While I have always found serial killers to be very interesting psychologically, this book is opening up a few new questions for me, as it sometimes covers the serial killer's wives. This is not a subject I had considered before, and it fascinates me. Often the women were forced to watch the crimes/murders, and did not often participate themselves, as though the killers drew some kind of high from having an audience to their atrocities. At times, they would participate, but the larger number of them merely sat by and watched. I have to wonder how they reached this point of either indifference or possibly pleasure at watching these murders. Were they slowly brainwashed into the acts of their husbands? How could they sit by callously through the murders and other crimes? If they were brainwashed and forced into submission, then how?
Also, I noticed that, while there are many more male serial killers than female, the difference between how the two sexes committed their murders is very interesting. The males tended to be more violent, using weapons or strangulation, whereas the females typically used more subversive methods, usually through poisoning. The murders committed by male serial killers are also typically sexual in nature in some way, whereas the murders committed by females often are not. Also, the females often see themselves as "caregivers," killing/"saving" their victims in soothing, maternal roles.
This book presents the overall facts of 100 of the most notorious serial killers. While the content is itself intriguing, it is the thoughts that it provokes beyond the text that make it a worthwhile read.