67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The criminal mind, August 2, 2001
This review is from: Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide And The Criminal Mind (Hardcover)
Roy Hazelwood is a colleague of well-known FBI profilers Robert Ressler and John Douglas. Like those two men, Hazelwood spent much of his FBI career working in the subterranean Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI's National Academy in Quantico, VA. Now retired and working in private practice, Hazelwood has written his second book on the topic of sexually violent criminals. As always, these books are not for the faint of heart, but for those who are fascinated with the criminal mind, there are few people who can speak with more authority or knowledge than Roy Hazelwood. Hazelwood's first book, The Evil That Men Do, was partially a biography, but this book focuses almost exclusively on various cases that he has been involved with. Chapters are devoted to serial rapists, revenge murders, profiling and equivocal deaths, among others.
Hazelwood spent years instructing police and law enforcement professionals about sexual violence and those who commit such acts. Unsurprisingly, in this book he is as much a teacher as he is a storyteller, trying to bring the reader along down twisted, tortuous paths into the minds of sexual offenders. I feel that his approach is both a strength and a weakness. Sometimes this book reads like a PowerPoint presentation; the reader can literally see the bullet points. It can also be a very perfunctory book. I found myself often wanting more details or longer explanations. The truth is that most people read these kinds of books for entertainment rather than edification. While Hazelwood surely knows that, he decided to keep his approach free from sensationalism or extraneous detail. I respect him for that, but I honestly think the book suffers a bit from this sometimes dry and clinical approach. Say what you will about the big egos of Robert Ressler or John Douglas, but both of those men write gripping, almost conversational "off-the-record" accounts.
Stephen Michaud is Hazelwood's co-writer, but I question how much time he spent on this book. I've read some of Michaud's other works and I know him to be a good writer, so I was surprised that there aren't many traces of his hand in this book. A good editor would have been welcome here, too. But this is nitpicking. Readers turn to Hazelwood for expert information and discussion on the rarest of criminals and crimes, and Hazelwood delivers. One of the best chapters covers equivocal deaths, or situations where it is not immediately possible to determine whether death resulted from suicide, homicide, or accident. Here Hazelwood shines, looking under every stone and coming up with convincing answers. His discussion on linkage analysis - whether or not a set or series of crimes was committed by the same offender - is similarly riveting.
Even though Hazelwood's book often reads like a college textbook, the tales he tells are so interesting that most readers will easily overlook any flaws or oversights. Anyone wanting to understand sexual violence can hardly do better than to turn to Roy Hazelwood.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Teriffic book!, November 10, 2001
This review is from: Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide And The Criminal Mind (Hardcover)
Eoy Hazelwood describes his experiences and shares his knowledge of sex criminals from his job in the FBI profiling unit (the 'behevioral science unit' of 'The Silence of the Lambs'). Roy does a terrific job of describing what the job really is, what are it's different aspects and what it takes (training nd the type of person who'd be good at the job). He also gives us many detailed descriptions of many cases he was involved in during his long career both as an FBI agent and as a private consultant.
My only advice is not to read this book before going to bed, especially if you're a woman...
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow- Compelling., February 19, 2002
This review is from: Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide And The Criminal Mind (Hardcover)
This book is terrifyingly fascinating! It delves deep within the minds of those who commit the unspeakable and discusses it without sugar coating a thing. I have taken a lot of classes on crime and deviance and I went into this book thinking I wouldn't be scared or emotionally affected. Wrong! I was still shocked by what some people out there do- and perhaps more shocking- why they do it. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the field of criminal profiling, criminal law, or even a true crime buff looking for a new addition to their library.
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