Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit

A very intriguing and interesting walk through the mind of an FBI Criminal Profiler, John E. Douglass. Excellent, thorough details on the intricate thinking and calculating it takes to catch our nation’s worst serial killers in striving to keep the public safe. It also relays quite well the intense amount of stress and the mental, emotional and physical toll such a serious profession can take dealing on a daily basis with the worst cases of humanity. The intricate analysis that goes into establishing the details of these criminal’s profiles is extremely interesting to me. I strongly believe others intrigued by forensics, criminal profiling and the coordination of work amongst our police forces to catch the nation’s worst killers will keep you on the edge of your seats. Extending sincere appreciation, genuine gratitude and the utmost respect to John E. Douglass, his fellow FBI profilers, and to all the men and women across our great nation striving to protect and serve every single day. Thank you for all each of you do and for all you give of yourselves doing it. Salute!

I read this when it was first released and enjoyed it again now. John Douglas is one of the best people in the industry. The book reads a little heavy when he talks about himself ( I think he is a little narcissistic but then again, everyone is a little). It gets descriptive and hard to read at times because of the graphic nature of the crimes, but it’s well written.

As a senior at the University of Maryland double majoring in Criminal Justice and Psychology I picked up this book because of professional interests. The beginning is told like most prideful autobiographies that have the intention of communicating the God-like nature of the author (think Dick Marcinco - The Rogue Warrior, Frank W. Abagnale Jr. - Catch Me If You Can etc.)The descriptions of John Douglas' younger years were kind of tedious and uninteresting(the first 65 pages or so,) as the reason I picked up the book was to get a better overall understanding of investigative profiling. Most of the book is fairly well written, and interesting to read. Douglas points out that he has been the lead profiler in many of the serial crimes cases that Americans seem to wet their pants over. (The Unabomber, The Atlanta-Child Murderer, The Green River Killer) He also describes the process by which he interviewed many serial killers after they were caught. Most of the book is dedicated to showing the accuracy of criminal profiles when done by someone who knows what they're talking about. Douglas proves this point over and over again, making ney-sayers look stupid over and over again. I enjoyed the book, but I had several issues with its content. 1. When Douglas relates his first person encounters with criminal interviewing he often goes into an extremely poor writing style exchanging the first person for the second, and exchanging the past tense for the present. He also is fond of using the term "like" a lot just like a valley girl. An example of this would be "Then we were all like this guy is crazy. . ." instead of "I knew what the other team members were thinking, we all thought he was crazy. . ." Because of this, I often found myself rephrasing this poor form of writing while I was reading it in order to get a better understanding. 2. It has some fallacious information do to the publication date. I think newer editions should come with extra content do to the development of what has recently happened in several cases mentioned in the end of the book. Mainly that the Green-River killer turned out to be - one person(not three) - Garry Ridgway; And that BTK was caught and shown to be Dennis Rader. Douglas also gives a bit of spurious information at the end about how Jack the Ripper was the first media sensationalized serial killer - that was actually Gilles De Rais. He probably just didn't consider the French media of the 1400's to be sensationalized enough. Besides those two points Dr. Douglas did a fine job telling of his experiences and definitely got me interested in the field of investigative criminal profiling. If your looking for a more collegiate version of this book without the personal annals check out Robert K. Resslers (John Douglas' partner) Profilers: Leading Investigators Take You Inside The Criminal Mind

This was a great look at how it all started. It was recommended by one of host of a podcast Small Town Murders. It is definitely worth your time to read it.

GREAT book! Enjoyed the whole thing. John Douglas is the man.

Fantastic! Criminal profiling is one of my main interests or hobbies if you want to call it that and this is like the classic primer. John Douglas is the man who coined the term "profiling"; he didn't invent it, but he basically started the modern science we know today. I didn't learn anything new about the psychology, but this was fascinating from an historical point of view as a memoir and a history of the BSU and the FBI itself. Douglas joined the FBI when Hoover was still the Chief and if you know anything about those times you'll know J. Edgar thought the "soft" sciences were a bunch of b.s. and a small clandestine group was working behind his back quietly using psychology on an inquiry-based only system and this is where Douglas first found himself. However, the book starts with Douglas' birth, childhood, college drop-out, military service, etc. before it even gets to his enrollment in the Bureau. I enjoy memoirs and found his writing style highly readable, relishing the book from the get-go. Then, of course, I became fascinated when Douglas turns to his work in the FBI, relates how profiling worked its way into being a legitimate technique, his famous study of interviewing living serial killers to find out how they thought and his work on famous cases including everything from The Trailside Killer, The Atlanta Child Murders and The Tylenol Murders. Douglas has earned himself some controversy over the years; some people find his writing style arrogant. This is the only book I've read by him but I've got its sequel on hold at the library already! so it won't be my last. Obviously I didn't find him arrogant in the least and his serial killer interviews (conducted with two others) are admittedly a giant breakthrough that even his detractors cannot dismiss.

Thankyou for your outstanding work, service and dedication, mr douglas! Such a brilliant inside foundation into criminal profiling. Such dedication and passion from wonderful men and women in the fbi

From the moment I watched The Exorcist at the tender age of four (yes, really), I was hooked on the darker corners of human nature. True crime and horror became lifelong fascinations, and Mindhunter is the perfect intersection of both. John Douglas, the FBI’s pioneering profiler, and Mark Olshaker deliver a book that’s as gripping as it is insightful—matching the brilliance of the Netflix series, if not surpassing it. Douglas’s firsthand accounts of hunting some of America’s most notorious serial killers are utterly compelling. His ability to dissect their psyches—turning behavioral clues into groundbreaking investigative techniques—is nothing short of genius. The book reads like a thriller, yet it’s all terrifyingly real. For anyone who’s ever wondered how criminal profiling came to be, or who simply craves a deep dive into the minds of monsters, Mindhunter is essential reading. If you loved the show, the book offers even richer detail, sharper analysis, and Douglas’s razor-sharp perspective. A must-read for true crime devotees!

Boring as main character sings his own praises

Crazy good. I went places that probably aren’t very healthy for the mind with this one.

Well, let me start off introducing a bit about the author, he is a LEGEND. I don't understand why other readers were so irritated by his way of story telling and I certainly do not think he is as arrogant as other readers described. At the start of the book he introduced his early life in the FBI field with some humorous approach, and the rest, I guess you need to buy it to figure out. It is definitely a book worth buying for is what I am saying.

I bought it as a birthday present for a friend and it was a success. She said she really enjoyed reading it. Definitely worth it for all the true crime fans out there.