The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation [Paperback]

Katherine Ramsland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2007

From ancient Rome through the Dark Ages to the burgeoning West to the open highways of urban America, from the unconscionable exploits of French religious zealot Gilles de Rais to such all-American monsters as Jeffrey Dahmer and Aileen Wournos, Katherine Ramsland makes an eye-opening case for the existence of serial killers throughout time, and offers a complete chronological record of the serial-killer phenomenon-as well as the parallel development of psychology, forensic science, and FBI profiling in the serial killer's evolving manifestation throughout human history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Katherine Ramsland has a master's degrees in forensic psychology and clinical psychology. She is also the author of Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (March 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425213781
• ISBN-13: 978-0425213780
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #970,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Ramsland began her career as a writer with Prism of the Night: A Biography of Anne Rice. She had a bestseller with The Vampire Companion. Since then, she has published 40 books and over 1,000 articles, reviews and short stories. From ghosts to vampires to serial killers, she has taken on a variety of dark subjects. She holds graduate degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, criminal justice, and philosophy. Currently, she teaches forensic psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University. Her books include The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds, The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation, Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators, and Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers. Her background in forensic studies positioned her to assist former FBI profiler John Douglas on his book, The Cases that Haunt Us, and to co-write a book with former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, The Unknown Darkness, as well as The Real Life of a Forensic Scientist with Henry C. Lee and A Voice for the Dead with James Starrs. She speaks internationally about forensic psychology, forensic science, and serial murder, and has appeared on numerous documentaries, as well as such programs as The Today Show, 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, Coast to Coast, Montel Williams, Larry King Live and E! True Hollywood.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crime Library Book Review, December 18, 2005

By 

Marilyn J. Bardsley "Editor, Crimescape books" (Savannah, Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation (Hardcover)

If you're looking for the perfect gift for someone who's riveted to television shows like CSI, you won't find a better one than Dr. Katherine Ramland's latest book, THE HUMAN PREDATOR: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation (Berkley Hardcover; Oct. 4, 2005). It's an extraordinarily well-researched book, written in a flowing, easy-to-understand style. You'll not only learn about serial murder but also the historical background of forensic science in its response to this phenomenon.

THE HUMAN PREDATOR is the first book-length chronicle of the serial killer from ancient Rome to the present day, and it becomes clear that cultural factors influence their manifestation. While not every killer could be included, lest the book become encyclopedic, key cases from different time periods are analyzed for the "specific cultural conditions, individual processing of those conditions, and opportunity" that affected that criminal's development. In the Dark Ages, for example, wealthy nobles like French hero Gilles de Rais and the Countess Elizabeth Bathory made Jack the Ripper look like a Boy Scout.

Threaded throughout this absorbing book is how science and psychology evolved alongside the history of the serial killer, providing the tools to catch these criminals and a growing understanding of their psyche. Forensic sciences developed early: in 1247, a Chinese lawyer produced the first work of forensic science, including how to tell the difference between a suicide, homicide and natural death. The U.S. has led development of a body of knowledge about serial killers, mostly through the FBI's legendary Behavioral Analysis Unit that played a key role in The Silence of the Lambs. Ramsland knows firsthand the pioneering contributions of these profilers, John Douglas, Robert Ressler and Roy Hazelwood, having written about and with them.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author of Practical Homicide Investigation, November 26, 2005

By 

Vernon J. Geberth "murdercop" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation (Hardcover)

Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation by Katherine Ramsland, Ph. D. is a detailed and comprehensive anthology of multiple murder events and serial killers from the "Alphabet Murders" through the infamous "Zodiac Killings" and is an excellent research resource.

Katherine, whose educational credentials include masters' degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, and philosophy has utilized her research expertise to present to the reader an historical and cultural analysis of serial and multiple murder as well as the development of forensic science and the application of that forensic science as well as forensic psychology to the criminal investigation of serial murder.

This book delves into the phenomenon of serial murder in the context of specific historical periods. The author utilized over 180 publications and sources to trace the history and incidents of serial murder providing the reader with thumbnail biographical sketches of a myriad of multiple murderers. Starting with the Dark Ages and culminating with events of the new millennium, Katherine takes the reader through history up to the present time with her presentation and documentation of famous cases of multiple and serial murders, the journalistic coverage of these heinous crimes and the social reaction to the "evil" of serial murder, which to this day continues to shock our sense of wellbeing.

This book is without precedence. I was personally amazed by the amount of research, source information and exertion that Katherine Ramsland put into this tome. I am grateful to have an autographed copy of this book in my personal library and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the subject, history and etiology of serial murder.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shallow and Not Useful, September 15, 2008

By 

M. Pitcavage (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation (Hardcover)

I don't understand some of the positive reviews of this book that appear here; perhaps they read a different book than the one I read. The book I read is a shallow, hastily written book that would appear to me to be useful neither to scholars nor the general audience. The entire book consists of a list of one or two paragraph summaries of alleged serial killers (and, oddly, other killers) throughout history, needlessly padded by equally shallow historical summaries of whatever historical era that chapter covers. Also interspersed are one or two paragraph summaries of developments in criminology--even those that have zero to do with serial killers (in other words, more padding).

There is no analysis to speak of, just a collection of anecdotes, but even the anecdotes are so brief and devoid of detail that they do not pique the interest. There is nothing like a case study here, just shallow summaries. And none of the text is sourced at all, which is particularly relevant for the early chapters, where the sources of information are likely to be particularly controversial.

So the book is not interesting enough for a general reader, but the lack of analysis or detail makes it useless for an academic or criminal justice professional, so I am at pains to think of an audience that might actually find this book useful. Even for people who simply want to ogle at a list of serial killers and their exploits, there are various "encyclopedias" of serial killers that provide more detail.

The book was so tedious it was difficult to finish, and one would not think that a book on a subject like serial killers of all things, would have difficulties in holding the interest. But the problem is that there really isn't anything of substance in this book. I urge people to look elsewhere, such as the overview of serial killers by Peter Vronsky. This book is unlikely to satisfy.