Criminal Minds: Killer Profile (Paperback)

by Max Allan Collins (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An elite team of FBI profilers is called in to help Chicago detectives investigate a series of bizarre murders. Though all are violent and disturbing, the crimes seem unrelated—until profiler David Rossi makes the connection. He recognizes each grisly tableau as one modeled on the crime scenes of three of the country’s most notorious serial killers: David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer.

Someone is taking the cult of true crime to terrifying extremes, and with so many killers left to emulate, Rossi wonders how he can possibly profile a killer who’s hiding within the killer profiles of others…

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Signet (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451223829
• ISBN-13: 978-0451223821
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,401 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mind of a Copycat, July 10, 2008

By	Ted Feit (Long Beach, NY USA) - See all my reviews

A police procedural with a slightly different twist, the plot involves the efforts of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit's efforts to profile a serial killer in Chicago who is replicating famous serial murder committed by the likes of Ted Bundy, the Son of Sam, et al. They are brought into the picture by two Chicago detectives who believe that a few cases in disparate jurisdictions are related, despite their superiors' denials. The various police departments keep the cases separate and are not sharing information, making the task of linking them extremely difficult.

The BAU group heads to Chicago and begins trying to get the various departments to form a task force, and all but one join in the effort. Slowly, details emerge and a picture of the killer begins to form--but not before 11 victims are found. The killer sends copies of the various crime scene pictures to each police department in a wide geographic area, taunting the cops and the BAU. The job of anticipating the killer becomes crucial before another murder takes place and public panic occurs.

The novel is based on the CBS television series, and is well-constructed. While some of the writing is somewhat stilted, and there is dialogue that is hackneyed in an effort to give "cop talk" flavor, generally the writing is fluid and the story moves forward at a good pace. Recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the time, May 10, 2008

By	W. Dobson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

CRIMINAL MINDS: KILLER PROFILE is a big improvement over the first Max Allen Collins book based on the popular CBS television series, CRIMINAL MINDS: JUMP CUT. For a book based on another media be it movies, television, comic books or whatever to succeed it must capture the tone and pacing of the original source material but most of all it must get the characters right. That was the problem with Mr. Collins' first Criminal Minds novel but apparently he has learned his lesson as the greatest strength of KILLER PROFILE is how successfully the characters are brought to life..

The plot of this book is also stronger and much more compelling then that of the first book with a maniac recreating famous murders done by serial killers. There is some good work here lending insight into the criminal profiling process and into the mind of the killer and those pursuing him. And, like the best episodes of the series, this book has some really creepy moments, nothing too over the top but genuinely creepy nonetheless.

This is only the third Max Allen Collins book I've read (the third being a take off of the Fox series BONES) and is the only one of the three I can recommend but I do recommend CRIMINAL MINDS: KILLER PROFILE to both series fans and those who've never seen an episode. And it's also quite readable as a mystery novel

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Killer Profile - one for the fans, June 21, 2008

By	H. Byrne "Hippieinherpjs" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Killer Profile is similar to the first Criminal Minds novel in two ways:

1. The plot is as intriguing and well-thought out as the storylines on the show,

2. The writing style is so abysmally bad that I was literally cringing as I read it. Having said that, it could be ten times worse and I'd still read it, because it's Criminal Minds.

This is worth picking up if you're a fan of the show, which most readers probably are.