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Serial Killers
Probes the killer resentments and sinister fantasies, and find out what drove these apparently ordinary people to commit acts of savagery.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1992
12 people are currently reading
1077 people want to read
About the author
Laura Foreman
25 books5 followersLaura Foreman (June 11, 1943 – June 4, 2020) was an American journalist and author, and the first female political writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer. She was the first reporter who lost their job due to an affair, also effectively ending her journalism career.
Noting the harsh punishment in the case, critics saw a double standard, with different consequences for men and women. Her former colleague Lee Winfrey cited her attractiveness and success as a cause of resentment from male colleagues.
After the investigation, Foreman changed paths, and began work as a writer and editor at Time-Life Books. At the height of the position, she managed 20 people and freelanced for Discovery Publishing, authoring many books on subjects of True Crime, history, archaeology, biography, and more.
Noting the harsh punishment in the case, critics saw a double standard, with different consequences for men and women. Her former colleague Lee Winfrey cited her attractiveness and success as a cause of resentment from male colleagues.
After the investigation, Foreman changed paths, and began work as a writer and editor at Time-Life Books. At the height of the position, she managed 20 people and freelanced for Discovery Publishing, authoring many books on subjects of True Crime, history, archaeology, biography, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 28, 2015
While I liked that Time-Life Books included international serial killers and also a few brief synopses on older, maybe lesser known killers, I overall found Serial Killers to be a bit...dull. Not that the crimes weren't atrocious and appalling, they were, but the writing made it hard to stay interested. It was very dry. And oftentimes it seemed almost sympathetic toward the killer, because they had difficult childhoods and hard lives. I fear it missed what the true tragedy was: these monsters brutally murdering victims and feeling no remorse.
However, if someone is not well versed in the infamous killers Bundy, Gacy, and Berkowitz, I would recommend this book as a good starting point. It gives a good overview of their background and crimes without giving an immense amount of detail and information.
However, if someone is not well versed in the infamous killers Bundy, Gacy, and Berkowitz, I would recommend this book as a good starting point. It gives a good overview of their background and crimes without giving an immense amount of detail and information.
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August 9, 2024Utterly fascinating and disturbing. This book gave me some great insights for a character I'm going to be writing. (No, really. True story.)
April 30, 2013
Very gory and interesting. Lots of pictures. I really enjoyed this whole Time Life series since I am fascinated by true crime.
January 21, 2024
Fascinating read. Starting with Lady-killer Ted Bundy (you'll get the whole story until death row), John Wayne Gayce (A clown can get away with murder) and his crawl spaces we'll soon find ourselves in a Gallery of Evil: Gilles de Rais, Jack the Ripper, Herman Mudgett and his murder castle, Peter Kürten, the vampire of Düsseldorf, Albert Fish, William Heirens, Ed Gein, The Boston Strangler, The Night Stalker, The Interstate Killer and many more. The final two chapters are on Flatmates (Dennis Nilson) and Demons (David Berkowitz). The whole book was absolutely outstanding, like a case book with many great photos of victims and murderer. Highly recommended!
February 23, 2020
Standard fare for this type of book. The photos were interesting as was the small set of one page serial killers of history' section in the middle of the book.
March 10, 2023
I've read many serial killer books and know a lot about serial killers this book was still interesting and gave a lot of great information.
August 21, 2023
I really enjoyed this read. Excellent information and storytelling that keeps you on the edge.
June 21, 2012
I used to really be into True Crime until I had to put those books down. Books like these made me jump at shadows and peer through the curtains whenever a truck backfired out on the street. So, I have officially stopped reading these and good for me becuase it gets to a point when you really understand that the victims in these stories were real people, and this is not fiction, but true pain that has been experienced in order to bring these books to publication. In short, it got to me.
but that said, I really, really enjoyed this book by Time Life Books. It covers (If I remember correctly, Ted bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Dennis Nielsen, and...someone else-maybe Jeffrey Dahmer. idk). The book doesn not shed any new light or give any new information on any of these killers or their victims, it's more like a re-telling of a thousand things already published. even the pictures in this book are nothing new: we've seen them all in other publications (online aside).
But if you're a fan of True Crime then you'll like it, regardless. If you already have books on these killers then don't waste your money because you won't get anything new here, or crime scene photos. Okay, I'm rambling now so I'm going to say goodbye and end this tired review. BYE^.^
PS I'm guessing at the date in which I finished this book, but it's been some years.
but that said, I really, really enjoyed this book by Time Life Books. It covers (If I remember correctly, Ted bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Dennis Nielsen, and...someone else-maybe Jeffrey Dahmer. idk). The book doesn not shed any new light or give any new information on any of these killers or their victims, it's more like a re-telling of a thousand things already published. even the pictures in this book are nothing new: we've seen them all in other publications (online aside).
But if you're a fan of True Crime then you'll like it, regardless. If you already have books on these killers then don't waste your money because you won't get anything new here, or crime scene photos. Okay, I'm rambling now so I'm going to say goodbye and end this tired review. BYE^.^
PS I'm guessing at the date in which I finished this book, but it's been some years.
April 23, 2020
Today's post is on Serial Killers by Time Life Books. It is 192 long with notes, bibliography, credits and is published by Time Life Books. The cover is half picture of Ted Bundy and half the killers profiled inside. There is foul language, talk of rape, sex, and sexuality, and violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From amazon- Recounts the cases of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Dennis Nilsen, and David Berkowitz, and briefly surveys earlier celebrated killers, including Jack the Ripper and the Boston Strangler.
Review- This is a general look into four different serial killers. Who they were, when they killed, their victims, and some into how policing changed in their wakes. This is not a book for the faint of heart, the crimes are described, there are pictures of the crimes, and the reader gets an inside look into the minds of these murderers. But if you are a true crime junkie and want to know more about these four killers then you should look at this book. The middle section is a series of vignettes of fourteen other serial killers from the past like the 15th century Gilles de Rais to Richard Ramirez the Night Stalker. If you are looking for a every single fact about any one this these murderers then you need to get a book just about them.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given this book a gift by a friend.
From amazon- Recounts the cases of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Dennis Nilsen, and David Berkowitz, and briefly surveys earlier celebrated killers, including Jack the Ripper and the Boston Strangler.
Review- This is a general look into four different serial killers. Who they were, when they killed, their victims, and some into how policing changed in their wakes. This is not a book for the faint of heart, the crimes are described, there are pictures of the crimes, and the reader gets an inside look into the minds of these murderers. But if you are a true crime junkie and want to know more about these four killers then you should look at this book. The middle section is a series of vignettes of fourteen other serial killers from the past like the 15th century Gilles de Rais to Richard Ramirez the Night Stalker. If you are looking for a every single fact about any one this these murderers then you need to get a book just about them.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given this book a gift by a friend.
June 13, 2017
I totally found this very interesting. I enjoy reading the lives of different serial killers, both "famous" and "not-so-famous". Who they were and what they did were very interesting. There are apparently two types of serial killers. One who kills for pleasure and one who kills because they believe they have to because they are being "told" or "forced" to. Psychology had always interested me and learning about these killers gave me a bigger interest in the human mind. Overall, this is a great book to read if you're just interested in learning about real people in our society who happens to be serial killers. This can be a knowledgeable book for grade 7 and up.
July 28, 2012
Well documented with multiple pictures, this book gives detailed analysis of the cases of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, David Berkowitz, and Dennis Nilsen. Having been familiar with three of the four main characters, I was surprised time and time again to learn something new about each man that I had not previously known.
An overall interesting and well-written book
An overall interesting and well-written book
November 19, 2012
Big fan of True crime and came across these books at work. I still can not explain why these people do what they do, all I have come up with is 'power'. They take it away and use it to control others. I would like to go back and look at all of the forensic items and put the puzzle back together.
July 8, 2008
Pretty interesting... I hadn't heard of some of these serial killers but I definitely learned more about the ones I had heard of, like Son of Sam. And some guy in England who tried to dispose of bodies by flushing them down the toilet.
February 3, 2018
A very good book, as Time-Life books generally are. The photo section of the child, and then the teenage, Ted Bundy is completely fascinating to me. What was going on in that head? Precisely when did those thoughts start to head towards femicide...
June 3, 2007
This was one of the best books in the set I received. It's filled with a lot of information, good pictures, and has a lot of background history.
November 17, 2011
Read each one of these the moment it came in the mail.
August 23, 2017
Serial killers are creepy but fascinating and this book takes you into their lives to try and figure out what makes then tick.
January 11, 2015
loved it different stories of famous serial killers along with photos a must read for fans....
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews