The Evil That Men Do: FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators

by Stephen G. Michaud, Roy Hazelwood

Along with Robert Ressler and John Douglas, Roy Hazelwood is one of the founders of VICAP, the FBI program that profiles serial killers. Hazelwood's specialty, is sexual crime—sexually motivated serial killers to rapists to the frightening psychology that drives sexual sadists to the bizarre scenarios behind autoerotic deaths. Hazelwood consulted on the notorious "Barbie and Ken" case, the Atlanta child murderer, and the explosion aboard the USS Iowa. This is a fascinating look at the human dark side from an expert on the subject.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Psychology, Biography, Audiobook, Science

262 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Hannah Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been more than half a year since I took interest in human behavior particularly in criminals. It all started with study of body language and negotiation. It was also the time when I first heard of Roy Hazelwood. At first his name was just one of many but slowly it started to grow and today I consider Mr Hazelwood as one the people I truly look up to. It is to my sadness that he is retired and I never got a chance to listen to his guest lectures on behavior of serial killers. However, I feel like reading this book in a way made me feel less sad as it is written in considerably the style I would expect Hazelwood to present cases in his lectures. Therefore, I can without doubt say that it was an amazing read even for somebody like me who has read considerably alot on sex offenders like Bandy, Pacific Beach and Ski Mask rapists, Kaczynski, Debardeleben and many more.
Moreover, for those that avoid such reading simply because of their fear towards terrible crimes, this book comparing to what I have come across already is truly one of the least "terrifying". It never was is or will be about creating fear, it is written in order to analyze and understand and that is exactly what this book has achieved.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this before every show on TV was a true crime / profiler / detective type of show. Very interesting. This book will remind you to lock your doors, cover one eye to dialate your pupils in a parking garage, and to keep a round in the chamber and an extra clip in your back pocket.

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am obsessed with the David Fincher series Mindhunter and so bereft at the thought it has been cancelled (tell me how Casualty is still on boring folks after 30 years while this is canned after 2 series) I have elected to read memoirs of the various agents who have worked in the FBI's Behavioural Science Unit. Roy Hazelwood is my favourite, his book Dark Dreams was well written and interesting, going beyond the familiar serial killer territory into the lesser known aspect of his role which is determining whether a crime is suicide, homicide or accident.
Hazelwood is a man of great intelligence and humanity who through a series of decisions about what he didn't want to do ended up being one of the most respected profilers the FBI has ever produced. Less flashy than John Douglas (one of the highlights of this book is the insight that despite requiring a large suite in a upscale hotel in which to hunker down when called to work on a case out of town, he never wavered from ordering an American-Cheese white-bread sandwich for the reason, “they're the same everywhere you go”) I find his understated approach to his own talents and contributions to how crimes are solved and victims of crimes are treated, especially that of rape belie just how influential his reports and findings are in understanding the criminal mind.
In light of all that I am saddened that Roy's name has been linked to a book that while interesting is full of terrible editing errors.Wrong pronouns are used, fighters rather than fights tail off outside the bars of Saigon (images of drunken lear jets squaring up with jeers of, “you looking at my pilot” spring to mind) and there is one error where inside has been used instead of in which makes the chapter on fetishists even more disturbing!.
In conclusion, subject matter interesting but for a man whose entire career was based on being thorough, observant and procedural Hazelwood deserves better than this amateur offering.

[Katherine Addison · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I'm figuring out that there's a problem with biographies that are about what a person does rather than who a person is, and that's that they become, by the nature of the beast, laudatory: self-congratulatory in autobiographical form ("I did this and this and this and this, and people were very impressed with that, and ...") and hagiographic in the biographical, like this one. From Michaud's account it more or less sounds like Hazelwood is 7 feet tall and breathes fire. And the thing is, Hazelwood was clearly a remarkable man (he died in 2016) who accomplished remarkable things. But it's hard to see that past the interference of Michaud's paean to St. Roy.

(Yes, I'm exaggerating. No, not by much. It's a problem I've seen repeatedly and have just with this one figured out why.)

So this is a highlights reel of Hazelwood's career as a profiler and equivocal death investigator. The case study parts are extremely interesting; Hazelwood was clearly very very good at the part of profiling that I think is most valuable: when you look at a crime scene, what does the scene tell you about the perpetrator? But the stuff around that was just kind of meh. I'm not really interested in what a wonderful person Hazelwood was (and he was, I'm not trying to say that I think Roy Hazelwood doesn't deserve praise); this would be why mostly I don't read biographies. I read books like The Evil That Men Do because I'm interested in puzzle solving. The hagiography is just distracting.

[Loraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book unintentionally exposed the American police system as extremely corrupted and deeply flawed in its approach to handling sex crimes. Basically, one guy (Roy Hazelwood) was like "hey let's not be actively racist and misogynist," and was credited with revolutionizing how sex crimes are handled. Every other page, in glorifying Roy for doing...his job...exposes several officers and departments who were failing women and children for DECADES by being incompetent and ridiculing the plight of vulnerable victims. This book is an examination of sex criminals, and about half of the discussed officers and detectives should be included in that category.

If you ever want to hear about a police station that keeps black lingerie pinned up in their sexual crimes unit...

Officers who wanted to keep women out of official sexual violence seminars so they can make more dirty jokes...

Or a military personnel who drove around with a dead body in the trunk of his car, obstructing the official investigation to show people he knew and suffered no professional consequences...

Check this book out! Which was supposed to be an inside look into the worst criminals and unintentionally achieved just that!

(No hate to Roy Hazelwood, he seems like a fine guy who did a lot of great things in the name of cleaning up the reputation of fighting sex crimes. But, this book paints him as a hero when it was just him being normal and every other official involved being depraved and disgusting. The book itself was 2 stars, not extremely well written, but Roy's story was kind of interesting. I think the intention of the book was to be praise for his work, but so much of the horrifically low standards Roy encountered stood out to me as way more relevant.)

[The Lion's Share · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointed with this as I had high hopes after reading mindhunter and considering Hazelwood was the main guy from that BSU team. He’s like a god to profilers.

The problem with this was instead of telling us or showing us his world of how he captured these guys or why they thought the way they did, instead we get a script of what the sexual offenders did with minimal information as to why in a psychological sense. I’m not someone that gets off reading sexual offences and it’s certainly difficult to read. The writing style is just poor.

[Glenn Gordon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I haven't read this or any book by Roy Hazelwood nor would I ever indulge in anything written by someone as conceited as Hazelwood. While researching for my own work on the Apathy Kills blog I often come up against self proclaimed experts who are nothing more than plagiarists and victims of delusions of grandeur. During my research I found a documentary entitled "Devils & Demons: Azazel And The Fallen Angels". In this film, it introduced a section asking if Satan produced offspring, then proceeded to give an overview of historical serial killers apparently conceived on Satanic holidays. One of them was Fred and Rose West. Fred West was conceived on 24 December 1940, although he was born on 21 September 1941. As an FBI Profiler, Roy Hazelwood was interviewed at this stage as a so-called expert. Hazelwood launches into his expert opinion of Fred and `Mary' West as a very unusual case..... How can any investigative researcher help feeling exasperated and frustrated when so-called reliable authors can't even get the names of their subjects right? Hazelwood can't even be excused for mistakenly addressing West by her other Christian name which is Pauline, not Mary. This says a lot about the integrity of an FBI Profiler, especially in light of their assessment in 1988 in a BBC broadcast, hosted by Peter Ustinov on a subject close to my heart. This was the very subject which launched me into my enthusiastic interest into mysteries, conspiracies and the unsolved at the age of 15 due to the influence of my dad. It was the 1888 Jack The Ripper case. I remember watching these fools on the panel, feeling infuriated as they utterly destroyed their own credibility by protecting a 100 year old cover-up with the usual suspect. I was then mortified to discover that Hazelwood had the gaul to write a book on a subject I have extensively researched and investigated since I was aged 15, over 40yrs ago. I didn't even bother to look at Hazelwoods book since every author on the Whitechapel murders specifically avoids crucial aspects of the murders in order to distract from the involvement of the British Royal family, whether direct or indirect. I have presented a case that strongly demonstrates the indirect involvement of the monarchy and most certainly the direct involvement of the state.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read Robert Ressler's books and John Douglas's books and both spoke highly of Hazelwood (though not of each other), so I was interested to get his perspective on the work of the BSU profilers. I don't know if I have just read some of the stories too much or what, but I didn't find this book as engaging as the others. Maybe I am simply looking for something more from the books. Certainly I was interested in the information that Hazelwood had determined that women in this country were not being given useful information about how to respond to sexual assaults and attempts, but instead may be doing all the wrong things for their own survival in these horrific situations. I would have been even more interested if the book had chosen to pass along what Hazelwood thinks women should do instead. There is a part of me that thinks that this book suffered at least in part because it was written by Michaud based on interviews with Hazelwood, as opposed to being shaped equally by the perspectives of both men.

[Eduard Kutscher · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Evil That Men Do" by Stephen Michaud is a book about Roy Hazelwood. Roy was a FBI profiler.

There are some cases in the book I have never heard or read before. Which I appreciated. On the other hand I missed some "personal touch" from Roy, some of his personality. It was not there because this book was not written by Roy (although he cooperated on the book) but about him. I missed there some emotions. The book was written in a matter-of-fact style. It was very impersonal.

2 stars out of 5. There are better books about profiling.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Women around the world should read this. It's a great book that really opens your eyes to how vulnerable and trusting you can be and how you can be taken advantage of as a result. It's filled with simple tips that can protect you from male predators. Great book.

[Noctvrnal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. It's partially a look into some cases but also partially small biography of Roy Hazelwood. At points writing feels disjointed and that's the only negative thing about this book. Stephen also introduces some lesser known but also very interesting cases that Roy worked on and it makes this book an enticing read because it's not just a recap of cases that everyone knows about. Another thing to point out is that this book was written when Green River Killer was still not caught. While in the book there's no talking about this specific case in detail - fact alone places this study of career in a very amusing light.
All in all - great read.

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good review of Hazelwood’s career and casebook. Like John Douglas and Robert Ressler, Roy Hazelwood is another one of the founding members of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) at Quantico, Va.

[Leah Polcar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I starting watching Mindhunter on Netflix and got interested, all over again, with the origins of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit and the beginning of profiling serial killers and sexual predators. Since I read quite a few of Douglas' books back in the day, I thought I would turn my attention to his partner, or colleague, Roy Hazelwood instead of digging out my old copy of Mind Hunters.

Hazelwood specializes in sexual predators primarily and others with sexual paraphilias. As usual with most of these types of true crime accounts, I found myself horrified and fascinating at the behavior people are capable of. You will need a strong stomach and adequate home security if you read The Evil That Men Do. In any case, this focus on the sexual aspects of crime is unique and to my mind adds some information above what you learn from Douglas' work.

The psychology behind profiling was well explained here. As a special bonus treat you get to apply what you learned in a case in the last chapter.

Michaud is a little too fanboy over Hazelwood for my liking and that detracted from the overall presentation, plus some better organization could have helped. However, a solid entry into the profiling/true crime genre -- though if you only had a chance to read one book, I would suggest Michaud/Hazelwood's later Dark Dreams over this.

[Granny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better than average book on the thought processes of serial killers, bolstered by his real life experience as an FBI profiler. Hazelwood describes the course of his career in parallel with the development of the Behavioral Science Unit. It is interesting to follow how behavioral science grew from being considered "voodoo science" to a respected part of the FBI procedures to capture criminals.

The book also includes a number of specific cases from Hazelwood's files. I sense the influence of Stephen G. Michaud in many of these, as he was one of two reporters specifically requested by Ted Bundy to interview him in his final hours. They are very interesting, but certainly not for the faint-hearted.

Finally, Hazelwood goes into detail about the tragedy of autoerotic asphyxiation, which is often misunderstood by local police departments as murder, rather than a form of inadvertent suicide. When it is "misdiagnosed", it becomes a waste of police resources and also traumatic to the families of the victim who lack closure from knowing the true cause of death.

There are a lot of poorly written books out there on this topic, this is one of the few worth reading.

[Michael Ransom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent source of insights into both the facts of serial killer cases as well as the distorted, maladjusted reasoning behind their desires to kill. Roy Hazelwood was the real-life inspiration for modern detectives and FBI profilers characterized in books (Silence of the Lambs, The Ripper Gene), TV (The Following, CSI, The Killing) and movies (Seven, Silence of the Lambs), just to name a few. He (Roy Hazelwood) and John Douglas revolutionized the field with their meticulous studies and their ground-breaking theories which ultimately have stood the test of time. This book explains a great deal of the casework and analysis that led to their breakthroughs in the area of profiling serial killers, and is not to be missed by students and enthusiasts alike.

[Matthew J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book when it was published in 1998. Back then, I would have furnished this review with five starts. After all, Roy Hazelwood was the real-life inspiration for the great Netflix series Mindhunter.

I revisited the Evil That Men Do this month since my friend Cam was reading it (on my "true crime" recommendation).

It doesn't totally stand the test of time. The first 40 pages are rife with distracting typos and poorly constructed sentences. Also, as in most evidence-based practices, the discipline has advanced quite a bit since 1998, rendering some of the case studies and observations obsolete.

That having been said, it's still a decent read, albeit not a great one.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

You won't find my doors and windows unlocked anymore... This guy, an FBI agent in the Behavioral Science Unit, studied rapists, murderers, and all manner of depravity. In this book he takes you a bit deeper into the horrors of the crimes than you might want to go. Unless you're me, I love depravity!

From the well known stories like the psycho who committed the Atlanta Child Murders to lesser known deviants in small town Nebraska, the terror you'll learn about is fascinating and terrifying. If you love True Crime, this is a must read.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roy Hazelwood is an amazing man. I love stories about how the good guys catch the serial killers, and for some reason serial killers have always fascinated me. It's not the 'what' they do that intrigues me. It's the 'why' they do it? In my next life I want to be an FBI profiler or a forensic psychologist. It's cool when the good guys outsmart the narcissistic bad guys who think they're God. This book has several stories about serial killers, and touches on the why they chose to do what they did. It was a great read.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good insight into first, the depravity of man and insight into how evil one can be if "wired" that way. I really enjoyed this book though because I am fascinated by Quantico and Roy Hazelwood, along with John Douglas(one of my favorite authors)and several others, is one of the rock stars of it.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably read this about ten books into a true crime spree (reading spree), so I think I may have just been over-saturated...

[Sharon V · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird hero worship. No sensibility for women, voyeuristic photos of nude dead women. Not impressed. Old school machismo shallowness.

[Ceeceereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Similar to John Douglas’s books, it was gripping and of a high level of writing. The cases were presented in an expert manner- my attention didn’t waver once. It was grim and disturbing, at times I found it hard to read. I would be slow to recommend it due to extremely distressing content but if you could handle Mindhunter you could probably handle this.

[Meg Tuite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unforgettable and mesmerizing! By a few of the first profilers of serial killers. Also, Manhunter is based on Hazelwood.

[Shannon Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely frightening and absolutely fascinating.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. Some valuable information about causality of different kinds of crime and the different characteristics of groups like rapists (usually men of European ethnicity, by the way). The last half of the book is all about Roy Hazelwood and his ability and success as a criminal profiler. I found that less interesting than the first few chapters.

Another reservation about the whole field of criminal profiling. There's no question that Hazelwood is brilliant at this, but he has a number of imitators in law enforcement that don't know what they're doing and are arrogant about applying what they think is his profiling system when they come upon a crime. The most egregious is the typing and subsequent media-mauling of Richard Jewell, a security guard in the Olympic Village in Atlanta in 1996. Jewell discovered a likely bomb on the grounds and alerted everyone to vacate the area. FBI profilers quickly concluded that Jewell was the bomber himself, and could tell by his need to be heroic in a crisis situation. He was convicted in the press, then later discovered not to have had anything to do with the bomb. He sued NBC for $500,000 after his exoneration, although he considered his life to have been ruined by the false accusations. He also sued his employer, Piedmont College, and a few other media. After his exoneration (the bomber turned out to be Eric Rudolph) Jewell was feted and awarded, but the damage had already been done by innuendo.

Another case, in Dave Eggers' book Surviving Justice: America's Wrongfully Convicted, one of the narratives concerns a cop who determined by his individual profiling system that a certain woman had to be guilty of a crime. His profiling caused him to overlook the actual clues and facts of the crime, and the woman was sent to jail.

Those two cases are just extensions of the profiling system and have nothing to do with Hazelwood, but it shows an alarming trend of amateur profilers falsely identifying "criminals" based solely on the profiling system they have cobbled together. It's just a tangential subject to this book, but it shows how a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Also, a warning to readers of this book: There are stories with specifics so gruesome and perverted that they are difficult to get through.

[Sandy Nawrot · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's pretty amazing when, by chance, you discover that someone in your life is actually as obsessed with true crime as you are. It's not a genre for the faint of heart, so it is rare that I find someone who will unflinchingly read this stuff without reserve. This person, who happened to be a trainer at my gym, showed up the next day with a crate full of her stash, and I dug in, starting with this book.

Roy Hazelwood is a bit of a God in the profiling world. He fathered most of what has become pedestrian knowledge (thanks primarily to Silence of the Lambs and CSI-type shows) at the FBI's BSU. He established the "organized" and "disorganized" types of murderers, founded the linkage analysis that has convicted hundreds of deviants, and defined six categories of rapists (sexual predators were his specialty). This book is dedicated to the knowledge acquired over Hazelwood's career and some of his most insidious cases.

Again I'll just say this is not for the faint of heart. It's brutal and gruesome (yes there are pictures), but I find all of this fascinating...the psychology of serial killers and sexual sadists. I probably missed my calling in life. If this is the type of thing that interests you, I'd recommend this as a book you absolutely should not miss. It is like the primer of profiling.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit I skimmed through this one, as well as two others on serial killers. I can read on serial killers, and horror, and even watch the documentaries and horror movies, but I think with the true text of what really happen theres only so much that can be taken at once. I did enjoy what I did read of this book though, it was scary and real, I think thats why I had so much trouble finishing it, because all the horror that I read about of clowns and werewolves and stuff I know is all fake.....well for the most part. I do believe there are ghosts,aliens,vampires, and other beings we don't always see but its not as real as this. I warn you if you read this it is very graphic and it is a struggle, it makes you think twice on you to trust, and yes I got all that after reading just what I did.

[coty ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don't know if roy hazelwood really is just so unlikeable or if it's just michaud's writing, but... he is absolutely unlikeable. michaud also manages to present every case in the blandest way, not really offering much regarding details or analysis... too often it's just a presentation of the suspect and a list of their crimes, but there's hardly ever a true deep-dive into motivations, etc; i think if hazelwood himself had written it, it would be a lot better, but via a proxy it just ends up becoming watered down and doesn't really offer much insight into anything. john douglas/mark olshaker's books are a far better way to learn about behavioral science/profiling, and there's doubtless other, better written books on some of the individual cases discussed here.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone interested in psychology, profiling, or true crime. When I first bought the book, early in the year, I was at the moment obsessed with psychological profiling and the TV show "Criminal Minds". After discovering there would be no profiling, no Criminal Minds without the beloved Roy Hazelwood this book was a must-read. Biographies are not my favorite genre, however, the great detail of the narration and often witty prose kept me entertained throughout. This book served as the perfect go-between through other novels and tales I read throughout this year.

[Tabitha Rohm · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally quit reading this book at chapter 3. It was sooooo dry I couldn't stay with it. It had a lot of good and interesting information in it, but the author was writing in first person and he could not hold my interest. He was extremely boring.