Eye of the Beast: The True Story of Serial Killer James Wood

by Terry Adams, Scott Shaw, Mary Brooks-Mueller

In the summer of 1993, James Wood brought terror to the unassuming town of Pocatello, Idaho. Little did the friendly community realize it had opened its arms to serial killer. Wood, the stranger in town, was polite and soft-spoken. He looked quite ordinary—he was a master at appearing normal. In late June, Wood abducted and murdered Jeralee Underwood, the eleven-year-old daughter of a devout Morman familiy. The entire region was shocked and outraged. Now in Eye of the Beast author Terry Adams teams with lead investigator Scott Shaw and forensic psychologist Mary Brooks-Mueller to bring readers a unique perspective on this case. Shaw takes us into the heart of an exhaustive investigation, while Brooks-Mueller shows us the mind of a true sexual psychopath. Having spent years researching this case, the authors are skillful in recreating this true story about James Woods—one of the nation's most unusual serial killers. The case that rocked the Morman Church.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

276 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

Reviews

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a particularly despicable criminal who ruins the lives of countless people without giving a thought to anyone but himself. Full of odd details like this: "The Pizza Hut offered economical daily luncheon specials. Wood's favorite was an individual pizza served with a small pitcher of beer. He always came in for lunch alone." One of the authors is the Idaho cop who pursued the killer. Note: The ebook edition I read was loaded with OCR errors.

[Dara S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good, easy read.

[Jordan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as the writing goes, this wasn't a particularly well written book from a literary stand point but it wasn't bad either. Maybe I'm just not used to Non Fiction. Overall I liked the book, it was quite detailed and informative and kept my interest from front to back. It may be the fact that I grew up in Pocatello and went to school with some of the Underwood family that made it so interesting to me but nonetheless it was a good read and certainly delves the depths of the psyche of a sociopath if that is what you're looking for. There are a few graphic descriptions of the crimes committed (mostly involving children) that some might find difficult to stomach but if that doesn't deter you then definitely give it a read.

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Wood is the personification of evil. A career criminal who committed a stabbing and rape of two women in 1967 and was later released from the notorious Angola Prison in Louisiana, he went on to rob, rape and kill an unknown number of people. His final victim was an eleven year-old girl in Pocatello, Idaho. Mormons make up a predominant portion of the city and James was welcomed by them with open arms. A drifter with few job skills, he survived by selling his artwork. The psychopath was a talented painter. The book is well researched and I found it to be a good read.

[Peter Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Pocatello boy, this story was of particular interest to me. I found it not to be exceptionally written, but it was packed full of information and it was interesting to know many of the places discussed in the book.

[Bruno Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was well written. The research done was excellent and even though it was a true crime story it was not so booged down with superfluous details. If you are into real crime stories, I recommend this book.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. Succinct and effective, I learned all I needed to know. It's not the best true crime novel I've ever read, but it hit all the marks. Well written and researched, and it leaves you with an understanding of the crimes that isn't often achieved.

[Chelsea Pittman · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I thought he was never going to actually kill someone. I thought he just liked hurting people. I had never heard of him before.

He definitely was a very messed up man.

[Joni Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really close to home. This was the murder that started my interest in the minds of serial killers. My hometown

[Kcastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The girl and her sister who were kidnapped and lived, lived in my ward.
Mr Wood lived across the street from the school Roger worked in. This feels like a personal story. My friend Gaila was related to the girl who was murdered in Pocatello.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and interesting read. Another book for my collection on serial killers

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! This is not one of the well known serial killers, but he is worth researching. In the interest of full disclosure, I know one of the authors.

[Micky Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read