The Murderer Next Door

Why the Mind is Designed to Kill

By: David M. Buss

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

As acclaimed psychological researcher and author David Buss writes, "People are mesmerized by murder. It commands our attention like no other human phenomenon, and those touched by its ugly tendrils never forget." Though we may like to believe that murderers are pathological misfits and hardened criminals, the vast majority of murders are committed by people who, until the day they kill, would seem to be perfectly normal.

David Buss's pioneering work has made major national news in the past, and this provocative book is sure to generate a storm of attention. The Murderer Next Door is a riveting look into the dark underworld of the human psyche, an astonishing exploration of when and why we kill and what might push any one of us over the edge. A leader in the innovative field of evolutionary psychology, Buss conducted an unprecedented set of studies investigating the underlying motives and circumstances of murders, from the bizarre outlier cases of serial killers to those of the friendly next-door neighbor who one day kills his wife.

Reporting on findings that are often startling and counterintuitive, the younger woman involved in a love triangle is at a high risk of being killed, he puts forth a bold new general theory of homicide, arguing that the human psyche has evolved specialized adaptations whose function is to kill. Taking readers through the surprising twists and turns of the evolutionary logic of murder, he explains exactly when each of us is most at risk, both of being murdered and of becoming a murderer. His findings about the high-risk situations alone will be news making.

©2005 David M. Buss (P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc.

So good

This should be required reading for every high school and college student
David Buss has given us some great books

I liked it

Kept me listening. I've heard better, but not bad. It was one of the first books I listened to , so hard to say.

Brilliant Book

Awesome work!

Definitely worth a read.

So many things make sense to me now!

This should be compulsory reading for ALL high school kids.

Simplification.

Psychologist David M. Buss offers "logical" reasons for murder based upon the evolution of man. He states that today we are still driven by impulses which were useful to the survival of our species millions of years ago. The author uses the gene-centered view of evolution (Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene", 1976) to say that the genes of our ancestors who murdered are the ones which made it through the eons and live in us today.

Perhaps these theories have validity. Nevertheless, it is this reviewer's opinion that this is an oversimplification of complex behavior. One is hard pressed to believe that the widely differing circumstances surrounding murders can somehow all be explained in this narrow context.

Great evolutionary psychology book

This book does a great job of outlining the evolutionary advantages, and costs, of murder. I believe that Dr. Buss is bang-on with his conclusions. The book is a window into our own behaviour, even if you've never killed anyone. It exposes the reasons for many of the drives and anxieties I've felt in my past: competition with other males, jealousy, etc. Excellent book!