Mind Games: Inside the Serial Killer Phenomenon

by Paul Harrison

Mind Games is the author’s journey with the worst offenders incarcerated in the global criminal justice system. It will shock, surprise and astound the reader. Paul Harrison has a unique set of skills and experiences based upon his life in the British police service and later as a crime writer. Now, for the first time in print you can read of his experiences as a profiler dealing with the world’s most notorious serial killers and violent offenders. Mind Games is a forensic examination of the psyche of the world’s most vicious and evil offenders in their own words, just as they related it. It’s an exploration into the darkest recesses of the criminal mind and possibly the most in-depth examination of the serial killer phenomenon ever published.

Genres: True Crime, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Biography

400 pages, Hardcover

Published October 4, 2018

About the author

Paul Harrison has spent much of his professional life working within the UK’s criminal justice system, primarily as a police officer. Working closely with the now-defunct FBI Behavioural Science Unit in Quantico, he gained a unique and remarkable insight into the minds of some of the world’s most violent criminals. His conversation portfolio reads like a Who’s Who of murderers. As an author, he’s penned thirty-three traditionally published books (mainly true crime) and completed his first novel last year. A seasoned event speaker, Paul is popular across the entire crime genre (fiction and non-fiction). He’s in discussion with several TV production companies across the globe for future Crime related television series. Paul currently lives in Leeds.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even if it hadn’t turned out that Harrison had lied about the extent of his experiences with all of the serial killers in his books, and embellished and outright fabricated his conversations with them, I’d still not be all that impressed with this book.
It doesn’t really do what it promises to do - mostly giving summaries of the killer’s history and crimes before adding the odd comment about how childhood and society shape the killer etc
Nothing groundbreaking to add to the discourse.
He gives a bit of his background (but again, how truthful this is is now up for debate) and makes it sound like he’s the only person in his police force to believe in criminal psychology in the 80s which seems unlikely to me!
It was a slog to read despite not being a very long book.

[Anna Kaling · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has the most misleading blurb I've ever read. It has nothing to do with profiling; it's just a series of mini-biographies of all the usual serial killers who are talked about in serial killer books, Bundy and Gacy etc.

I wanted to know how profilers do what they do. Really disappointed.

[Victoria G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out with an introduction to Paul Harrison’s personal background, through his childhood and into his police career, during which he claims to have interviewed the infamous big name serial killers we all know, such as Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. Sadly, many of these stories are nothing more than stories. In 2019, Paul Harrison was discredited by his peers, and it turns out that many of these stories aren’t completely factual, or perhaps did not occur at all.

That is not the only misleading thing about this book. After his introduction to who he is, Harrison claims that this book will not be a book about the grisly details of these killers’ crimes but will be more about the history of the killers themselves, detailing their childhoods or backgrounds, and what possibly drove them to kill. The book does the exact opposite of that promise, going into graphic details and descriptions about crimes scenes of brutal murders. Included are the scenes of the Manson Family murders at the home of Sharon Tate and the state in which Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment was found, along with descriptions of the Polaroid images Dahmer kept of his dismembered victims. This doesn’t bother me in general, in fact I typically like learning about these types of details, it just seemed strange to make that statement only to do the exact opposite.

All that misrepresentation aside, I did appreciate the telling of the information relating to the murders, as I found it to be factually accurate based on what I know from recordings I have read from other sources. Harrison does get that part right; however, I did not learn any new information which I did not already know about these crimes and killers, which was somewhat a disappointment.

I listened to this on Audible and thought the narration was excellent.

[Anastasiya M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although a bit lengthy, this turned out to be a very interesting audiobook that I accidentally stumbled on, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in all the details.

Most of these cases I’ve heard of, and know quite a lot about thanks to documentary binge-watching but it was nice to get some details that weren’t presented in other sources on the subjects.

Read more here: https://sincerelyyoursannie.wordpress...

[Daniel Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Mind Games: Inside the Serial Killer Phenomenon" by Paul Harrison offers a comprehensive exploration into the intricate world of serial killers, providing readers with an in-depth look at the psychology behind these notorious criminals. While the book certainly contains valuable insights and intriguing anecdotes, it falls short in certain aspects, leaving room for improvement.

Harrison's writing style is informative and accessible, making complex psychological concepts understandable to a wide audience. He delves into the minds of serial killers with a keen eye for detail, shedding light on their motivations and methods. However, at times the narrative feels somewhat disjointed, jumping between different case studies and theories without a clear sense of direction.

Additionally, while the book covers a wide range of topics related to serial killers, including profiling techniques and law enforcement strategies, some readers may find that certain sections lack depth or fail to provide new insights. Furthermore, the Kindle edition of the book may suffer from formatting issues or typos, detracting from the overall reading experience.

Despite these shortcomings, "Mind Games" remains a compelling read for those interested in the psychology of serial killers. It offers valuable perspectives and thought-provoking analysis that will undoubtedly spark discussions among readers. While not without its flaws, the book ultimately succeeds in shedding light on a dark and fascinating subject matter.

[Mohammed Sofian · Rating 5 out of 5]

اعتقد ان علينا جميعا قراءة هذا الكتاب حتى يتسنى لنا معرفة ماذا يدور داخل عقول متحرشي الاطفال والقاتلون المتسلسلون ، وبماذا يبررون جرائمهم ... وعلى الرغم انك عندما ترى طفولة اولئك المجرمين وما تعرضوا له من تحرش وضرب واهانة وكل انواع الوحشية من ذويهم ، وانهم قد يبدون ضحية المجتمع او ان المجتمع قد تخلى عنهم ، الا ان المحقق الذي امضى اكثر من ٥٠ سنة يتعامل مع اولئك المجرمين يكشف لك في كل مرة انهم ليسوا اسفين على ما ارتكبوه من وحشية ضد ضحاياهم ولذلك يجب علينا الا نتعاطف معهم.

اقرأ الكتاب بأعين مفتوحة وانتبه جيدا ، فأولئك المتحرشون والقاتلون ليسوا بأغبياء البتة ، فهم اذكياء الى درجة انهم يعرفون جيدا كيف يجذبون ضحاياهم ويشرح الكاتب انهم يحاولون استمالة تعاطف المحققين وهيئة المحلفين اثناء محاكمتهم ومنهم من يحمل معدل ذكاء يقترب من العبقرية ويحملون مؤهلات عليا. والمحزن في القصة ان كثيرا من اولئك المجرمين يحظون باطلاق سراح مشروط نتيجة تكدس السجون ، ويعاودون ارتكاب جرائمهم بوحشية ليس لها مثيل!

اقرأ الكتاب واعرف جيدا قدرات الانسان "الحيوان" عندما يظهر الجانب المظلم من شخصيته .. فكلنا ذلك الحيوان الذي اذا اتيحت له الظروف المناسبة قد يفعل ما لا يتخيله عقل او منطق..

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of this book surprised me somewhat with the immediate subject of paedophiles, but I soon learned how personal it was to the author. I was glad that he emphasised the fact that survivors of abuse extremely rarely go on to abuse others, which is often ignored. However, a lot of the rest of the book details the crimes of extremely well known serial killers, of which I have already heard quite enough. I thought from reviews that it would be different, delving more into their minds and what drives them.

[Rosemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read a book purely to read it, rather than because I'm reviewing it. i found this one gripping and read it in one sitting. Paul Harrison certainly has the experience to talk about serial killers and his discussions of their backgrounds and crimes are certainly interesting, but I'm still not sure that I learnt anything new from the book. However, I read an awful lot of true crime/historical crime non-fiction books.

[CWills ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was SO excited to read this book after I attended one of Harrison’s lectures. He has lived an interesting life that is for sure, I’m not certain I could maintain the same professionalism and elegance he has in speaking to those who have committed serial murder. In the book, there was also his hope to gain better understanding (even to a certain extent) as to why these crimes are committed and I do appreciate that side of it. But the writing style: UNFORGIVABLE .

[PGB · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title as well as the preface are deceiving. The book is nothing but mini-biographies of serial killers and that’s all.

The writer mentions some “facts” that could have lead to the personalities of the killers but in reality given that most people have gone through a lot through their childhood, nothing really rationalises the crimes.

In conclusion: there are no “mind games” and there’s no “profiling”.

The one star is for the beautiful narration of the audiobook.

[Becs Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The real deal

Thank you Paul for this book, I have read countless tales about the people you describe in the book and have even studied some of these cases myself and no book, film or website described the killers and events quite like you. You have humanised the killers, but more importantly you have humanised the victims

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt less like profiling and more like listening to the nausea producing words of self-absorbed killers. I wanted more about the profile of a serial killer and less about the individual killers and their self-justification. I appreciate the work and skill of the author, not to mention the trauma he experienced which led him to his profession, but this book felt thin on the ground.

[Ariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a chronology of various serial killers—summaries of their life/crimes, with a section of interview with them by the author. I was interested in a book which explored the mind more, this seems to be less focused on that and more just providing an over wire of various seriel killers

[Jennifer Hing · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an interesting book. I thought it would be more about the profilers than descriptions about the serial killers. He goes through all the “big” serial killers and some small ones I have never heard of, so I thought that was interesting.

[Graeme Collie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Laughably fake

[Lexi Sølvhammer · Rating 3 out of 5]

All my reviews are on my webpage. Link in bio.

[Julija Henigman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Makes big promises at the beginning and fails to follow through in all aspects.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dug this authors vulnerability, but some facts seemed rushed/ glossed over or worse; dead wrong.

[Emma Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a read. Absolutely enjoyed reading this book. From start to finish it was fascinating.

[Liesl de Swardt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started listening to the book and really enjoyed it so I Googled the author only to learn that Paul Harrison hasn't done any of the things he claims in the book and the book itself was pulled by it's original publishers in 2019. He never trained at the FBI and never interviewed Bundy or Gacy as he claims according to various news articles including The Gaurdian. I was completely horrified and I am aghast that Audible offers it's as a title.