Non-Fiction Book Reviews

Book Review: I, Monster

By Sandy Amazeen Mar 31, 2011, 2:52 GMT

What goes through the dark minds of such notorious killers as Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam"), John Wayne Gacy, Dennis Rader (the "BTK Killer"), and others? In this chilling book, you\'ll read exactly what they were thinking in their own words as they committed horrible crimes. Using court transcripts and police interviews, veteran true-crime and crime-fiction writer Tom Philbin has compiled the testimony of twenty infamous ...more

Reading these chilling accounts from a sampling of the worst, most deviant killers, sometimes shown in their own handwriting, will leave true crime fans with a lingering sense of being tainted somehow. High profile serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, David Parker Ray and Dennis Rader are included along with figures out of history like Jack the Ripper. Each chapter begins with an overview of the crimes committed and where possible, summaries of their upbringing, education and work history before plunging into first hand accounts of their misdeeds. Some common threads seem to bind most of these worst of the worst together: they had horrible, abusive upbringings, sexual gratification played a major role in their actions and they all lacked a conscience. What makes this collection stand out from the field is the pages of handwritten documents from the killers themselves, they are quite disturbing yet shed light on what goes on in a psychopath’s mind.