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

by Terry Adams, Mary Brooks-Mueller, Scott Shaw

For a serial killer, his style is unique. No elaborate rituals. No predetermine victims. Just an instant, uncontrollable urge to kill.

On a summer afternoon in 1993, an eleven-year-old girl sets out through her familiar neighborhood to collect payments on her paper route. In one home she meets a harmless-looking stranger. Driven by an unstoppable desire, James Wood will make this route her last.

The grisly murder of Jeralee Underwood was the final crime in James Wood's lifetime career of armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and murder. Not until the Underwood case, which brought terror to a close-knit Idaho community, did crime experts begin to piece together a detailed profile of Wood's depraved personality and successfully hunt him down. Unlike other serial killers, Wood acted purely on impulse, to strike out the instincts of a bloodthirsty predator. Based on four years of meticulous researched by the detective who captured Wood, and other forensic experts on the case, this is the true story of how a sociopath is bred-and what it takes to trap him at his own deadly game.

With eight pages of startling photos!

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

272 pages, Mass Market 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.

[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