Customer Reviews

The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder (3rd Edition)

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Of the many books writen on the topic of Homicide, THE WILL TO KILL is unique in that it covers the topic from a perspective that is interesting to the casual true crime fan and yet is an invaluable resource to the serious professional who delves into the grisly world of murder.

Levin & Fox have produced several serious works on the topic of homicide and all reflect the fact that the authors are academically qualified professionals who definitely know their business. THE WILL TO KILL covers all bases from the chapter on "The Law of Homicide" which provides the reader with specific legal definitions of the various catagories of murder, to the victimology of murder and statistical information on a local and world occurance of the phenomonon to put the entire topic into regional and global perspective. This infomation is of great value to the professional in the field of criminology as well as to the student in the criminal justice and related fields.

Whereas traditional and historical forms of homicide are explored such as serial, mass and cult motivated murders, the new and recent trends of murder are also covered such as school shootings, workplace violence and hate motivated murder. The disturbing trend of youthful killing is discussed with predictions for furture involvement of America's violent young people. Finally, the last chapter of this work, "Getting Away with Murder" looks at the insanity defense and the dilemma of handling youthful killers in the courts. Capital punishment is also a topic of the last chapter.

Throughout the book, interesting and informative case studies are cited which provide the reader with direction for further research on the topic. The overall demographic coverage of this book can save professional and student a great deal of time searching out similar information from numerous sources.

Speaking as a professional criminologist, I look forward to Levin and Fox's next book, DEAD LINES: ESSAYS IN MURDER AND MAYHEM.

A very intriguing book that tackles perhaps the most challenging question of human behavior. A thorough, scientific approach, but easy to read and entertaining in a macabre way. Well worth the price paid.

The subtitle and back-cover blurb for "The Will to Kill" are misleading. This volume does not "Explain[] Senseless Murder," nor does it (contrary to what the back cover says) "answer [the] age-old question" of "Why do people kill?" by "showing that power and control are at the center of the killer's motivation."

A better subtitle would be "An Introduction to the Study of Murder." Only one chapter (Chapter 2, about 25 pages) actually deals with WHY people kill, and even that chapter does not advance a particular thesis. Rather, it provides a (somewhat superficial) review of major theories.

The other chapters discuss homicide law in the United States, U.S. demographics relating to murder, investigation of murders, punishment of convicted murderers, and eight categories of murder (serial murder, mass murder, family murder, etc.). At their best, the authors do a good job of presenting the relevant statistics and illustrating their points with specific cases mostly from the past 20 years. At their worst, they venture into facile policy recommendations.

On balance, this is a good overview of the issues involved in the study of murder in the USA.

As advertised. Arrived on time. Trustworthy seller. Would purchase from them again.