.
Apr 23, 2010
Fran
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Loved the book at the beginning and then not so much towards the end. Interesting topic.
Sep 15, 2009
Cindy
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Very interesting stuff! true stories about serial killers written by an FBI mindhunter!
Sep 17, 2008
Johnny
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This book makes you want to read MINDHUNTERS (written by the same author before Anatomy of Motive). It serves as a sort of 101 on all types of killers. Serial Killers, mass murderers, and spree killers. John Douglas is one of the pioneers and original killer profilers. He shares his case files which contain well known killers, and then gives his take on major killers of our time. I find human behavior fascinating, especially with sociopaths, so I personally loved it. If you enjoy watching Forens
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Jan 03, 2010
Pineapple
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Douglas is a bit full of himself but it's pretty interesting nonetheless.
Jun 30, 2010
Cindi
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It's been a while since I read "MindHunter" so I can't remember all the details. But, I think I liked this better. My recollection of "MindHunter" is that it seemed to have a "Gee, look at me and what I do and how good I am...." feel to it. This one really was delved into motive, the actual topic of the book.
