Spree Killers: The Enigma of Mass Murder

by Rodney Castleden

20 April 1999, Columbine High School, Colorado, USA. Lunchtime. Enter Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold armed with shotguns. Pumping bullets into two classmates they left one dead and the other fighting for his life. They went on the rampage through the school leaving in their wake a trail of bloody death and destruction. In the aftermath, fifteen were dead, including the killers, and twenty-four were seriously injured. Spree Killers examines the events surrounding the world’s most shocking mass-killings; from the tortured drawn-out deaths of Hiroshima to the postal worker who made one too many deliveries and finally went crazy with a gun.


Ancient Slayings including Viking Berserkers, Neolithic mass killings
Mass Murder by the State including The Spanish Inquisition, The Holocaust, Russian Revolution
Wartime Massacres including The Blitz, My Lai, Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Breaking Point Killers including Derrick Bird, Raoul Moat, Appomattox shootings
Also including School Massacres, Workplace Killings, Mission Murders

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2011

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each case was interesting, but many lacked a sense of proper ending or closure. The book, aad a whole, lacked a proper ending. The introduction could have been split to incorporate some kind of rounding off or closure for book. Although I found each case interesting to read, the style of writing has not inspired me to buy or read his other books.

[Keybo Taheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

As mentioned before by another user there really was no conclusion to this book. When I went to wikipedia to look up details on these crimes... there were parts that were literally cut pasted from wikipedia. Overall feels like wikipedia articles arranged into a book with no redeeming quality. 3 star

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

On reading the sub title and introduction to this book I was expecting it to be an exploration of the motivations and psychology of spree killers. This however, was not the case and what followed were simple descriptions of horrible events with no analysis.

Indeed, like another reviewer I found that a lot of the descriptions seemed to be copied word for word from wikipedia. Very disappointing .