Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide and the Criminal Mind (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book tells it all."--Robert K. Ressler, bestselling author of I Have Lived in the Monster and Whoever Fights Monsters

"Hazelwood's authentic and unique perspective pierces a darkness most of us would like to believe doesn't exist."--Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files

"Take it from me: Roy's insights and experience prove that he is an expert in crime analysis. The story he has to tell is well worth listening to."--John Douglas, New York Times bestselling author of Obsession and Mindhunter
-- Review

Review

"This book tells it all."--Robert K. Ressler, bestselling author of I Have Lived in the Monster and Whoever Fights Monsters

"Hazelwood's authentic and unique perspective pierces a darkness most of us would like to believe doesn't exist."--Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files

"Take it from me: Roy's insights and experience prove that he is an expert in crime analysis. The story he has to tell is well worth listening to."--John Douglas, New York Times bestselling author of Obsession and Mindhunter

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (July 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312253427
• ISBN-13: 978-0312253424
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #441,394 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The criminal mind, August 2, 2001

By	Paul Cerra - See all my reviews

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.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For mature readers only, February 4, 2003

By	E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Dark Dreams: A Legendary FBI Profiler Examines Homicide and the Criminal Mind (Mass Market Paperback)

I started reading about serial killers after the sniper deaths in Washington D.C. and Maryland. "Dark Dreams" is an interesting and horrifying look into the minds of serial killers, mostly American, although there is the obligatory chapter on Jack the Ripper.

In a previously read book, "Serial Killers" by Joel Norris, the author attempted both a psychological and biological profile of these murderers with emphasis on both nature and upbringing. Hazelwood and Michaud do not attempt to decipher the 'why' of serial killers in "Dark Dreams." They concentrate on the different types of 'how,' and what the 'how' reveals about the serial killer.

For instance, one of the authors' major themes is the narcissism of serial killers. Many of them come to believe that they are too smart for the police to catch, and start taking unnecessary chances. Some even write taunting letters to the police, e.g. the Zodiac Killer, or commit a crime under the very noses of their pursuers. An example of the latter type of behavior was demonstrated by the stalker, Andrew Johnstone, who stole his victim's underwear out of a Salvation Army box that the police had under twenty-four hour surveillance. The authors point out that a safer method to obtain the same result would have been to steal his victim's bras off of her clothesline.

A few other common characteristics of serial killers that the authors spend some time with are their ritualistic behavior, their employment of paid or compliant partners to 'practice' on, and their use of detective magazines as 'how to' manuals. A range of deviant behaviors including fetishism, necrophilia, sadism, masochism, and autoeroticism are touched upon although the authors concentrate on ritualistic sexual sadists as "the most resourceful, destructive, and elusive of all deviant offenders."

One of the authors, Roy Hazelwood" also co-authored a book on "Autoerotic Fatalities" and "Dark Dreams" follows up on this theme and explains how profilers determine whether a particular death is suicide, homicide, or an unfortunate accident.

How would you interpret the case where a teen-age boy's nude body was discovered hanging inside a vertical sewer pipe, his face covered in duct tape, and his grandfather's watch taped inside his mouth? Read the chapter on "Equivocal Deaths" and learn how FBI profiler and co-author, Roy Hazelwood determined exactly what had occurred.

This book is a dark journey into the human mind, quite graphic at times, and should probably be stamped "For mature readers only."

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teriffic book!, November 10, 2001

By	Adi Adler (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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...