When Kids Kill: Unthinkable Crimes of Lost Innocence (Virgin True Crime) by Jonathan Paul

by Jonathan Paul

Kids are growing up faster than ever. They know about sex, they are experimenting with drugs and, increasingly, they are finding themselves in court. There are also those who commit the worst possible those who end another person's life before their own has properly begun. Cases of child homicide are rare but, as we all know, they are especially horrific and tap directly into adult fears about the end of innocence and the potential harm of violent TV programmes, films and computer games. In this topical yet sensitive investigation Jonathan Paul goes behind the sensational headlines that dominated crimes such as the Bulger killing to argue that children are not 'born killers', but that evil is learned, not innate. The author asks why such unthinkable crimes happen and examines child homicide both in today's violent, confusing world and against the cruel, unforgiving retribution of yesterday. This is what happens when childhood is trodden this is when - and why - kids kill.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Psychology, Crime

Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[The Scouse Druid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contrary to the sensationalist title, this is actually a very interesting book. “When Kids Kill: Unthinkable Crimes of Lost Innocence“, by Jonathan Paul, is well researched and even reveals some points I had not heard before. It includes a great introduction in which he speaks to Dr Susan Baily, a prominent child forensic psychologist and president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Some of the cases included Mary Bell, the murder of Damilola Taylor, the really interesting case Lisa Healey and Sarah Davey and of course both Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

This book also asks what makes Children suddenly turn homicidal and talks in-depth about social events and home life which may have contributed to the child’s behaviour. While the author does a good job at pointing out the flaws in demonising child killers, he does sound rather preachy at some point. He effectively points out that what the majority of the killers in these cases have in common is an abusive and unsecure start in life.

One negative thing I have to say is that I cannot shake the feeling that a lot of what is in the book has been borrowed from other authors. This could explain the different styles and levels of details between the cases. Another down side is that it seems to have been a long time since this book was last updated (2002-ish) and a lot of the information is now out of date.

Over all it is a good captivating read and at approximately 250 pages it is relatively short. Overall, I will give it 4 out of 5.

[Sheelagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written(in places) account of some horrific child killers. I had to disagree to some of the quotes from professionals at times, as it seemed to me evil was present and only 6-8 years in an institution for this was not going to help. We just need to look at the horrific Bulger case to see this as one has re-offended again and again...are kids born evil? maybe no.. but some stay that way forever.

[Michayla Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this was a very interesting and disturbing book, I found that the author was doing a lot of guess work. He kept stating what the killers were feeling or thinking, there is no way for anyone to know those details unless the person has said that. It made the whole thing sound unbelievable. If it wasn’t for my knowledge on some of the cases mentioned in the book, I wouldn’t have believed any of it. Not as good as I was expecting.

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I enjoyed learning new facts about cases I had prior knowledge of, but it became more of a "fictional-style" retelling towards the end.

I enjoyed elements of it in the beginning, and there were times where I felt like I was reading a thriller, but I did end up missing the factual elements, which the beginning half of the book focused on more.

[Geraint griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

Very well written and researched book . Already heard about most of these murders committed by children but needless i liked the psychology reasoning into the minds of these children .Very good read would recommend .

[Charli Huston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay. It gives you the outlines to some horrific cases and some very interesting child killers, but I feel sometimes the author takes too much from not very reputable sources and sometimes says things which are more opinion than fact. Still, a good read which I enjoyed.

[teleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.

[Aoife · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely interesting book which goes into good psychological detail into explaining why these cases of killer kids occurred.

[Caroline Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I found this book to be informative of certain cases and what 'supposedly' happened, although for some cases we may never know the extremities of torture that these poor victims were put through (physically and psychologically). Cases, such as, the James Bulger and Damilola Taylor were probably the most horrifying and upsetting to read as the victims were so young and I can remember hearing of them on the national news at the time they happened.

I do feel that in trying to find out why the perpetrators did what they did, Jonathan Paul didn't explain very well. He seems vague and almost sympathetic to these child killers due to their own experiences of growing up. However, although I could try to understand the way they must have felt about society, especially those that were abused themselves, I still do not believe that this is a justified reason to what they inflicted upon others. There must be, and have been, many children that feel (or have felt) deprived/neglected by their families and/or society that would never even contemplate carrying out such an horrific crime.

I feel these cases, although are connected with 'problem children' also have very much to do with the chemistry that these children have with their best friend or peers, and combined together it brings out the worst of their imaginations and fantasies - which are then sometimes carried out. For example, had Jon Venables not met Robert Thompson then their crime would not have taken place. However, who is to know whether they would have carried on to do something as bad later in life? There are also cases, of those children that kill alone in which I can only think that they have psychological problems.

I do not know the answers, I am merely reacting and expressing my personal thoughts after reading this book and feeling very sickened by what humans can actually do to others. I understand my views are controversial and I have not researched this area much to explain it in any other way. There is probably a great deal I have overlooked. I hope my views do not offend anyone as it is not my intention to do so.

[Ella Belakovska · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s difficult to know how to review a book that has so clearly borrowed work from so many others. On one hand, the author has those people to thank for their own research and journalism in providing stories that will be new to the uninitiated true crime reader. However this also has the effect of making some chapters far more detailed and verbose than others. For example, the chapter ‘Murder on Hungerford Bridge’ has a narrative of an almost fictional quality, whereas ‘The Boy who Loved Poisons’ appears to be written for a younger audience and is much simpler in its language.

A major criticism of this book is the lack of editing. This is particularly grating when names change: on just one page, Denise Bulger’s companion on the fateful day at Bootle Strand goes from Nicola to Vanessa and back to Nicola again. It smacks of ‘copy and paste’ and makes the author look indifferent to the victims, e.g. ‘The Body in the Canal’ primarily names the elderly victim as Mrs Lilley, but she becomes Lily for a few paragraphs!

Writing style aside, the book itself does not make many attempts to explore the background to either the murderers themselves, or the overall psychology of children who kill. The former can be understood by the nature of this being a catalogue of crimes rather than an investigation into one child’s actions. However, the peppered thoughts on teenage cruelty throughout some chapters, and the ‘summing up’ in the final pages of the book just seem a little simplified and almost appear to excuse the way some children turn out, based on their admittedly appalling upbringings, while labelling others with a flavour of Daily Mail vilification.

Unfortunately, these inconsistencies are the lasting impression I was left with, which detracts so much from substance of book as to render it pointless. The only recommendation I could make would be to those who have an interest in true crime but have not read much on the subject. If nothing else, the reader can identify cases of interest as a starting block and seek out further information on them elsewhere.

[The Scouse Druid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contrary to the sensationalist title, this is actually a very interesting book. “When Kids Kill: Unthinkable Crimes of Lost Innocence“, by Jonathan Paul, is well researched and even reveals some points I had not heard before. It includes a great introduction in which he speaks to Dr Susan Baily, a prominent child forensic psychologist and president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Some of the cases included Mary Bell, the murder of Damilola Taylor, the really interesting case Lisa Healey and Sarah Davey and of course both Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

This book also asks what makes Children suddenly turn homicidal and talks in-depth about social events and home life which may have contributed to the child’s behaviour. While the author does a good job at pointing out the flaws in demonising child killers, he does sound rather preachy at some point. He effectively points out that what the majority of the killers in these cases have in common is an abusive and unsecure start in life.

One negative thing I have to say is that I cannot shake the feeling that a lot of what is in the book has been borrowed from other authors. This could explain the different styles and levels of details between the cases. Another down side is that it seems to have been a long time since this book was last updated (2002-ish) and a lot of the information is now out of date.

Over all it is a good captivating read and at approximately 250 pages it is relatively short. Overall, I will give it 4 out of 5.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read, although it didn't give me the insight into juvenile criminal psychopathology that I was hoping for. The book does read rather like a summary of other people's work (fairly credited), with little original input from the author and for this reason I would recommend it to someone with interest in true crime as a springboard to particular cases for further research. I would be very interested to read a newer edition, if one exists, to examine the author's take on where some of the criminals mentioned in the book have ended up. For example, Paul writes in the chapter covering the James Bulger case that he hopes and believes the perpetrators to be reformed. After the book was published, Venables was convicted of owning and distributing child pornography, flying in the face of the opinion that he no longer poses a danger to society. There are also some inconsistencies that show a lack of decent editing and proof reading (people's names change spelling sometimes on one page, for example). Nevertheless, and despite the gruesome subject matter, I really enjoyed this book and took every opportunity to flash the sensationalist front cover at parents on public transport who I wished would better discipline their irritating children.

[Leighjane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a chilling Account of Child Murderers, especially covering the James Bulger Case. This book also asks what makes Children suddenly turn homicidal and talks in-depth about social events and home life which may have contributed to the child's behaviour. This book is a brilliant read, and will certainly leave you with the creeps, but the Author does try and make out to a certain extent that the kids weren't born bad, and in a roundabout way tries to blame everyone else except these cruel Murderers, who by the sounds of it knew exactly what they were doing. That was an aspect of the Book that I wasn't keen on, however this is a worthy read and is highly recommended!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It doesn't seem quite right to say I enjoy these sort of books but I have been known to peruse them from time to time and take an interest in real life crime. I thought this book was a little shallow in it's conclusion and there didn't seem to be that much cohesion of the collection of examples but it was definitely readable and I read it incredibly quickly which is normally an indicator that something has sparked my interest. I recommend.

[Sukmatiqa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that this is the truth. Kids do kill.

But its not 100% their fault. Many causes. Even because of their intelligence. And curiosity.

The description was very well explained. You can even imagine the scene (with horror)

[Sheryl Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very well researched book describes the whole case of well-documented crimes committed by child killers (historical and more modern) clearly and accurately and at the same time crediting the reader with intelligence and opinions.

[Charlie Ronayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

a series of interesting true stories of various kids from different countries who have killed. It is shocking that so many kids have killed, most of the time it is a family member that is killed but it is an interesting insight into the world of child killers

[Shannongeorgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting case histories.

[Rachael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly written, full of mistakes and lacking any facts.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I dont like leaving bad reviews so I won't.

[Rachel White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating but not an easy read!

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abysmally dark. But we live in a world where these crimes happen, and the case studies and the psychology they revealed were handled well.

[Sharone Cabán Neuhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

This book provided good insight and analysis into young people who kill. Clearly written it was easy to understand and we'll refe referenced.