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Articles • Books
 The
Killers Among Us: An Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigation
This review written by
Amy Goldman
The Killers Among Us is an
excellent resource book. This book is what I would consider "text-like" in
that you really need to be interested in the subject of serial homicide to
fully appreciate it. It is not a book for those who are interested in gory
details regarding victim's of the killer or who have an extremely general
interest in serial killers. Dr. Egger has done extensive research which is
evident by the many sources he refers to. He is able to support what he is
saying by use of these repeated references.
In regards to the 4 case histories he supplies (Gacy, Lucas, Bundy, and
Bianchi) I must say I have yet to see such in depth information about an
offender in one book. He gets into their social environments, family
backgrounds, peer group and personal relationships, contacts with defining
agencies, offensive behaviors, self concepts, attitudes, and recall of
events. As if that isn't enough, he then cross references them. The case
histories are based on interview done by the author.
Let me now list the chapters of the book so that you can see for yourself
all of the information covered:
- Serial Murder Who Do They Kill and Kill and Kill?
- They Are All Around Us
- Victims: The "Less Dead"
- Serial Murder: A Growth Industry
- Case Studies of Serial Killers: John Wayne Gacy, Henry Lee Lucas,
Kenneth Bianchi, Theodore Robert Bundy
- Cross-Case Anaylsis: Similarities of Four Serial Killers
- Problems in Investigating Serial Murder
- Different Police Strategies to Serial Murder
- Future of the Phenomenon
- Future Investigation of Serial Murder: Recommendations
- Jeffrey Dahmer and Beyond
- Appendix A: Case Study Source Material
- Appendix B: Sources for Jeffrey Dahmer Case Study
You will most certainly put this book down and reflect on what you think you
know...and realize you may not know as much as you think!
I would like to thank Dr. Steven Egger who saw to it personally that I get a
copy of the book to review on the site.
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