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Killing for Company: The case of Dennis Nilsen
***WINNER OF THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD FOR CRIME NON-FICTION***
Dennis Nilsen, who died in May 2018, murdered at least 15 people before his arrest in 1983. This groundbreaking criminal study of his killings was written with Nilsen's full cooperation, resulting in a fascinating - and horrifying - portrait of the man who worshipped death.
On February 9th 1983 Dennis Nilsen was arrested at his Muswell Hill home, after human remains had been identified as the cause of blocked drains.
'Are we talking about one body or two,' a detective asked. Nilsen replied 'Fifteen or sixteen, since 1978. I'll tell you everything.'
Within days he had confessed to fifteen gruesome murders over a period of four years. His victims, all young homosexual men, had never been missed. Brian Masters, with Nilsen's full cooperation, has produced a unique study of a murderer's mind, essential reading for true crime aficionados.
356 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1985
660 people are currently reading
5172 people want to read
About the author
Brian Masters
49 books81 followersBrian Masters is a British writer best known for his biographies of mass murderers, including Killing for Company, on Dennis Nilsen; The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer; She Must Have Known, on Rosemary West; and The Evil That Men Do. He has also written about the British aristocracy and worked as a translator.
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January 18, 2021
This is the chilling true-crime account of British serial killer, Dennis Nilsen's, brutal murders and the inevitable discovery of his horrific crimes.
The book opens with the detection of his heinous killings, which meant scenes of the most despicable nature were almost immediately presented to the reader. From this point, Masters has his readers engaged and takes them on a journey through Nilsen's ancestry, family life, and early years. I felt it a cleverly deployed tactic to introduce the reader to the killer before the person and this perspective ensured I was intrigued to understand how the former grew from the latter, throughout.
Nilsen's own thoughts and words also pepper the narrative and the the narrator did a great job in differentiating between voices and ensuring this an atmospheric as well as an informative listen. Again, I found this heightened the disturbing quality of the contents as Nilsen often demonstrated an artful and sensitive penmanship, which was totally at odds with the brutal and repeated murders he also delivered.
The court proceedings also get a decent amount of exposure before the conclusion moved to more philosophical musings and a focus on a number of renowned serial killers from across the continents and throughout history. I found these ruminations of equal interest to the earlier chapters, devoted exclusively to Nilsen.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the author, Brian Masters, the narrator, Jason Watkins, and the publisher, Whole Story Audiobooks, for this opportunity.
The book opens with the detection of his heinous killings, which meant scenes of the most despicable nature were almost immediately presented to the reader. From this point, Masters has his readers engaged and takes them on a journey through Nilsen's ancestry, family life, and early years. I felt it a cleverly deployed tactic to introduce the reader to the killer before the person and this perspective ensured I was intrigued to understand how the former grew from the latter, throughout.
Nilsen's own thoughts and words also pepper the narrative and the the narrator did a great job in differentiating between voices and ensuring this an atmospheric as well as an informative listen. Again, I found this heightened the disturbing quality of the contents as Nilsen often demonstrated an artful and sensitive penmanship, which was totally at odds with the brutal and repeated murders he also delivered.
The court proceedings also get a decent amount of exposure before the conclusion moved to more philosophical musings and a focus on a number of renowned serial killers from across the continents and throughout history. I found these ruminations of equal interest to the earlier chapters, devoted exclusively to Nilsen.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the author, Brian Masters, the narrator, Jason Watkins, and the publisher, Whole Story Audiobooks, for this opportunity.
December 27, 2020
Dennis “Des” Nilsen murdered 15 men between 1978 and 1983, and was eventually arrested when the drains in his London flat were found to be clogged with human remains - he had been butchering his victims in the bathtub and flushing pieces down his toilet! Because of the recent hit TV show, Des, starring David Tennant as Nilsen, Brian Masters’ 1985 true crime book, Killing For Company, where he interviewed the serial killer in person, has been reissued - and it’s a pretty decent read for the most part.
It’s morbidly fascinating to read about Nilsen’s crimes: how he’d mostly pick up gay men in bars (he was a repressed gay man himself), take them home, get drunk with them and, when they were passed out, strangle them with a necktie and sometimes drown them in his tub. He’d wash the bodies and hang onto them for weeks, sometimes months, storing the corpses under the floorboards!
Nilsen’s behaviour when the police stepped in was interesting. When he was caught, he almost seemed relieved to unburden himself and was glad that he had finally been stopped - he said he would’ve kept going and who knows how many would’ve died as a result! He confessed to everything, being 100% co-operative with the police and gave them all the evidence they wanted. But he was too effective at body disposal so, while he confessed to killing 15 men, in the end they only had enough evidence to prove 6 murders and 2 attempted murders.
There were also numerous men who came back to his flat, drank with him, stayed the night, and left the next day without being murdered - so why did he kill the ones that he did? It’s unclear. In fact, quite a lot of Nilsen’s pathology remains murky. Motive is extensively explored by Masters in what becomes a tediously overlong psychological review in the final third of the book, that ends, essentially, with a shrug - we dunno why Nilsen was the way he was. He seems to have been a real Jekyll/Hyde character with Mr Hyde only emerging after heavy drinking and a trigger of some kind.
It’s a bit of an unsatisfying conclusion given how much time is spent contemplating possible reasons: his love of his granddad and the trauma of seeing him dead when he was a child which possibly fatally fused love and death in his head. That said, numerous people see their grandparents die and don’t become serial killers! Ditto the explanation that he was lonely and depressed - they’re very tenuous, and therefore unconvincing, connections to make for such extreme behaviour.
The court case was also a bit dull as it rehashed what we already knew of Nilsen’s crimes and boils down to an uninteresting, dry discussion on the lexiconical differences between legalese and psychological terminology.
Still, this is a sometimes compelling portrait of an articulate, intelligent man who bizarrely ended up a serial killer for no real reason, and the search to understand why kept me reading. Nilsen’s drawings at the end of the book, showing the bodies and what he did with them, are also chilling in their child-like simplicity of horrific deeds.
Dennis Nilsen died in prison in 2018 so he will remain a mystery, in terms of how he became who he did. Though the court case and psychological study that make up most of the second half of the book were a bit dull to get through and didn’t really add all that much in the end, it’s compelling to read about the murders and for anyone looking for an overview of Nilsen’s case, Brian Masters has done a thorough job here.
It’s morbidly fascinating to read about Nilsen’s crimes: how he’d mostly pick up gay men in bars (he was a repressed gay man himself), take them home, get drunk with them and, when they were passed out, strangle them with a necktie and sometimes drown them in his tub. He’d wash the bodies and hang onto them for weeks, sometimes months, storing the corpses under the floorboards!
Nilsen’s behaviour when the police stepped in was interesting. When he was caught, he almost seemed relieved to unburden himself and was glad that he had finally been stopped - he said he would’ve kept going and who knows how many would’ve died as a result! He confessed to everything, being 100% co-operative with the police and gave them all the evidence they wanted. But he was too effective at body disposal so, while he confessed to killing 15 men, in the end they only had enough evidence to prove 6 murders and 2 attempted murders.
There were also numerous men who came back to his flat, drank with him, stayed the night, and left the next day without being murdered - so why did he kill the ones that he did? It’s unclear. In fact, quite a lot of Nilsen’s pathology remains murky. Motive is extensively explored by Masters in what becomes a tediously overlong psychological review in the final third of the book, that ends, essentially, with a shrug - we dunno why Nilsen was the way he was. He seems to have been a real Jekyll/Hyde character with Mr Hyde only emerging after heavy drinking and a trigger of some kind.
It’s a bit of an unsatisfying conclusion given how much time is spent contemplating possible reasons: his love of his granddad and the trauma of seeing him dead when he was a child which possibly fatally fused love and death in his head. That said, numerous people see their grandparents die and don’t become serial killers! Ditto the explanation that he was lonely and depressed - they’re very tenuous, and therefore unconvincing, connections to make for such extreme behaviour.
The court case was also a bit dull as it rehashed what we already knew of Nilsen’s crimes and boils down to an uninteresting, dry discussion on the lexiconical differences between legalese and psychological terminology.
Still, this is a sometimes compelling portrait of an articulate, intelligent man who bizarrely ended up a serial killer for no real reason, and the search to understand why kept me reading. Nilsen’s drawings at the end of the book, showing the bodies and what he did with them, are also chilling in their child-like simplicity of horrific deeds.
Dennis Nilsen died in prison in 2018 so he will remain a mystery, in terms of how he became who he did. Though the court case and psychological study that make up most of the second half of the book were a bit dull to get through and didn’t really add all that much in the end, it’s compelling to read about the murders and for anyone looking for an overview of Nilsen’s case, Brian Masters has done a thorough job here.
August 29, 2018
Killing for Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen is a well written, detailed case study about British serial killer Dennis Nilsen, who murdered 15 young men within four years.
It's a story about crime, it's also a story filled with rejection and failed relationships. It's also a loner's long journey into absolute darkness.
What Nilsen had done is selfish and horrible in every way, but when reading his life story and his crime, I kind of got overwhelmed by a heavy sense of loneliness. Then I came to realize people may actually do what Dennis Nilsen had done when they are so...isolated, with no one there to support and understand them.
Edited@ 02/08/2013
I went home one day only to find my mother reading this book...
Her comment being: "It's a scary book with so many people got killed."
My reply: "but Mom, you haven't read to the parts about the murders yet!"
Edited@29/08/2018
Here is a nice documentary about Dennis Nilsen, with the author of this book, Nilsen's friends, his victims, prosecutors, crimilogists etc among the interviewees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq2Gd...
It's a story about crime, it's also a story filled with rejection and failed relationships. It's also a loner's long journey into absolute darkness.
What Nilsen had done is selfish and horrible in every way, but when reading his life story and his crime, I kind of got overwhelmed by a heavy sense of loneliness. Then I came to realize people may actually do what Dennis Nilsen had done when they are so...isolated, with no one there to support and understand them.
Edited@ 02/08/2013
I went home one day only to find my mother reading this book...
Her comment being: "It's a scary book with so many people got killed."
My reply: "but Mom, you haven't read to the parts about the murders yet!"
Edited@29/08/2018
Here is a nice documentary about Dennis Nilsen, with the author of this book, Nilsen's friends, his victims, prosecutors, crimilogists etc among the interviewees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq2Gd...
July 8, 2023
This is not a novel. It is the story of Dennis Nilsson and his murders, which took place in London at the time of Margaret Thatcher's rise to power. The title of the book is shockingly brilliant. In all but one of the cases it seems to sum up his motive for snuffing out the lives of more young men than he could remember. Here truth is much stranger than fiction and many words which we probably over-use and take for granted seem to lose their meaning; words such as good, evil, moral...
Was a seed sown in Dennis Nilsson's childhood, at the time of his grandfather's death, which would grow and be grimly harvested all those years later? Was he mad? It seems not.
The book is of course harrowing and macabre in places. What heightens the grotesqueness for me is the setting in which it was all happening - leafy suburbia -with people going about their daily lives, Dennis Nilsson included. The murderer knots his tie (probably used for a more sinister purpose the night before), with a naked corpse seated close by, determined not to be late for work at the Job Centre. It is also sinisterly funny in places. This is so much more acceptable in a novel, it is heartbreakingly cruel if you are connected in any way to the victims.
Nilsson was hard working, reliable, imbued with a social conscience and a determination to fight injustice. Always on the side of the underdog, he was the person you wanted fighting your corner for you in the work place; a Union rep who was the bane of the boss's life. Much of this comes through after he has been arrested and is assisting the police. He was an ex policeman himself for a short time after his unblemished service with the army.
Brian Masters has spent a lot of time with Nilsson and probably gets to know him better than most. His book is searching and intelligent and at the end of it the reader is still seeking to understand Dennis Nilsson, his life and his crimes . That is not failure on the part of the author – quite the reverse.
Was a seed sown in Dennis Nilsson's childhood, at the time of his grandfather's death, which would grow and be grimly harvested all those years later? Was he mad? It seems not.
The book is of course harrowing and macabre in places. What heightens the grotesqueness for me is the setting in which it was all happening - leafy suburbia -with people going about their daily lives, Dennis Nilsson included. The murderer knots his tie (probably used for a more sinister purpose the night before), with a naked corpse seated close by, determined not to be late for work at the Job Centre. It is also sinisterly funny in places. This is so much more acceptable in a novel, it is heartbreakingly cruel if you are connected in any way to the victims.
Nilsson was hard working, reliable, imbued with a social conscience and a determination to fight injustice. Always on the side of the underdog, he was the person you wanted fighting your corner for you in the work place; a Union rep who was the bane of the boss's life. Much of this comes through after he has been arrested and is assisting the police. He was an ex policeman himself for a short time after his unblemished service with the army.
Brian Masters has spent a lot of time with Nilsson and probably gets to know him better than most. His book is searching and intelligent and at the end of it the reader is still seeking to understand Dennis Nilsson, his life and his crimes . That is not failure on the part of the author – quite the reverse.
August 13, 2011
I remember I read this one - I feel a moral obligation to read about the British ones, we don't have too many, fortunately. This guy Nielson appears to be a slightly less insane version of Jeffrey Dahmer. He picked up young men & took them back to his flat & then in a fit of absentmindedness (there doesn't seem to have been any real malice involved) he strangled them when they'd nodded off. Then he kept the bodies around and dressed them up and made them up and talked to them. Didn't try to turn them into zombies, so credit where credit's due you know. His best quote was where he was getting indignant about being called a necrophile. No, no, no, he said, "the corpse is the dirty platter that's left after the feast". Well, after the feast of dressing them up and making them cups of tea, that is. Some people are very strange.
Note : Brian Masters according to Goodreads has also written a book called "Dreams about H.M. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family" (!!!!!!!!!)
"Uh, well, doctor, I think I've been working too hard. I had this dream where The Queen - yes, Elizabeth II - yes, she invited me to the Palace for tea and then when I'd had a few and was nodding off she ... no, I can't say...."
Ha haaah!! Ha haaaaaah!!
Note : Brian Masters according to Goodreads has also written a book called "Dreams about H.M. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family" (!!!!!!!!!)
"Uh, well, doctor, I think I've been working too hard. I had this dream where The Queen - yes, Elizabeth II - yes, she invited me to the Palace for tea and then when I'd had a few and was nodding off she ... no, I can't say...."
Ha haaah!! Ha haaaaaah!!
October 4, 2020
There's no doubt in my mind that the author put his life and soul into researching and writing this book as it's meticulously researched, thorough and extremely well written. But...it was also boring as all hell.
I'm not exactly sure what I expected going into this one, but it wasn't what I got. I'm a reader who has read a lot of true crime novels and non-fiction books about well-known criminals and, more specifically, serial killers. In general, I've found most of those books to be absolutely fascinating and I've loved a number of them. This one was just too longwinded and dull for me. In part I think that this is due to the fact that as far as serial killers go, Nilsen was a pretty boring one. All the crimes were the same, and I didn't feel the intense fascination with Nilsen that I've felt with other serial killers. I know that this probably sounds very bizarre, but I'm just saying it like it is. Nilsen did some disgusting and upsetting things in regard to the storage and disposal of the bodies, but other than that, he was a fairly dull and uncharismatic individual.
There was so much detail given in this book and a lot of the detail just wasn't of interest to me. This almost read like a text book, and it wasn't the interesting summary of Dennis Nilsen and his killings and victims that I expected it to be. Every single thing about the man and his character was analyzed to death, including his childhood, family tree, adolescence, time spent in the Navy, and then ending in a lengthy analysis of what type of man Nilsen was, and how one could classify him.
Overall, this one just wasn't for me. I can genuinely appreciate the effort put into this book by the author and the good writing skills, but the book lacked appeal and I didn't find it gripping or interesting. I actually stopped reading at 79% because I had just had enough, and I wanted to be done with it.
I'm not exactly sure what I expected going into this one, but it wasn't what I got. I'm a reader who has read a lot of true crime novels and non-fiction books about well-known criminals and, more specifically, serial killers. In general, I've found most of those books to be absolutely fascinating and I've loved a number of them. This one was just too longwinded and dull for me. In part I think that this is due to the fact that as far as serial killers go, Nilsen was a pretty boring one. All the crimes were the same, and I didn't feel the intense fascination with Nilsen that I've felt with other serial killers. I know that this probably sounds very bizarre, but I'm just saying it like it is. Nilsen did some disgusting and upsetting things in regard to the storage and disposal of the bodies, but other than that, he was a fairly dull and uncharismatic individual.
There was so much detail given in this book and a lot of the detail just wasn't of interest to me. This almost read like a text book, and it wasn't the interesting summary of Dennis Nilsen and his killings and victims that I expected it to be. Every single thing about the man and his character was analyzed to death, including his childhood, family tree, adolescence, time spent in the Navy, and then ending in a lengthy analysis of what type of man Nilsen was, and how one could classify him.
Overall, this one just wasn't for me. I can genuinely appreciate the effort put into this book by the author and the good writing skills, but the book lacked appeal and I didn't find it gripping or interesting. I actually stopped reading at 79% because I had just had enough, and I wanted to be done with it.
July 12, 2025
" اکنون هیچ چیز وجود ندارد ، جز تو ! زیر دستان من دراز کشیده ای ، سایه هایی نمایان میشوند تا تو را با خود ببرند ، به چیزی فکر نکن ! "
شاعرانست نه ؟ این شعری هست که قاتل برای مقتولش سروده ! در وصف یک قتل لطیف و شاعرانه ! یک قتل ؟ نه پونزده قتل شاید هم شونزده تا ! کی میدونه ؟ وقتی اجساد تکه تکه شدند و سرها جوشیده !
🚨 نامناسب برای افراد با روحیه حساس 🚨
دنیس نیلسون ملقب به دِس مرد موجه و مهربونی بود که پسر های جوون بی خانمان رو به خونش می آورد و براشون یک شنونده خوب یک همنشین با صفا و یه دوست با مرام میشد با هم قهوه مینوشیدند ودکا میخوردند و فیلم میدیدند و اگر پسر از خودش تمایلی نشون میداد به تخت خواب می رفتند ! اما رابطه اجباری ؟ نه ! شما در مورد دس چی فکر کردید ؟ اون کسی رو مجبور به رابطه نمیکرد فقط گاهی دلش میخواست این دوست رو برای خودش نگه داره خب آدم های زنده پر سر و صدان پس بهتر بود به قتل برسن ! با سیمهندزفری یا کروات شاید هم در وان آب گرم ! و تازه بخش رمانتیک ماجرا شروع میشه ! راب��ه با جسد فیلم دیدن با جسد و از همه مهم تر گل گفتن و گل شنیدن البته فقط گفتن ! خوبی جسد اینه که ساکته و خوب به حرفات گوش میده اما یک بدی بزرگ هم داره ! زود بو میگیره و بعد از یکی دوماه دیگه نمیشه رفاقت رو ادامه داد و وقتشه چاقو رو تیز کنی از زیر شکم درست زیر ناف شروع کنی به پاره کردن شکم و ریختن امعاء و احشاء به فاضلاب دفن کردن دست و پاها و جوشوندن سرهای بریده به قدری که قابل شناسایی نباشند ! ( حالا چرا انقدر تو پوسته قاتل رفتم !؟ )
دِس در ابتدا به 15 یا 16 قتل در طول کمتر از چهار سال اعتراف میکنه که همگی پسرهایی در رنج سنی 16 تا 23 سال و اغلب هموسکشوال بودند که سر از خونه دس درآوردند البته دس هرکسی که مهمانش میشده رو هم نمیکشت گاهی به ایستگاه قطار میرسونده و براشون دست تکون میداده که همین ها بعدا در دادگاه علیهش شهادت میدن ! ( نمک نشناس ها !!! )
زمانی که دس در خونه حیاط دار خودش زندگی میکرده کارش راحت تر بوده خاک باغچه گنجایش خوبی برای دفن پاره های بدن مُثله شده داشته اما امان از زندگی آپارتمان نشینی ! ریختن بقایای اجساد در فاضلاب باعث گرفتگی فاضلاب میشه و این قاتل رمانتیک ما توسط بازرس های دایره قتل شناسایی میشه ! جالبه که دس وقت فرار کردن داشته اما میمونه و مامور ها رو به سمت کمدش که باقی مونده جسد آخری رو در اون نگه داشته بوده راهنمایی میکنه ! و بعد همکاری کامل میکنه هم با بازرس ها و هم با بریان مسترز ، نویسنده این کتاب !
بریان در مصاحبه ای میگه دنیس بیش از 50 تا دفتر 60 برگ برای من خاطرات و شعر و توصیف قتل ها رو نوشته !!! با رسم شکل و نمودار :)))
توصیفم از دس زیادی طولاتی شد و از وصف بازرس پیتر جی میگذرم فقط بگم دس تنها کرکتر جالبی نیست که در این کتاب با اون طرف هستید و شخصیت بازرس جی هم بسیار قابل توجه و البته دوست داشتنیه !
یک مورد دیگه ای که از خیر توصیف جزئیاتش میگذرم شرح بی نظیر محاکمه دس در دادگاه هست که مشخصه بریان حضور داشته و نعل به نعل یادداشت برداری کرده نه مثل جنایی نویس های مشنگی که دادگاه رو با خونه خاله و قاضی رو با عمو خرس مهربون اشتباه گرفتن و هیچ تصوری از اتمسفرش ندارن ! ( چقدر هم تعدادشون زیاده )
اما کمی هم در مورد بِرِیان مسترز بگم . نویسندهی چیره دست بریتانیایی با اون لهجه بریتیش غلیظش !
بریان علاقه عجیبی به قاتل های سریالی داشته و جالب اینجاست که ارتباطی خوبی هم باهاشون برقرار میکرده و حتی بعد از نوشتن کتابش در مورد یک قاتل باز هم به ملاقاتش میرفته گفته شده بریان 15 سال بعد از نوشتن این کتاب همچنان به ملاقات دس میرفته ! البته که دس قاتل مورد علاقه بریان بوده ! چرا ؟ به دلیل پیچدگی شخصیتش و اینکه هیچ پَتِرنی و یا دلیلی برای قتل هاش نداشته به قول خودش " میکشتم چون فکر میکردم باید بکشم " بریان سعی میکنه دلیل این خشونتی که در وجود دس ریشه کرده رو پیدا کنه و البته طبق معمول میرسه به جمله معروف " ریشه در کودکی داره " اما چیز عجیبی هم در کودکی دس پیدا نمیشه همون فرق گذاشتن های همیشگی مادر ها و تنهایی و درک نشدن های متداول که اگر دلایل کافی برای قاتل شدن بود تعداد مقتول ها از قاتل ها کم می اومد !
صد حیف که این کتاب به زبان فارسی ترجمه نشده شاید با وصف خشنی که من داشتم بگید همون بهتر که نشده ! اما وقتی میبینم جنایی های لوس و آبکی که قاتل های پخمه و بازرس های خرفت به چاپ n ام رسیدند عمیقا ناراحت میشم که چنین کتابی که با یک قاتل فوق العاده باهوش ، مسلط ، خونسرد و بازرسی که بدون اغراق و به دور از توصیفات چاپلوسانه نویسنده ، برای مردم دل میسوزونه و واقعا تلاش میکنه و هوش خوبی هم داره کاملا بی توجهی شده !
البته از پرونده دنیس نیلسون کیس ریپورت ها، پادکست ها و ویدیوهای زیادی ساخته شده چرا که یکی از معروف ترین قاتل های زنجیره ای دنیاست و البته وقتی نکروفیلیا رو سرچ میکنید دنیس سومین نفره !
اما بهتر از ویدیوها و پادکست ها ، مینی سریال سه اپیزودیش به نام Des هست که از اصل پرونده و این کتاب اقتباس شده و این یکی زیرنویس فارسی هم داره !
📽 در نهایت یک مقایسه ای هم بین سریال و کتاب بکنم :
1. سریال از گرفتگی از فاضلاب شروع میشه و قتل ها به توصیفات دس مختصر میشه و شما صحنه قتل رو نمیبینید اما کتاب از قبل تر از اون زمانی که دس آخرین قربانی خودش رو به قتل میرسونه شروع میکنه و کمی شروع مشمئز کننده ای داره !
2. توصیفات کتاب بسیار دقیق تر از سریال هست مثلا نوع کیسه ای که تکه های اجساد در اون قرار گرفته رو هم وصف کرده به تبع توصیف قتل ها در کتاب شدید تر و بیشتر از سریال هست !
3. سریال بیشتر با استناد به شواهد ساخته شده و کتاب بیشتر بر اساس حرف های دس نوشته شده .
4. شخصیت دس در سریال کاملا خونسرد و آرومه هیچ خبری از ترس و وحشت و استرس در هیچ سکانسی مشاهده نمیشه اما در کتاب بار ها به نوسانات خلقی دس اشاره میشه البته از اونجایی که گفته میشه دس همیشه آرامشش رو حفظ میکنه و تنها نگرانیش قبل از جلسه محاکمه " نداشتن کروات " هست میتونه خیلی خوب ظاهر سازی کنه و به نظر تناقضی بین کتاب و سریال نیست !
5. درکتاب بیشتر به روحیه شاعرانه و تمایل به نویسندگی دس اشاره میشه و سریال توجه کمتری به این موضوع میکنه .
در مجموعه سریال کمی ملایم تره و با اینکه دست فیلم و سریال برای ایجاد وحشت با نشون دادن سکانس هایی از تکه های اجساد بازتره اما از این موارد صرف نظر شده و بیشتر به توصیف کلامی پرداختن و اون حس ترس و وحشت با حالت صورت بازیگر به ما میرسه که بازی دیوید تننت در نقش دس و دنیل مِیس در نقش پیتر جی فوق العادست ! لهجه هاشون هم که بی نظیره ! مخصوصا شخص بریان مسترز با اون لهجه اشرافی گوش نوازش !
این کتاب با سه راس کلیدی خودش یعنی دس که ماهرانه آدم میکشت و آروم و خونسرد توصیفش میکرد ، بازرس پیتر جی که دلسوزانه در پی یافتن هویت مقتول ها بود و در نهایت بریان که یک پرونده قوی رو با توصیفات بی نظیر و قلم دلنشینش تبدیل به یک کتاب فوق العاده کرد یک شاهکار میسازه که من بسیار بسیار از خوندنش لذت بردم !
چقدر طولانی شد !! احتمالا برای اینکه بعد مدت ها از یک کتاب جنایی بسیار به وجد اومدم ! به زودی کتاب های دیگه این نویسنده رو هم خواهم خوند و امیدوارم همنقدر لذت ببرم! ( مریض نیستم از قتل لذت بیرم ها ! منظور کیفیت کتابه ! )
شاعرانست نه ؟ این شعری هست که قاتل برای مقتولش سروده ! در وصف یک قتل لطیف و شاعرانه ! یک قتل ؟ نه پونزده قتل شاید هم شونزده تا ! کی میدونه ؟ وقتی اجساد تکه تکه شدند و سرها جوشیده !
🚨 نامناسب برای افراد با روحیه حساس 🚨
دنیس نیلسون ملقب به دِس مرد موجه و مهربونی بود که پسر های جوون بی خانمان رو به خونش می آورد و براشون یک شنونده خوب یک همنشین با صفا و یه دوست با مرام میشد با هم قهوه مینوشیدند ودکا میخوردند و فیلم میدیدند و اگر پسر از خودش تمایلی نشون میداد به تخت خواب می رفتند ! اما رابطه اجباری ؟ نه ! شما در مورد دس چی فکر کردید ؟ اون کسی رو مجبور به رابطه نمیکرد فقط گاهی دلش میخواست این دوست رو برای خودش نگه داره خب آدم های زنده پر سر و صدان پس بهتر بود به قتل برسن ! با سیمهندزفری یا کروات شاید هم در وان آب گرم ! و تازه بخش رمانتیک ماجرا شروع میشه ! راب��ه با جسد فیلم دیدن با جسد و از همه مهم تر گل گفتن و گل شنیدن البته فقط گفتن ! خوبی جسد اینه که ساکته و خوب به حرفات گوش میده اما یک بدی بزرگ هم داره ! زود بو میگیره و بعد از یکی دوماه دیگه نمیشه رفاقت رو ادامه داد و وقتشه چاقو رو تیز کنی از زیر شکم درست زیر ناف شروع کنی به پاره کردن شکم و ریختن امعاء و احشاء به فاضلاب دفن کردن دست و پاها و جوشوندن سرهای بریده به قدری که قابل شناسایی نباشند ! ( حالا چرا انقدر تو پوسته قاتل رفتم !؟ )
دِس در ابتدا به 15 یا 16 قتل در طول کمتر از چهار سال اعتراف میکنه که همگی پسرهایی در رنج سنی 16 تا 23 سال و اغلب هموسکشوال بودند که سر از خونه دس درآوردند البته دس هرکسی که مهمانش میشده رو هم نمیکشت گاهی به ایستگاه قطار میرسونده و براشون دست تکون میداده که همین ها بعدا در دادگاه علیهش شهادت میدن ! ( نمک نشناس ها !!! )
زمانی که دس در خونه حیاط دار خودش زندگی میکرده کارش راحت تر بوده خاک باغچه گنجایش خوبی برای دفن پاره های بدن مُثله شده داشته اما امان از زندگی آپارتمان نشینی ! ریختن بقایای اجساد در فاضلاب باعث گرفتگی فاضلاب میشه و این قاتل رمانتیک ما توسط بازرس های دایره قتل شناسایی میشه ! جالبه که دس وقت فرار کردن داشته اما میمونه و مامور ها رو به سمت کمدش که باقی مونده جسد آخری رو در اون نگه داشته بوده راهنمایی میکنه ! و بعد همکاری کامل میکنه هم با بازرس ها و هم با بریان مسترز ، نویسنده این کتاب !
بریان در مصاحبه ای میگه دنیس بیش از 50 تا دفتر 60 برگ برای من خاطرات و شعر و توصیف قتل ها رو نوشته !!! با رسم شکل و نمودار :)))
توصیفم از دس زیادی طولاتی شد و از وصف بازرس پیتر جی میگذرم فقط بگم دس تنها کرکتر جالبی نیست که در این کتاب با اون طرف هستید و شخصیت بازرس جی هم بسیار قابل توجه و البته دوست داشتنیه !
یک مورد دیگه ای که از خیر توصیف جزئیاتش میگذرم شرح بی نظیر محاکمه دس در دادگاه هست که مشخصه بریان حضور داشته و نعل به نعل یادداشت برداری کرده نه مثل جنایی نویس های مشنگی که دادگاه رو با خونه خاله و قاضی رو با عمو خرس مهربون اشتباه گرفتن و هیچ تصوری از اتمسفرش ندارن ! ( چقدر هم تعدادشون زیاده )
اما کمی هم در مورد بِرِیان مسترز بگم . نویسندهی چیره دست بریتانیایی با اون لهجه بریتیش غلیظش !
بریان علاقه عجیبی به قاتل های سریالی داشته و جالب اینجاست که ارتباطی خوبی هم باهاشون برقرار میکرده و حتی بعد از نوشتن کتابش در مورد یک قاتل باز هم به ملاقاتش میرفته گفته شده بریان 15 سال بعد از نوشتن این کتاب همچنان به ملاقات دس میرفته ! البته که دس قاتل مورد علاقه بریان بوده ! چرا ؟ به دلیل پیچدگی شخصیتش و اینکه هیچ پَتِرنی و یا دلیلی برای قتل هاش نداشته به قول خودش " میکشتم چون فکر میکردم باید بکشم " بریان سعی میکنه دلیل این خشونتی که در وجود دس ریشه کرده رو پیدا کنه و البته طبق معمول میرسه به جمله معروف " ریشه در کودکی داره " اما چیز عجیبی هم در کودکی دس پیدا نمیشه همون فرق گذاشتن های همیشگی مادر ها و تنهایی و درک نشدن های متداول که اگر دلایل کافی برای قاتل شدن بود تعداد مقتول ها از قاتل ها کم می اومد !
صد حیف که این کتاب به زبان فارسی ترجمه نشده شاید با وصف خشنی که من داشتم بگید همون بهتر که نشده ! اما وقتی میبینم جنایی های لوس و آبکی که قاتل های پخمه و بازرس های خرفت به چاپ n ام رسیدند عمیقا ناراحت میشم که چنین کتابی که با یک قاتل فوق العاده باهوش ، مسلط ، خونسرد و بازرسی که بدون اغراق و به دور از توصیفات چاپلوسانه نویسنده ، برای مردم دل میسوزونه و واقعا تلاش میکنه و هوش خوبی هم داره کاملا بی توجهی شده !
البته از پرونده دنیس نیلسون کیس ریپورت ها، پادکست ها و ویدیوهای زیادی ساخته شده چرا که یکی از معروف ترین قاتل های زنجیره ای دنیاست و البته وقتی نکروفیلیا رو سرچ میکنید دنیس سومین نفره !
اما بهتر از ویدیوها و پادکست ها ، مینی سریال سه اپیزودیش به نام Des هست که از اصل پرونده و این کتاب اقتباس شده و این یکی زیرنویس فارسی هم داره !
📽 در نهایت یک مقایسه ای هم بین سریال و کتاب بکنم :
1. سریال از گرفتگی از فاضلاب شروع میشه و قتل ها به توصیفات دس مختصر میشه و شما صحنه قتل رو نمیبینید اما کتاب از قبل تر از اون زمانی که دس آخرین قربانی خودش رو به قتل میرسونه شروع میکنه و کمی شروع مشمئز کننده ای داره !
2. توصیفات کتاب بسیار دقیق تر از سریال هست مثلا نوع کیسه ای که تکه های اجساد در اون قرار گرفته رو هم وصف کرده به تبع توصیف قتل ها در کتاب شدید تر و بیشتر از سریال هست !
3. سریال بیشتر با استناد به شواهد ساخته شده و کتاب بیشتر بر اساس حرف های دس نوشته شده .
4. شخصیت دس در سریال کاملا خونسرد و آرومه هیچ خبری از ترس و وحشت و استرس در هیچ سکانسی مشاهده نمیشه اما در کتاب بار ها به نوسانات خلقی دس اشاره میشه البته از اونجایی که گفته میشه دس همیشه آرامشش رو حفظ میکنه و تنها نگرانیش قبل از جلسه محاکمه " نداشتن کروات " هست میتونه خیلی خوب ظاهر سازی کنه و به نظر تناقضی بین کتاب و سریال نیست !
5. درکتاب بیشتر به روحیه شاعرانه و تمایل به نویسندگی دس اشاره میشه و سریال توجه کمتری به این موضوع میکنه .
در مجموعه سریال کمی ملایم تره و با اینکه دست فیلم و سریال برای ایجاد وحشت با نشون دادن سکانس هایی از تکه های اجساد بازتره اما از این موارد صرف نظر شده و بیشتر به توصیف کلامی پرداختن و اون حس ترس و وحشت با حالت صورت بازیگر به ما میرسه که بازی دیوید تننت در نقش دس و دنیل مِیس در نقش پیتر جی فوق العادست ! لهجه هاشون هم که بی نظیره ! مخصوصا شخص بریان مسترز با اون لهجه اشرافی گوش نوازش !
این کتاب با سه راس کلیدی خودش یعنی دس که ماهرانه آدم میکشت و آروم و خونسرد توصیفش میکرد ، بازرس پیتر جی که دلسوزانه در پی یافتن هویت مقتول ها بود و در نهایت بریان که یک پرونده قوی رو با توصیفات بی نظیر و قلم دلنشینش تبدیل به یک کتاب فوق العاده کرد یک شاهکار میسازه که من بسیار بسیار از خوندنش لذت بردم !
چقدر طولانی شد !! احتمالا برای اینکه بعد مدت ها از یک کتاب جنایی بسیار به وجد اومدم ! به زودی کتاب های دیگه این نویسنده رو هم خواهم خوند و امیدوارم همنقدر لذت ببرم! ( مریض نیستم از قتل لذت بیرم ها ! منظور کیفیت کتابه ! )
January 6, 2014
90% of the reviewers here manifestly didn't understand this book. For one thing, it is not a true crime thriller. Nor is it about a sick man. What it is, is a psychoanalytical evaluation of a likeable and intelligent man, who turned to murder in part to find company. The oxymoronic title is deliberate, a point missed by every review I've seen so far.
This book features little by way of action - the crimes and arrest take up a single chapter. What it focuses on is the apparent contradiction between a man with nothing medically wrong with him, and his heinous deeds. Masters takes a deliberate and studious approach to his subject, and references traditional psychoanalytical theory to describe a sane and egotistical killer. Make no mistakes about it; the crafted illustrations and medical evaluation prove that Neilsen was and is utterly sane - which makes the Muswell Hill killings all the more beguiling.
Of course, this isn't a medical book. It offers nothing new in terms of medical or criminal theory, and to that extent is somewhat limited. But it is, relatively speaking, a highly intelligent, non-tabloid analysis.
This book features little by way of action - the crimes and arrest take up a single chapter. What it focuses on is the apparent contradiction between a man with nothing medically wrong with him, and his heinous deeds. Masters takes a deliberate and studious approach to his subject, and references traditional psychoanalytical theory to describe a sane and egotistical killer. Make no mistakes about it; the crafted illustrations and medical evaluation prove that Neilsen was and is utterly sane - which makes the Muswell Hill killings all the more beguiling.
Of course, this isn't a medical book. It offers nothing new in terms of medical or criminal theory, and to that extent is somewhat limited. But it is, relatively speaking, a highly intelligent, non-tabloid analysis.
February 27, 2021
“I like to see people in happiness. I like to do good. I love democracy. I detest any criminal acts. I like kids. I like all animals. I love public and community service. I hate to see hunger, unemployment, oppression, war, aggression, ignorance, illiteracy, etc. I was a trades union officer. I was a good soldier and NCO. I was a fair policeman. I was an effective civil servant. STOP. THIS ALL COUNTS FOR NOTHING when I kill fifteen men (without any reason) and attempt to kill about nine others-in my home under friendly circumstances.”
This book comes under the heading of morbidly fascinating. In many ways this is a tricky act to pull off, trying to help people gain a better understanding into the mind-set and motivation of someone who could commit such atrocious acts, but also not glorifying him or placing him on a pedestal at the same time. We get some explanations but of course these don’t amount to excuses or exoneration.
It is rarely that we get such a profound insight into the head of a serial killer, which results in a provocative, absorbing and above all deeply disturbing piece of work. But Masters is largely an assured hand, and he is not afraid to sprinkle his prose with the odd catty comment or two along the way, which help infuse a little colour and distraction at times.
Without doubt this is dated in some ways, particularly when it delves into ideas of psychology and repeated mentions of graphology, where some of the ideas and theories put forward for explanation are a tad ignorant and juvenile, but to be fair this book is now 36 years old, but overall this is a fairly fascinating look into an enigmatic yet everyday man and the horrendous crimes he was responsible for.
“The only House of Horrors I know is Number 10 Downing Street.”
January 11, 2021
I wanted to love this book, but found the beginning and end almost interminably tedious (I resorted to skipping passages on several occasions).
I had no interest in the distant family history of Dennis Nilsen, and wasn't convinced that there was much sociological evidence to suggest a plausible route to his crimes by studying it.
Likewise, I had little interest in the final chapter entitled 'Answers' which offered none (the book would have ended more satisfactorily without these additional 60 pages which read like a university dissertation incongruously bolted on at the end).
Fortunately, the bulk of the book - detailing Nilsen's early adulthood, crimes, court case, and incarceration - was well worth other disappointments.
After his arrest Nilsen was open about all aspects of the murders he had committed, and it was this that made his story a particularly interesting one. He didn't shy away from discussing the less savoury aspects of his crimes, and repeatedly maintained that he killed to 'rescue' his victims. Death to Des was the ultimate act of love.
A question that runs throughout this book, is whether anyone can be considered completely evil.
To brand a killer like Nilsen evil would be to let him off the hook. But if he wasn't evil, what was he?
I had no interest in the distant family history of Dennis Nilsen, and wasn't convinced that there was much sociological evidence to suggest a plausible route to his crimes by studying it.
Likewise, I had little interest in the final chapter entitled 'Answers' which offered none (the book would have ended more satisfactorily without these additional 60 pages which read like a university dissertation incongruously bolted on at the end).
Fortunately, the bulk of the book - detailing Nilsen's early adulthood, crimes, court case, and incarceration - was well worth other disappointments.
After his arrest Nilsen was open about all aspects of the murders he had committed, and it was this that made his story a particularly interesting one. He didn't shy away from discussing the less savoury aspects of his crimes, and repeatedly maintained that he killed to 'rescue' his victims. Death to Des was the ultimate act of love.
A question that runs throughout this book, is whether anyone can be considered completely evil.
To brand a killer like Nilsen evil would be to let him off the hook. But if he wasn't evil, what was he?
September 24, 2020
This book is a reprint of the 80’s classic and, apart from the updated cover, nothing appears to have changed. But then, why alter something which was so masterfully written in the first place?
This book has aged well, it is almost quaint to realise that the term serial killer is not once mentioned in the text, Masters interest in crimes of this type predates the media and Hollywood hype of such occurences. This, then, should serve as a clue as to the style of writing. Unsensational, unconcerned with glorifying gore and certainly not interested in reducing the victims to ciphers or extras in the drama of Nilsen’s life. To have done so would have been a similar sin (albeit of lesser magnitude) to those of Nilsen himself.
What we have here is a brief but detailed biography of a man beyond classification, a man that cannot be given a taxonomy by the branches of medicine, law, psyhcology or philosophy. He is the ultimate expression of the duality of man, on the one hand given to acts of kindness and, on the other, thinking nothing of strangliing to death an inebriated man asleep on his armchair.
Masters admits to bafflement. Cleverly he opens this up and states that his analysis as an author is worth no less than those whose field of expertise should allow them to define and explain Nilsen.
The book works very well, the structure and pace is necessarily whirlwind, packing a life into 300 odd pages requires brevity and getting to the point. After the early years are explained, the crimes detailed and the subsequent trial, Masters makes attempts at getting to the dark heart of Nilsen. It is interesting that Nilsen was the rarest sort or murderer, one who wrote and drew about his crimes in great detail and seemed to make strong efforts in interpreting and explaining his own behaviour.
This book is an essential read as it provides as much insight into the character of Nilsen that one could expect to be privy to. In a straightforward manner Masters unpicks a complex and, ultimately, unknowable soul.
The writing is uniformly excellent and the subject matter never flags. Some books simply hold the reader in their thrall throughout their duration and this book is an exemplar of such writing.
This book has aged well, it is almost quaint to realise that the term serial killer is not once mentioned in the text, Masters interest in crimes of this type predates the media and Hollywood hype of such occurences. This, then, should serve as a clue as to the style of writing. Unsensational, unconcerned with glorifying gore and certainly not interested in reducing the victims to ciphers or extras in the drama of Nilsen’s life. To have done so would have been a similar sin (albeit of lesser magnitude) to those of Nilsen himself.
What we have here is a brief but detailed biography of a man beyond classification, a man that cannot be given a taxonomy by the branches of medicine, law, psyhcology or philosophy. He is the ultimate expression of the duality of man, on the one hand given to acts of kindness and, on the other, thinking nothing of strangliing to death an inebriated man asleep on his armchair.
Masters admits to bafflement. Cleverly he opens this up and states that his analysis as an author is worth no less than those whose field of expertise should allow them to define and explain Nilsen.
The book works very well, the structure and pace is necessarily whirlwind, packing a life into 300 odd pages requires brevity and getting to the point. After the early years are explained, the crimes detailed and the subsequent trial, Masters makes attempts at getting to the dark heart of Nilsen. It is interesting that Nilsen was the rarest sort or murderer, one who wrote and drew about his crimes in great detail and seemed to make strong efforts in interpreting and explaining his own behaviour.
This book is an essential read as it provides as much insight into the character of Nilsen that one could expect to be privy to. In a straightforward manner Masters unpicks a complex and, ultimately, unknowable soul.
The writing is uniformly excellent and the subject matter never flags. Some books simply hold the reader in their thrall throughout their duration and this book is an exemplar of such writing.
January 24, 2016
Wonderful, close study of Dennis Nilsen, a London-based serial killer. Goes pretty deeply into Nilsen's thought process without ever excusing his actions or treating him as the victim in the case. Excellent level of respect for the victims, too.
August 8, 2021
I've settled on a three star rating, because I found it so interesting, but Chapter 2 (Origins) and Chapter 10 (Answers) were DNF worthy! Overall I'm so glad I read it, but Brian Masters didn't impress me too much!
June 20, 2023
This disturbing book about a serial killer (published within a year of Nilsen's trial and conviction) is to be taken seriously. It does not hide the dreadful details of Nilsen's run of fifteen (possibly twelve) murders over six years but it does not do so to excite or horrify for the sake of doing so.
Brian Masters, whose first biographies were of French literary figures and the aristocracy, turned to serial killers (he later produced works on Jeffrey Dahmer and Rosemary West) with this book when he decided to contact, perhaps naively, the killer on remand to see if he would co-operate.
Nilsen was very much the co-operating type. As soon as he was arrested, he more than spilled the beans to the police interviewers. He poured out every detail he could remember whether he embellished from faulty memory or not. Where facts could be checked, they generally did.
There was never any question that he 'did it' even if only six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder were actually on the charge sheet but only whether his 'doing it' represented a form of diminished responsibility or not under English law.
As a case study in 'psychopathic' (although Masters rightly has a problem with this designation) behaviour, it is stunning even if (to be honest) I share the view of some critics that perhaps Masters sometimes took the narcissistic Nilsen too much at face value.
The complaint is not that Masters is 'too sympathetic' to Nilsen the person but that he may have become a little too sympathetic (from a social point of view) to the world view of the 'semi-autistic' (his term) serial killer who perhaps might not be able to be anything other than he is.
Nevertheless that implied 'sotto voce' quality of being prepared to listen to a man who called himself a monster enabled Master to get access to a huge amount of information on the strange mind that presented itself to the court and which clearly enjoyed the passion of killing.
Masters' judgements are subtle and generally wise. He works hard to be detached without going to extremes of moral outrage or excessive sympathy. He gives the victims their due. He allows us to judge whether Nilsen's rationality was that of M. Verdoux in his social critiques.
Nilsen was quite clearly a killer who enjoyed killing and did so 'for company' - that is, in order to deal with an existential loneliness experienced by other 'semi-autistic' people whose world falls apart and then who is presented with new possibilities - but he was far more complex than that.
For example, like many people of his type who do not go on to kill, he was a model citizen in many ways - a hardworking active trades unionist, committed civil servant and social justice activist 'avant la lettre' who failed to be promoted because of his personality and not because of his work.
His world fell apart on work issues. An impulsive murder in 1978 gave him some kind of outlet, a pleasure such as nothing else could give him even as he knew what he did was wrong. But the 'wrongness' was second order to the pleasure and so, after a year, he killed again.
Once his second killing had taken place at the end of 1979, the constraints were removed and 1980 saw six (five in the last half of the year), four in 1981, two in 1982 and the final one in January 1983 when he was caught. Eight were never identified. Three may have been fabricated.
His ability to kill was partly a matter of his own true nature allowed out of its social box of discipline (self-imposed discipline is often important to psychopaths) but also of social circumstance - the London of the depressed early 1980s with is loners and runaways.
The killings were about power rather than sex although there were necrophiliac aspects to the murders and undoubtedly a dark gay eroticism in a period that was still very difficult for homosexuals - legal but still often despised and treated as outcasts.
It is probable that many of the victims were provincial runaways of confused sexuality as much as gay who were coming to London because it offered more hope of acceptance than some provincial back water. However, not all were male prostitutes or addicts or vagrants.
One suspects that the delusion that he was 'helping' his victims out of a miserable life may have had some strength to it but it was a delusion. Some victims escaped at great risk to himself because the mood was not right for a killing. Others came to his flat and left without harm.
There was an apparent randomness that was nothing of the kind. Nilsen needed just the right conditions to take pleasure in his private ritual killing and his recklessness on occasions was the recklessnes not of the stupid man but the man who had become a void, beyond depression.
There are very few such detailed sets of raw material (direct confession and detailed diary writings and interviews) available to analysts of crime although there are other similar cases, all telling their tale with a mix of narcissism, manipulation of the reader and honesty that is unnerving.
Nilsen liked to write poetry about his 'feelings' and experiences (not actually that bad though we would like them to be otherwise) and was happy to draw (badly) artistic representations of his crimes. Disturbingly it seems that writing poetry is a common attribute of serial killers.
All in all, I felt this was an important book and that Masters, a sensitive bisexual writer (as Nilsen was bisexual), gives us the raw material to make a judgement that is not necessarily his. I felt that if he was 'simpatico' to the killer it was to his oddball aspect because Masters too is an oddball.
I may be wrong but, as Masters spends a great deal of time on Nilsen's unstable working class origins, this may reflect his own experiences of similar instability. I think this helps give us insights into the killer without suggesting that oddball instability must result in killing.
Masters is absolutely right to suggest that we are all truly unknowable and that includes Nilsen. I saw a man who was 'psychopathic', manipulative and taking everyone for a ride to the end but also complex and not a monster but human-all-too-human
The 'problem of the psychopath' (bad term though that is) is one of the most important for us as a species because these people are very much part of the human mix and are all around us - only a very few of them have means and motive to become truly dangerous.
Masters allows us to see that means in the Nilsen case were as important as motive. Once the pleasure of killing is discovered, the serial killer becomes unstoppable until he is stopped by outside forces - he often wants to be stopped because he cannot stop himself.
It is as if a psychic tension builds up that can only be relieved by some ritual act (this is probably not an alien idea to many of reading this review). In Nilsen's case, on at least twelve occasions, psychic tension associated with music and alcohol was relieved through ritualised murder.
The questions is how to stop the serial killer before they start. This suggests both that society does not push these semi-autistic people into a corner and that society structures itself so that runaways and social flotsam are not permitted to be lost in society's cracks.
Nilsen could kill (once he had a taste for it) because he knew where to pick up people with no connections who could not be tracked (not so easy nowadays thanks to technology) or missed and because no one questioned or investigated bad smells in a flat or strange bonfires.
But not pushing these people into a corner might be equally important which might mean a degree of working around psychopaths as much as containing them through surveillance. They like rules so give them rules and then watch them like a hawk.
In the end, Nilsen was caught because the human remains he flushed down the toilet bunged up the drains and he came quietly. He was not unintelligent and part of his intelligence was to know when he was beat and that his impulsive behaviour had to reach a terminus.
At his trial (a full chapter that centres on the debate about diminished responsibility), neither jury nor judge were convinced by defence arguments that his impulsive killing was a mental disorder rather than a rational act. That common sense judgment has to be right.
The alternative would be to give 'criminal psychopaths' a free pass (and would they not exploit that!) and have them out on the streets much sooner than society can bear. However, the social judgment does hide a brutal reality - these people have brains wired up differently from ours.
Since 1985, the problem of the psychopath continues to be swept under the table. On the one hand, like paedophiles, they cannot help what they are. They are part of the general human condition and technically equal in holding fundamental rights. Most do no harm and many are highly productive.
The fashionable view is to avoid the problem by insisting that there is no problem until one of them does something outrageous or by asserting that society must be structured as if they did not exist or to treat the extreme examples as sports or rareties instead of the tip of a potential iceberg.
This book won't solve the problem (it may not be soluable in human society) but it will provide a very thoughtful account of a person who was not stupid, who had a brain wired up in a certain way, had certain life experiences and was then given the means to indulge himself in his greatest joy.
January 7, 2021
3.25 Stars — Masters prize is well crafted, stylised & hardy. Des, well he’s Des. It’s hard to reconcile the narrative at times, working against BM, very much his own making here for coming through as some what of a beleaguered-fanboy.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not a good-read, definitely not one that any truecrime-buff should omit, that’s for certain.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not a good-read, definitely not one that any truecrime-buff should omit, that’s for certain.
January 17, 2022
I couldnt finish this, it was boring. It could have been written in half the amount of pages as there was such an excessive amount of detail. Only one chapter talked about the murders and victims. Really difficult to follow at times due to how much factual information was being given. The rest was just fact after fact about Nilsen’s upbringing and theories.
Unfortunately 1 star for me.
Unfortunately 1 star for me.
September 13, 2013
I don't know how you can make this grizzly story boring, but the author managed it.
June 19, 2018
In February 1983, the residents of 23 Cranley Gardens in Muswell Hill started having problems with their drains. Calling out a plumber, the blockage would turn out to be much, much worse than the usual toilet blockages, as well as accounting for the terrible smell that had been permeating the house for some time. The resident in the attic flat had been flushing human flesh. Quickly arrested, Dennis Nilsen was extremely forthcoming with the police. As well as immediately copping to having bodies hid in his wardrobe awaiting disposal, police asked him if they were dealing with one body or two. Nilsen calmly replied “Fifteen or sixteen, since 1978.”
Born in a remote Scottish fishing village, Nilsen was an extremely withdrawn child. With even his mum stating she never felt she could cuddle him, Nilsen bonded with only one person throughout his childhood – his grandfather. When his grandfather died at sea and was brought home for burial, 6 year old Nilsen was awoken (without having been told his grandfather had died) and asked if he wanted to see him. It is now thought that the image of his grandfather’s corpse made an unbreakable link within his mind, equating love with a dead body.
Nilsen had a range of careers whilst maturing – first in the Army catering corps (where he learned butchery skills), then as a police officer, and eventually in the Jobcentre. He remained, however, unequipped to make lasting friendships, his strident personality proving off-putting to most (check out his home video footage to get an idea of what he’d have been like as company, forever monologuing with no-one else able to get a word in edgeways). Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Nilsen would also spend his nights out looking for male company, so many of whom would never make it out of his house alive. Strangling his victims, Nilsen would then spend days ‘caring’ for the corpse – bathing, dressing and posing his victims as though they were still alive – hiding them under the floorboards for days and weeks at a time before removing them to spend more time with them, only disposing of them when the stench of decomposition became too much to realistically hide.
Killing for Company is an excellent true crime book, looking at the psychological and sociological aspects of Nilsen’s make-up as well as providing documentation of his crimes. That it is able to do this so well is partly due to Nilsen’s behaviour post-capture. Much like Ed Kemper, Nilsen was not only intelligent and articulate, but extremely forthcoming with the police as well as with the book’s author, with his own diaries providing a lot of material around his thoughts and behaviours both during and after his crimes.
This isn’t an easy read by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a fascinating and very informative look at one of Britain’s most notorious killers.
**Also posted at Cannonball Read 10**
Born in a remote Scottish fishing village, Nilsen was an extremely withdrawn child. With even his mum stating she never felt she could cuddle him, Nilsen bonded with only one person throughout his childhood – his grandfather. When his grandfather died at sea and was brought home for burial, 6 year old Nilsen was awoken (without having been told his grandfather had died) and asked if he wanted to see him. It is now thought that the image of his grandfather’s corpse made an unbreakable link within his mind, equating love with a dead body.
Nilsen had a range of careers whilst maturing – first in the Army catering corps (where he learned butchery skills), then as a police officer, and eventually in the Jobcentre. He remained, however, unequipped to make lasting friendships, his strident personality proving off-putting to most (check out his home video footage to get an idea of what he’d have been like as company, forever monologuing with no-one else able to get a word in edgeways). Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Nilsen would also spend his nights out looking for male company, so many of whom would never make it out of his house alive. Strangling his victims, Nilsen would then spend days ‘caring’ for the corpse – bathing, dressing and posing his victims as though they were still alive – hiding them under the floorboards for days and weeks at a time before removing them to spend more time with them, only disposing of them when the stench of decomposition became too much to realistically hide.
Killing for Company is an excellent true crime book, looking at the psychological and sociological aspects of Nilsen’s make-up as well as providing documentation of his crimes. That it is able to do this so well is partly due to Nilsen’s behaviour post-capture. Much like Ed Kemper, Nilsen was not only intelligent and articulate, but extremely forthcoming with the police as well as with the book’s author, with his own diaries providing a lot of material around his thoughts and behaviours both during and after his crimes.
This isn’t an easy read by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a fascinating and very informative look at one of Britain’s most notorious killers.
**Also posted at Cannonball Read 10**
January 6, 2021
I feel like it took me forever to finish this book, and I did find myself taking lots of breaks from it. I don’t know if it was the content or if I’ve just exhausted myself on the case. However, this is the best insight to Dennis Nilsen that I’ve come across. Brilliantly researched and plenty of raw information right from Nilsen himself. My only issue is some of the outdated psychological information, but that’s to be expected.
June 3, 2022
Alas I did not write a review back then but I did gave it 5 stars and I remember that I liked it.
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ETA Checked and I gave it 9 out of 10 so not really 5 stars.
Decided to re read and finished reading yesterday. Now after having read true crime books for 15 years I think I am more experienced now then when I first started reading about this subject.
That being said I would not give this book 5 stars again. Yes this book is filled with information about the murder and goes very deep into Nilsen's psyche. The author and the killer became friends which makes for interesting reading but there is one thing missing... The victims story.
First of all I did not like that the author jumped about. I skipped the first 2 chapters called preface and arrest and started with origins cause even though I knew a bit of this case I like my tc books in chronological order.First all was fine but then all of a sudden the author began about all the men Nilsen killed and gave some details but then jumped back.
I felt there was a lack of interests for the victims. All the author cared about to seems to me was knowing more about Nilsen. So I felt he was biased.
Another thing which I do not blame the author for, back then not all the victims were known and especially the first victim the so called Irish guy was Nilsen's first kill of which he fantasized about.
In 2006 I think they thanks to DNA? discovered who the victim was and he was not 18/19 runaway as Nilsen told Masters and the cops, but a 14 year old innocent boy.
Curious to find out more about the victims.
All in all even though Nilsen is known as the man who killed because he was lonely, like Dahmer in a way, I still think he was a selfish control freak and loved the control and am not so sure he was ever sorry.
So I am going to change this to 4 stars.
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ETA Checked and I gave it 9 out of 10 so not really 5 stars.
Decided to re read and finished reading yesterday. Now after having read true crime books for 15 years I think I am more experienced now then when I first started reading about this subject.
That being said I would not give this book 5 stars again. Yes this book is filled with information about the murder and goes very deep into Nilsen's psyche. The author and the killer became friends which makes for interesting reading but there is one thing missing... The victims story.
First of all I did not like that the author jumped about. I skipped the first 2 chapters called preface and arrest and started with origins cause even though I knew a bit of this case I like my tc books in chronological order.First all was fine but then all of a sudden the author began about all the men Nilsen killed and gave some details but then jumped back.
I felt there was a lack of interests for the victims. All the author cared about to seems to me was knowing more about Nilsen. So I felt he was biased.
Another thing which I do not blame the author for, back then not all the victims were known and especially the first victim the so called Irish guy was Nilsen's first kill of which he fantasized about.
In 2006 I think they thanks to DNA? discovered who the victim was and he was not 18/19 runaway as Nilsen told Masters and the cops, but a 14 year old innocent boy.
Curious to find out more about the victims.
All in all even though Nilsen is known as the man who killed because he was lonely, like Dahmer in a way, I still think he was a selfish control freak and loved the control and am not so sure he was ever sorry.
So I am going to change this to 4 stars.
June 6, 2021
Dennis Nilsen is a well known serial killer and after watching Des with David Tennant more recently, it piqued my interest and was intrigued to find out more and this book sounded like it ticked all the boxes.
The author got to meet and know Dennis in the run up to his trial. Dennis was very forth coming with information, not only talking to Brian Masters but he also put it down in writing for him. I think this made it all the more chilling with how willing he was to talk about it all, even drawing pictures of his victims of which some are included in the book.
We get a build up of Dennis’ family background and what life was like for him as a child. This can be a good insight at times as to why a person may carry out these atrocities. I wouldn’t say there is a great deal in his past though that would in anyway warrant what he did. He shows compassion for his much loved dog which made it harder to comprehend what he did to the many young men that he killed.
If you are a lover of true crime books, this is definitely a must read. Some parts where the killings themselves are spoken of in detail were hard to stomach. The author does a good job of giving a well rounded insight of Nilsen’s life from his past to his time killing. Overall I found it an interesting and informative read.
The author got to meet and know Dennis in the run up to his trial. Dennis was very forth coming with information, not only talking to Brian Masters but he also put it down in writing for him. I think this made it all the more chilling with how willing he was to talk about it all, even drawing pictures of his victims of which some are included in the book.
We get a build up of Dennis’ family background and what life was like for him as a child. This can be a good insight at times as to why a person may carry out these atrocities. I wouldn’t say there is a great deal in his past though that would in anyway warrant what he did. He shows compassion for his much loved dog which made it harder to comprehend what he did to the many young men that he killed.
If you are a lover of true crime books, this is definitely a must read. Some parts where the killings themselves are spoken of in detail were hard to stomach. The author does a good job of giving a well rounded insight of Nilsen’s life from his past to his time killing. Overall I found it an interesting and informative read.
December 20, 2020
Heavy going in places especially during the trial and experts diagnosis and opinions
October 17, 2020
An outstanding, multi-layered book. Most retailers would probably classify it as true crime, which on one level it obviously is although it stands head and shoulders above anything else I’ve read in that genre. It also ranges across history and sociology (with some fascinating insights into London and gay life in the late 70s/early 80s), politics (with the plight of Nilsen’s victims serving as an implicit critique of the deplorable state of social care and inequality in early Thatcherite Britain) and of course psychology (without ever straying too far into pseudo science). But I think the reason it works so well is that Brian Masters has an essentially literary sensibility and is able to present Dennis Nilsen as a believable and relatable human being. As other reviewers have noted, Nilsen’s crushing loneliness and inability to form and maintain healthy relationships comes powerfully through to the extent that you end up feeling almost as sorry for him as for his victims. And then of course looming over everything is the figure of Nilsen himself, who was evidently enormously charismatic, manipulative and often likeable. As such, the extent to which this is really a dispassionate analysis of Nilsen versus a self-interested apologia by Nilsen imparted via somebody over whom he clearly exercised enormous influence is very much debatable. You could see this either as the book’s fatal flaw or its essence (or both).
October 15, 2020
(7)
This is super informative and acc pretty interesting to read considering how factual it is.
I did tune out a little during the last section but the main section of Nilsen's biography is fascinating (and horrible and disturbing but that's obvious).
I like how Nilsen isn't exaggerated in this too.
This is super informative and acc pretty interesting to read considering how factual it is.
I did tune out a little during the last section but the main section of Nilsen's biography is fascinating (and horrible and disturbing but that's obvious).
I like how Nilsen isn't exaggerated in this too.
April 19, 2021
3.5 ⭐️ Really fascinating case... especially with so much from the POV of the killer, which is then analysed by the author who spent lots of time with the Dez and people around him. Difficult read though, very graphic in some chapters describing how he disposed of the bodies, etc.
April 7, 2022
In 1983 Nilsen was arrested after human remains were found in the drainage system near his abode. He confessed to the murder of at least 15 people, mostly young gay men. Masters wrote this book in the 1980s using official sources but also interviews with Nilsen. Such a fascinating yet horrific case. Nilsen is chilling.
March 23, 2020
review to come
June 14, 2022
Very interesting from a psychological perspective but felt it was a bit repetitive
Read
January 15, 2021Unrated out of 5
I wouldn’t say I “enjoyed” reading this in the typical way people “enjoy” books—reading about the murders and dismemberment of other human beings isn’t something I find particularly fun. I do, however, find it interesting.
In this book Masters attempts to delve into the psyche of Dennis ‘Des’ Nilsen in an attempt to uncover why multiple murderers commit their crimes. It’s clear from the outset that this is Masters’s first foray into writing true crime and that his experience as a writer lies elsewhere, but Masters mostly succeeds at articulating the engaging and tragic tale of Nilson’s life, upbringing and crimes.
Personally, I found the beginning and middle of the text to be the most interesting. The sections on dismemberment being the most fascinating and simultaneously disturbing for me personally. The book unfortunately falls flat when we reach the “answers” section of the text. Masters isn’t a criminal psychologist, nor does he have a background in forensics or law so it’s here where he seems to struggle somewhat to come to a conclusion of sorts on what drove Nilson to murder.
The book succeeds wonderfully in the description of Nilsen as a man and murderer, but stumbles around philosophical and spiritual ponderings.
Nevertheless, Killing for Company is still an interesting look at one of the UK’s most notorious serial killers and I would recommend this to those who are interested in true crime.
I wouldn’t say I “enjoyed” reading this in the typical way people “enjoy” books—reading about the murders and dismemberment of other human beings isn’t something I find particularly fun. I do, however, find it interesting.
In this book Masters attempts to delve into the psyche of Dennis ‘Des’ Nilsen in an attempt to uncover why multiple murderers commit their crimes. It’s clear from the outset that this is Masters’s first foray into writing true crime and that his experience as a writer lies elsewhere, but Masters mostly succeeds at articulating the engaging and tragic tale of Nilson’s life, upbringing and crimes.
Personally, I found the beginning and middle of the text to be the most interesting. The sections on dismemberment being the most fascinating and simultaneously disturbing for me personally. The book unfortunately falls flat when we reach the “answers” section of the text. Masters isn’t a criminal psychologist, nor does he have a background in forensics or law so it’s here where he seems to struggle somewhat to come to a conclusion of sorts on what drove Nilson to murder.
The book succeeds wonderfully in the description of Nilsen as a man and murderer, but stumbles around philosophical and spiritual ponderings.
Nevertheless, Killing for Company is still an interesting look at one of the UK’s most notorious serial killers and I would recommend this to those who are interested in true crime.
January 30, 2021
This is one truly chilling book; a reading experience that I will not be forgetting any time soon, filled with detail that I still shudder to think about.
Masters opens with the moment Nilsen’s crimes were discovered – thrusting the reader headlong into the details and insights around these truly disturbing actions – and then takes a step back, all the way back to Nilsen’s origins. We explore his early years and life before he had committed to this horrific path he went down and, as always, I was fascinated to learn more about the events and triggers that helped shape Nilsen into what he was, and those unsettling, weird weird weird, signs that something just wasn’t quite right with him.
Given that this was my first real experience with anything more than a surface level knowledge of Nilsen’s crimes, I’m obviously no authority on the level of research and accuracy presented within these pages. It certainly felt well researched though; quite an intimate portrayal, and Masters is afforded a unique insight thanks to the relationship he’s managed to build with Nilsen – this perspective is balanced well right throughout this horrific account of events.
My only complaint is the final part of the book – it felt tedious and a little too much/drawn out for my liking, especially after what had been explored on the previous pages.
Masters opens with the moment Nilsen’s crimes were discovered – thrusting the reader headlong into the details and insights around these truly disturbing actions – and then takes a step back, all the way back to Nilsen’s origins. We explore his early years and life before he had committed to this horrific path he went down and, as always, I was fascinated to learn more about the events and triggers that helped shape Nilsen into what he was, and those unsettling, weird weird weird, signs that something just wasn’t quite right with him.
Given that this was my first real experience with anything more than a surface level knowledge of Nilsen’s crimes, I’m obviously no authority on the level of research and accuracy presented within these pages. It certainly felt well researched though; quite an intimate portrayal, and Masters is afforded a unique insight thanks to the relationship he’s managed to build with Nilsen – this perspective is balanced well right throughout this horrific account of events.
My only complaint is the final part of the book – it felt tedious and a little too much/drawn out for my liking, especially after what had been explored on the previous pages.
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