The Serial Killer Files

by Paul Simpson

There are many myths about serial killers: that they are all dysfunctional loners; all white males; only motivated by sex; that they all travel and operate across a wide area; cannot stop killing; are all insane, or evil geniuses; and that they all want to get caught.

Of course, there are some serial killers who fit into these categories, but the married Green River Killer was not a dysfunctional loner; there are plenty of female and non-Caucasian serial killers; Dr Harold Shipman was certainly not motivated by sex; many serial killings (such as the Ipswich prostitute murders carried out by Steve Wright) happen within a confined area; the 'BTK Killer', Dennis Rader, stopped killing in 1991, but wasn't caught until fourteen years later. Many serial killers may have a low animal cunning, or be 'street smart', but few of them are Mensa-level geniuses.

Each of the thirty cases covered here is unusual in some respect, perhaps in the way in which the killer carried out their crimes, the choice of victims, the way in which they were apprehended, or the method of their execution.

The cases are presented alphabetically by country - from Australia via Colombia, Great Britain, Indonesia, Iran, South Africa and elsewhere to the United States - and then chronologically. They come from across history and from all over the world. The author has gone back as far as possible to contemporary source material - newspaper accounts, trial evidence, interviews with perpetrators or survivors - rather than rely on the increasingly blurred truth to be found online and in far too many collections.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Psychology, Audiobook, History, Mystery

416 pages, Paperback

Published May 5, 2020

Reviews

[Elena Papadopol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pe langa cei mai faimosi criminali (de exemplu - Jack Spintecatorul, Ted Bundy, Fiul lui Sam), avem ocazia sa cunoastem o cu totul alta dimensiune a ceea ce inseamna un criminal in serie.
Cartea se axeaza in special pe fapte si detalii exacte ale crimelor, insa as fi vrut sa se dezvolte mai mult partea psihologica.

[Cireșar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Macabru, tulburător, dar și edificator în privința psihologiei criminalilor. Ca urmare a filmelor și serialelor polițiste difuzate la televizor, s-a creat falsa impresie că există în majoritatea cazurilor de omucidere un motiv personal, un scop vindicativ subiectiv. Această carte dezvăluie deopotrivă banalitatea motivației criminale și complexitatea minții deviante a acuzaților, aparent lipsiți de empatie și umanitate. În general, criminalii în serie urmăresc crearea impresiei divine a controlului absolut, uneori asociată și unor înclinații sexuale incontrolabile. Poveștile lor dispun atât de asemănări, cât și deosebiri, niciunele însă suficient de plauzibile ori dramatice ca să justifice actele crude asupra semenilor lor. Îmi place cum a aranjat autorul cazurile în funcție de țări și că a adăugat o notă personală fiecărui caz în parte. Este prima carte pe care o citesc pe acest subiect.

[Annie Booker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting readabout some well-known and some lesser known serial killers and their awful crimes.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to the world of the most famous serial killers. I obviously did not read the details at all! I read all I could about these monsters as a teenager, and sometimes delve in when there is something more to learn. I did listen until the end, as it has been busy the last few days, but reading this book did not add to my knowledge of the subject.

HOWEVER, if you are new to this subject, it is a good start.

[ionela-rodica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doamne, cartea asta e o nebunie!
E scrisă foarte bine, documentată la fel de bine, însă deși i-am dat 4☆, ea ar fi de 3,75☆.
Și nu pentru că e o carte "proastă", cum s-ar zice, ci pentru că e atât de bună, doar că la un moment dat mă obosea psihic.
Și probabil că sunt incoerentă în cuvinte, dar cred, că sunt încă în acțiunea cărții, nu știu ce zic în acest moment.😅

[Cara Rees · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having watched and read so much true crime it is often difficult to find a book that reveals something new. Sadly this book was no exception, however I would still recommend it.

[Paul Crozier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to serial killers most the UK and American ones are well known if you’re into True Crime genre or serial killers in general.

There were cases I’ve never heard of and have looked into their stories more. The stories do mention each victim where it can ( some were unrecognisable due to decaying etc ).

Each section is divided into countries, each chapter a serial killer which was a great was to write this book / audiobook.

The narration was spot on and even the accents put on for each country were great and didn’t distract you from listening.

I’ll definitely listen to this one again possibly more than twice….something to help me sleep ( not that it’s boring, I just enjoy falling to sleep listening to serial kill / true crime stuff ).

Highly recommend for all true crime buffs and anyone wanting an intro into serial killers.

[Antonia Vlad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cartea prezintă în mod detaliat viețile unora dintre cei mai cunoscuți criminali în serie, începând cu sec. 19 (de la Jack Spintecătorul) și până în zilele noastre. Se pune mai mult accentul pe relatarea vieții și a declarațiilor oferite de acești criminali în cadrul interogatoriului. Nu este o carte despre psihologia generală a criminalului, așa cum poate mulți se așteaptă să fie, dar consider că merită citită.
Trebuie să ținem cont că această carte a fost publicată în 2017, iar unele dintre detalii nu sunt actualizate, astfel că până în 2025 deja avem o posibilă identitate a lui Jack Spintecătorul, ceea ce în cartea de față se prezintă ca fiind necunoscut.
Mi-ar fi plăcut să se prezinte cazuri din mai multe țări deoarece am observat că o bună parte din această carte prezintă cazuri petrecute în Marea Britanie.

[Adriana Creanga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Modalitatea prin care se prinde un criminal mereu este interesanta, dar și mai interesanta este descoperirea cugetului (Sau lipsei acestuia) din spatele zămislirii unor crime un diverse formate.
Oricum cred ca psihologia criminalilor va rămâne mereu un punct de interes și un subiect care trebuie mereu descoperit.

[Andreea Wolanski · Rating 5 out of 5]

N-am cum să nu apreciez informațiile din carte si modul în care e scris. Foarte faină!
Era cat pe ce să ofer 4 stele dintr-un singur motiv: starea pe care o ai după ce finalizezi de citit despre 2-3 criminali în serie. Dar fiind o chestie personală, am zis ca nu stric raitingul doar pentru asta.
Poate pe voi nu o să vă încarce negativ după citire.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting insight into the world's most notorious serial killers, opens your eyes to how really sick these individuals are, a good interesting read but did tend to get a little boring now & then, overall OK & worth reading if you're interested in that sort of thing.

[Nik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was lent to me by the author, for which I’m very grateful 😊
It was a very easy read, lots of familiar facts about well known characters, but also lots of unusual facts that I didn’t know. It was also interesting to know about some lesser known serial killers from other countries.

[Catrinel Caitanovici · Rating 3 out of 5]

O bună trecere în revistă a unor criminali cunoscuți și mai puțin cunoscuți. Este o abordare jurnalistică, deci clar nota e subiectivă, având în vedere că pe mine m-ar fi interesat ceva mai psihologic.

[Sherrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

An endless droning of facts about history’s most notorious serial killers and their (alleged) differences, with no attempt whatsoever at analysis. At the same time, it’s not for the faint of heart and as boring as watching paint dry.

DNF.

[Paula Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book.. I great read into some nasty people..

[Susan Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing mix of murder methods used by truly sick individuals over the years

[Humanityisdrawntolight · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Florin Mihai · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

[Tutunaru Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice informative book about of some of the most famous/dangerous serial killers with details about their lifestyle, childhood, modus operandi

[Patricia Alistar · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[zeny · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect. from first page to last page.

[Bianca Bibi · Rating 5 out of 5]

🤌🏻✨️

[Lucia Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Laura Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting cases, some I'd heard of, some not. Only main negative was the narrator had a really monotonous tone so could only listen in short sections otherwise would mentally drift.

[Lottie Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really well written and researched, but I had been expecting more about the victims and more analysis of the killers, rather than retelling of their crimes.

[July · Rating 5 out of 5]

audiobook

[Denisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi-a plăcut această carte, și o recomand celor interesați de true crime, i-am dat 4 stele întrucât nu intră foarte mult în detaliu, dar pentru început e foarte ușoară de înțeles si de citit.

[malea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way this was written, each chapter moved perfectly for my short attention span

[teleri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! It went into enough detail that it didn't bore me and drag on. It was pretty good at giving a wide verity of serial killers, but sadly, there was only one killer in here that I hadn't heard of, so it would have been great if the author could have chosen more unheard of killers. It did however, shock me that some of the even popular killers like Edmund Kemper and Ed Gein wasn't mentioned but the likes of David Berkowitz was (which is nice because I love reading about Son of Sam).


This book is pretty good for people who are starting out with their knowledge, it really kept me interested and I've been researching most of these killers since 2015.

[David Sherwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a decent enough read. If you have already read books on any of the subjects, there isn't a great deal of new information, though I did pick up on a few things that I didn't know about some of them. There are some serial killers in the book that I had never heard of, so they were fairly interesting.

I would say go ahead and read, though don't pay full price, it's not really worth it - I got it for £3 from The Works......