I Have Lived in the Monster

Serial killer. These two words intrigue many people.

Once called stranger murders because of the lack of connection between victim and killer, this type of crime has become the popular topic of books, movies, and conversation. People fear the randomness and unpredictability of the serial killer. A victim is just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But there is a victimology. Not always, but many times, victims are prostitutes or drifters, people who won't be missed or are less likely to be the subject of an intense search. Gacy and Dahmer lured victims to their homes - young men were tortured and killed by these two, whom Ressler calls "monsters." Most of these guys are after a particular type of victim.

Perhaps the scariest thing about serial killers - successful ones, anyway - is that they don't look like serial killers. The leering, weird, wild-eyed killer is likely to cause suspicion and likely will soon be caught. Dahmer, Bundy, and others functioned normally and looked like one of us. So while they behave like monsters, they certainly don't look like monsters.

Ressler, now retired from the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, coined the term "serial killer." His book doesn't just deal with serial killers, though. He talks about several sarin gas attacks in Japan and a few cases in which ex-military men claimed Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome caused them to kill. The cases - in particular the interviews with Gacy and Dahmer - are interesting. The delivery, though, isn't impressive.

One of my frequent complaints about John Douglas' books is the look-how-great-I-am voice. Ressler does the same thing. Maybe it's just a byproduct of being good at one's job. But both men have coauthors and you'd think somewhere along the line one of them would step back and say, "Hey, I think this is a bit much." Call me crazy.

I also find it odd that these two very famous profilers have written books about their cases but they rarely mention each other. Is it just me or do these guys not like each other?

Anyway, back to the book at hand. The title seemed kind of strange to me but I figured after I read the book it would make sense. I guess I can sort of understand it now, as in he had to get into the killer's minds, but it's still weird...

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