I've only just started this story but I have been reeled in by not only the narration, but the story itself. Once I have completed the story I will be able to update my review. So far though....so good!

Great listen, this book was by far one of my favorites. If you like true crime and have the stomach for it then get this book!

I understand that serial kills are sick predators, and a bit of detail would have been good, but the story of Tony is what this book should have been for me and how getting involved with these folks made him who he is. But this book was more about details of murders and what these folks did. I will probably finish the book, but I am fast forwarding through much of the murderers confessions TMI in my opinion.

I had to stop listening. I'm not weak of stomach, but I felt dirty listening to the depravity.

I am not a prude, and I have read a number of books and watched a lot of documentaries about true crimes. I finished this only because I wondered what the point was.

The story of Tony and his family is tragic. He was a normal bright teenager who sustained a traumatic head injury that greatly altered his personality. Trying to figure out how to cope, he started writing to imprisoned serial killers to help him understand his impulses. A good portion of the book is the actual letters from these serial killers. It is not for the faint of heart. They brag about their crimes, not leaving out a single sickening detail. I did not realize there were as many serial killings as there are. I did not recognize any of the men who were highlighted in this book.

I felt like there was a lot of padding in this book. It could almost have been a several-part magazine series. I also wondered about the killers' reactions to the book. They were very open with Tony because he didn't want something from them, then he exposes them here.

I felt the conclusion was weak. The "big revelation" wasn't satisfying enough for me. I would only recommend this to someone who enjoys graphic stories of rape, torture, murder, and mutilation.

Best.....inside story's from murderers.Worst...a bit too much personal info on author to maintain interest.

Depends on the friend.

earthy...good.

no

I know you should never critique a book half way through it....but as talented a writer, and as inspiring as it is.....about half the information about Tony's brain injury & private life could be removed, and replace this space with more on the killers, would make it better for me.

Nothing

I felt bad for the guy with the TBI and his difficulty finding people to connect with. But as person who has studied serial killers for a long time I found this book so unnecessary and gratuitous in its descriptive and graphic vulgarity. I am not sure why this guy would be called a "serial killer whisperer," Anyone could have elicited these kinds if details from these killers. He just gave them an audience by asking questions and asking for more and more detail. He gave these serial killers a gift by paying attention to them.

2nd

Getting inside the brains of serial killers

Tony

Yes, when Tony realized his purpose

I wasn't sure I was going to like the book at first because I expected to get right into the serial killer letters. It took a bit to get past Tony's story, but it was worth the wait.

The book lingers on the graphic sexual violence, trying to illustrate how depraved these killers are, but I felt it was unnecessary to put so much detail into the book. Since most of the readers are not serial killers, a little bit goes a long way toward making the point. And if a reader is a serial killer in a prison somewhere, this is like pornography to them. I wish the book would have focused more on how Tony and his family, through the relationships they had established with the SKs, helped families of the missing, and how it helped Tony realize his goals of having a useful life.

I was stunned that his parents would let their child write to serial killers, let alone become so involved with so many. I found it interesting that the SKs were still so manipulative even behind bars, after all those years. I understand that Tony was initially so interested because he was afraid that he was potentially a serial killer, and over time he realized that in spite of his brain injuries he would never evolve into a killer.

There was no "scene" which was my favorite, but I am glad I finished the book because Tony finds something useful to do with his bizarre relationships with these deeply disturbing people

It has actually put me off reading mysteries with sexual violence in them.

This is a complex, disturbing, and ultimately vindicating story of a young man who, as the result of a head injury, developed a consuming interest in serial killers and their minds. The author himself attributes his success at probing the minds of these killers in part as a loss of the normal judgement that humans make about these monsters. A look into the mind of the homicidally obsessed is always valuable, and this young man has a lot to teach us.