Talking with Serial Killers: A chilling study of the world's most evil people

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This is not to excuse the acts or to sympathize with the individuals mentioned in the books. However, it makes me question how someone so judgemental already decided on what they thought about these serial killers was able to get close to them, corresponded with them so many years before finally meeting them? Even though this book is titled as Talking with Serial Killers, the only talking done is by the author. Despite few quotes it does not introduce the perspective or narrative of the serial killer, rather it provides author's generic view and facts you can easily find on wikipedia. The structure is also confusing at best, as there is very little distinction between fact, reliable confessions, and pure speculation. Similarly, the book itself is predominantly talking about the killers, rather than (as the title would suggest) talking with them. I feel as though this is unfortunate as the author clearly has an abundance of information through the interviews overall. Oh and don't get swayed by the image of Mira Hindley on the front cover, apart from a brief mention here and there, her and Rose West get no in depth discussion.

On finding out the truth, these innocents often experience a strange kind of guilt for not having recognised the killer in their home, as well as having to face the grim reality of betrayal and deceit. Well written although I would advise a big trigger warning for horrific sexual and physical assaultHowever, for a book titled Talking With Serial Killers and subtitled A Chilling Study of the World's Most Evil People, I was disappointed that there was very little A) Talking with serial killers and B) Studying of their minds. also, he seems to be really proud of himself and his interviewing technique because the killers told him stuff that led to the closures of several open homicide cases. ok, that sounds really nice, so why wasn't there one interview in this book?! it was just the description of the killers' lives and murders and their conviction with a couple of quotes thrown into the mix. Christopher Berry-Dee gives very detailed insight into the lives of these people, explores many of the murders and their family and communication with them I thought I would really enjoy this book as I love watching documentaries like this on TV, but it turns out I struggled to keep focus on this book and was easily distracted. I swear that I didn’t go out of my way to find mistakes, and yet I managed to notice at least 45 typos/punctuation mistakes/wrong sentence structures etc. This includes jams such as “She because a nuisance to her teachers, disrupted classes and fellow pupils, […].”, “[…] who could reach out to them of they were distressed, […]”, “[…] but, before feeling the scene, […]” and even “[…] 7 May 2105, […]”. This – in addition to a lot of weird, incomprehensible jump cuts and just generally terrible stylistic choices – makes it seem as though not a single editor ever had a look at this book before it was published. Furthermore, Berry-Dee seems to have a hatred for commas, not using them nearly often enough – thus making it very hard to follow his train of thought during his many trademark multi-clause sentences. When he does use them, he more often than not places them incorrectly. The most infuriating abuse of proper punctuation, however, is his seemingly arbitrary comma use when it comes to the word aka. Sometimes he uses a comma after this word and sometimes he doesn’t, making it clear that his peculiar punctuation isn’t a deliberate stylistic choice but rather ignorance in regards to grammar rules. Also, Berry-Dee apparently doesn’t believe in semicolons.

This wasn´t what I expected and, to be honest, it was a bit of a disappointment. It reminded me of those free annual-sized books they used to do for a pound (and maybe still do) with titles like "The Most Evil People In History" or "True Crime". First of all I feel like it hasn't been properly proof read before publishing, as there are some spelling errors/typos (actually loads) and sometimes the complete wrong word is used for example "she because a nuisance to her teachers" . Finally, and the reason I ultimately gave this book only one star, is that the misogyny throughout the book is pretty damn ridiculous, especially given the fact that, at the start of the book, Berry-Dee actually calls out the misogynistic way some men have written about women in the past.

This book is said to be a book where the author is talking with serial killers but in my opinion this book isn’t about talking with serial killer as much as it was talking about the serial killers. Mă intrigau motivele unei femei, deși sunt arhicunoscute, de aceea am fost foarte atentă la interviul cu Aileen Carol Wuornos. Se pare că femeile reprezintă doar 2% din numărul infractorilor care au fost condamnați la moarte în SUA, un procentaj mic, dar înfricoșător dacă dai la o parte cortina. I really enjoyed hearing Christopher narrating the story and absolutely ADORED the clips from the killers themselves. Weirdly, unevenly - yes, badly - written, this is a bitty, unorganised wander through some interestingly grim territory but instead of following some kind of map or well-informed guide, we get a messy, incoherant, self-opinionated rant. I would have liked to rate this book 5 stars, as this is a subject I enjoy thoroughly. However, a few things about the author really irritated me:

I've read a few of Berry-Dee's non-fiction books already and I always love the opportunity to learn about these serial killers and get inside their minds. Talking With Serial Killers by Christopher Berry Dee is a collection of conversations between the investigative criminologist and some of the worlds most disturbed individuals. This book looks at the crimes of these people and gives an account of their perception of what they did and in some cases gives answers to what drove them to commit such heinous crimes.This book is a really good read in terms of subject matter and reading words spoken by the serial killer themselves. There is a great deal revealed by the killers than TV shows have revealed. Heres what has me torn when thinking about this book. I enjoy reading about true crime and behavioural analysis of serial killers. The mind is an incredible thing so to think it can be so unhinged to drive a person to be like this is something I enjoy reading the how and why behind it. Although the book gives a lot of factual information and some conversations and quotes from the killers I felt it was quite disjointed. The author at times got his facts mixed up, there are grammar errors which were hard to ignore, on many occasions you get a statement from the author stating if it wasn’t for his interviews and the book certain facts about the murder cases would not have been resolved however when you look into these claims they are not entirely true. As Berry-Dee's first publication, I have to joke that it's nice not to have the author refer to his numerous other publications as his more recent books so often do! But there's no doubt why he has become such a popular author, as he has a fascinating job as an investigative criminologist and what better insight into a serial killer's life than from one of the few people who gets to ask them questions. This is going to be a very long review, if you don't want to read it all, the summary of my thoughts are; An appalling look at women who kill, a very misleading title with an egotistical and misogynistic author. Do not read.