Born Killers: Childhood Secrets of the World's Deadliest Serial Killers

by Christopher Berry-Dee, Steven Morris

This shocking but thought-provoking analysis of some of the world's worst serial killers looks at their early years in an effort to understand why they did what they did. Why do human beings turn into killing machines? Are they born to kill or are they trained to kill? The authors have spoken with killers all over the world in a quest to understand what makes them go bad. It results in the minds of the most destructive individuals on the planet revealed in stomach-churning detail.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction, Psychology

253 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Chris was a former Royal Marine intelligence officer. He is now a criminologist who has interviewed over 30 serial killers.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book basically offered nothing more than what is already widely out there about the subject matter. Added to that there was one big spelling error that I don’t expect from a professionally edited book. The worst thing though was there is a massive factual inaccuracy in the section about Fred and Rose West (who I have actually met, Rose that is) and it just tarnished my feeling towards the whole book. It stated in the book that Fred and Rose killed their daughter Charmaine together. That is just not true and it is what got Rose convicted because at the time the little girl was killed, Fred was in prison which is why he couldn’t have done it and why she could no longer say it was all him and she knew nothing about it. Not good enough!

[Ruth Harwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, hats off to the research done to create this series of case studies: I shudder to think about sitting opposite a serial killer asking about their crimes would feel like... I'd love to do it, just like I'd love to skydive, but the likelihood is so minimal that I'm safe to say that! Most of these men are women-haters, the women involved young and as involved in the crimes as their partners, so I don't think I'd be safe behind 20 panels of glass (though I am in my 40s, so it's quite possible a man who likes to murder teens would be perfectly pleasant with me!)
The writing here is crisp and the emphasis is more on the childhoods and the damage done that goes to development of the mind in the younger years. I guess it's written for people with no knowledge of the psychology of crime, something I have plenty of, so I know pretty much how young minds are easily moulded into haters and I also know that it takes a certain sociopathy/psychopathy to create a killer in these conditions - think of all the victims of abuse who don't go on to abuse others...
I enjoyed this book a lot, and recommend it to anyone interested in finding out some of the common denomenators in creating these minds - there's never only one, but a series of events which can create a serial killer, just as there are genetic and enivronmental factors in any condition or behaviour.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born Killers gives you an in dept insight surrounding the different types of upbringings of some of the most prolific serial killers to have existed. I generally enjoyed the book and much appreciated the author covering the killings before delving into the childhoods which helped to give us some compare and contrast. I'm generally someone who doesn't want to be spared the gory details so all my needs were covered. I'd highly recommend the book to anybody with an interest in the nature vs nurture debate on serial killers!

[Chelsea May xxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories in this book were so hard and so sad to read and some of the stories made me feel physically sick as I didn’t expect some of the things that each killer did to there victims. The way the authors write this book is done in a good way but it’s not so respectful towards some of the families of the victims. I learnt new things from this book that i didn’t know before reading this book. I had to take breaks from reading this book as some of the stories were hard hitting with the facts that they had in them xxx

[Danial Qazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are actually some of the most bizarre serial killers in this book.

[Fonda J Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book as research for my own book Wicked Innocence. I have to say it’s a good read. It helped me get into the mind of character and understand a little better.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book. Unique in that it goes into detail about the killer's childhoods and theorizes as to how they became serial killers in the first place. Written by an author who has come face to face with a lot of these killers so he has great insight into what makes them tick. Discusses the nature versus nurture debate, explains about how genetics and physical and emotional trauma can all contribute to create a monster. Would recommend to anyone with an interest in true crime. Bought more of this author's books to read. The only bad point is that it contains a lot of spelling and grammatical errors but they're not enough to detract from the book.

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains an interesting discussion of nature vs. nurture. Sadly it was rather lacking in the analysis of the childhoods, and I found it did not meet it's claims in that regard.