Unabomber: On the Trail of America's Most-Wanted Serial Killer

by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker

When Federal Agents raided a remote Montana cabin to apprehend Theodore J. Kaczynski, the alleged Unabomber, they discovered what amounted to a one-room bomb factory. Now bestselling author John Douglas, the former FBI Unit Chief who originated the Unabomber profile, reveals the remarkable inside story behind the bureau's eighteen-year manhunt, the elusive Kaczynski, and his dramatic arrest. Douglas' expert knowledge and firsthand experience bring all aspects of this fascinating case to vivid life: the bomber's first calculated, daring attempts to severely injure his targets; his chilling turn to murder; the FBI's frustrating attempts to build an investigation; the controversy surrounding the Unabomber's manifesto; and the unexpected twists that brought the FBI to the outskirts of Lincoln, Montana. Go behind the scenes of one of the most painstaking, dangerous -- and secretive -- FBI investigations of our time, as John Douglas delves into the mind, methods, and madness of America's most-wanted serial killer.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Biography, Terrorism, History

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

John Edward Douglas is a former United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, one of the first criminal profilers, and criminal psychology author. He also wrote four horror novels in the mid 1990s. -Wikipedia

During his twenty-five year career with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, a name he later changed to The Investigative Science Unit (Douglas & Olshaker, 1995), John Douglas became the leading expert on criminal personality profiling and the pioneer of modern criminal investigative analysis. Through his research with serial criminal’s, Douglas learned how criminals think and what makes them do the things that they do, and why. Douglas can determine many personal traits and habits of an offender just by examining the crime scene; it’s evidence and victimology (Douglas & Olshaker, 1995). Interviews John Douglas has conducted hundreds of interviews with some of the world’s most notorious serial offenders, which include: - Charles Manson, and three members of the Manson clan. - Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. - John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer that killed 33 people. - David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam”. - James Earl Ray, assassin of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - Ted Bundy - Unsuccessful assassins of Gerald Ford and George Wallace (Douglas & Olshaker, 1995). Captured In addition, Douglas’s profiles aided in numerous arrests of serial offenders, some of which include: - Wayne Williams, the .22 caliber killer. - Carlton Gary, the stalking strangler. - Robert Hanson, the Anchorage Alaska baker who would kidnap, hunt, then kill local prostitutes. These are just a few of the cases that John Douglas aided in throughout his twenty-five year career as a profiler with the Behavioral Science Unit, which he later renamed the Investigative Science Unit (Douglas & Olshaker, 1995). Contributions to Psychology Douglas and his colleagues outlined in an article that explained the goals of a serial offender in the September 1980 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. They are as follows: - What leads a person to become a sexual offender and what are the early warning signals? - What serves to encourage or to inhibit the commission of his offense? - What types of responses or coping strategies, by an intended victim are successful with what type of sexual offender in avoiding victimization, and - What are the implications for his dangerousness, prognosis, disposition and mode of treatment (Douglas & Olshaker, 1995)?

Reviews

[David M · Rating 1 out of 5]

A piece of shit, honestly. I read it because I used to be very interested in the strange case of the unabomber. Unfortunately there aren't many good books on the topic. This doesn't even qualify as a halfway decent one. The author is supposed to be some kind of an expert in something or other, but the investigation he led didn't come to squat. Without explicitly lying he tries to torture the facts to get some sort of credit for Kacysnizyki's arrest. Criminal profiling appears to be about one wrung lower than astrology in terms of dependable results.

[Skallagrimsen]

A basic account of the almost-two-decade-long investigation to locate "the Unabomber," a.k.a. Ted Kaczynski, and end his crusade to reverse the Industrial Revolution via a one man mail bombing spree. I don't quite regret reading this disposable piece of "true crime." Yes, it was rushed to the print to capitalize on Kaczynski's arrest, being published in advance of his trial when the verdict was still technically in doubt. No, it wasn't as gripping as it might have been, given the sensational subject. But it was at least executed skillfully enough to keep me flipping the pages. I learned some interesting details about the history of freelance bombing campaigns, and some specifics of the Kaczynski investigation in particular. John E. Douglas makes no serious attempt to contend with Kaczynski's philosophy, or to understand the forces that converged to bring him into being. It's not that kind of book. It's the opposite of it's subject: shallow. Unlike Ted Kaczynski, it will be forgotten.

[Dee Eisel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally I love the Douglas-Olshaker combination books. This one doesn't enchant me so much as many of them. Part of that is that the version I read is from before the court case. Part of it is that Douglas's tendency to get self-congratulatory went out of control. Part of it is that I understand the concerns the Unabomber had with society, but am disgusted and upset by his actions.

Let's tackle the court situation first. Douglas was probably limited in what he could put into the book for reasons of some evidence needing to be kept for the trial. About half of the book is appendices - communications from the Unabomber, including the Manifesto; notes from the FBI casefiles, and so on. Some of that material had to be redacted for the upcoming trial, naturally, and that impacted the flow of the book. It felt somehow unfinished.

As if to raise the word count, Douglas talks about the internal issues with the investigation. That's welcome in and of itself, because the fact is that any group of people is going to get political, and that goes the same for police. Let's face it, it's well known that jurisdictional issues can complicate any investigation, much less one spread out over this area. But Douglas keeps talking about how the profilers assigned to the case got it wrong, where he and his buddies got it right. That got a bit old, to be honest. Repetitive self-congratulation is not what I want to read.

Finally, I do share some of Ted Kaczynski's concerns about the way that we raise children in our society, and the lack of natural exposure to the world and concern with testing uber alles. But I categorically reject the idea that hurting innocent people (or even people responsible for societal misdeeds!) makes any kind of reasonable point. I found myself enraged at Ted Kaczynski - instead of retreating to a cabin, why wasn't he out there talking to people and working to change things, like his brother? It was hard to read anything he wrote.

Overall, it wasn't up to the usual standard, and for admittedly personal reasons I was turned off. Three of five stars.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: when the FBI raided a Montana cabin in 1996 to apprehend Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, an eighteen year search ended.

[Anthony Stillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book itself feels fairly straightforward, but the manifesto itself is such a fascinating read.

[Cadie Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning about the case and all that went into catching the UNIBOMBER. However, 1/2 the book was Kaczynski's manifesto. While it was an interesting insight into a very messed up person, all I can think is what a nut ball. He clearly contradicts himself multiple times. In fact, at one point he even says that if his ideas are wrong to disregard what he has said. All that remains in my head after reading this manifesto is the scene at the end of Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik where the main character blows up all of the banks in the US. That is basically what Kaczynski was petitioning for...the end of all technology. And leftism. Don't forget the leftists.

[Pam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't get through this book... I am not sure if it's legit to give a star if I didn't read the whole thing, but life is too short to read books that don't hold my attention. The subject matter is fascinating but something awful happened when three people tried to write a book together. For one thing, parts were written in the first person and I didn't know who the narrator was. Most difficult for me to handle however, were the extremely long sentences. They were hard to follow. I found myself having to read and re-read sentences pretty frequently, which was very frustrating.

[Bill Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging read, written by one of the FBI lads who tried to track down this colorful nutcase. Douglas has a prose style more forceful than a lot of so-called literary giants. Though some of the technical info was a drag, much of the book was very well done. Could’ve used a better copyedit, though. About one conspicuous error every ten pages.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting account of the Unabomber, including the full Unabomber Manifesto which is ridiculously shit - the Unabomber is clearly a wanker.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, fascinating!