Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers by Pat Brown, Timandra E. Sinclair

From the Publisher

Killing for Sport is the most useful guide to serial killers ever created. While other profilers tend to conceal the clear facts behind complex technical language and psychobabble, Pat Brown actually tells it like it is. Killing for Sport will intrigue you with its honest portrayal of the predator next- door: how he hunts for his victims, why he likes to torture them, where he tends to stash their bodies, and more. Movies such as Silence of the Lambs, Seven, American Psycho, and many others have created myths about serial killers that need to be dispelled: If you think that most serial killers are eccentric, white, male intellectuals like Hannibal Lecter, then you had better read Killing for Sport to learn the truth. The more our society is informed about these predators and what really goes on in their minds, the more equipped we will be to protect ourselves from them. With the same dark wit that gets people who work with the criminally insane through their workday, Brown speaks frankly about the monsters among us who kill for sport.

In 1990, wife and mother PAT BROWN rented a room to someone who turned out to be a suspect in the murder of a female jogger. When her local police proved ineffective at investigating the crime, her frustration led her to become a criminal profiler. In 1996 she founded the Sexual Homicide Exchange. She can be seen on Court TV's crime series I, Detective and as a guest on many television news and talk shows. She now dedicates her time to families of homicide victims, assisting law enforcement with unsolved cases and working to improve the present system of serial homicide investigation.

Publishers Weekly

Brown, CEO of Sexual Homicide Exchange (S.H.E.), which helps survivors, believes that people are misinformed about serial killers, primarily because of the attention given to selected criminals in the press or film. Having once rented a room to a murder suspect, Brown became an investigative profiler. Here, she attempts to debunk the many misconceptions about serial killers, including those regarding their educational background and family relationships. Brown presents her information in a straightforward, slightly cynical manner, which detracts from the book. The subheads within chapters are often too obvious-"Are There Serial Killers in Other Countries?" and "Can Watching Pornography Lead to Serial Killing?" Furthermore, Brown's casual style is sometimes insulting. She describes Munchausen syndrome by proxy as "a nasty little psychological development." When the author talks about whether killers seek victims who look like family members, she says, "When white serial killers kill black women and black serial killers kill white women, this theory is blown out of the water." The book does offer a nonsensational overview of serial killers and profiling that some readers may find interesting. However, what's missing are comments from other experts-police, doctors, etc. Brown includes quotes from killers along with her own commentary on a variety of cases, which is occasionally tantalizing, but this is not a complete reference on serial killers. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

David Berkowitz
There are other 'Sons' out there - God help the world!

Albert De Salvo
I'm a sick person. I know that. How could a normal guy do what I did? It was like another guy was inside me.

Arthur Gary Bishop
I'm glad they caught me, because I'd do it again.

Albert Fish
I always had the desire to inflict pain on others and to have others inflict pain on me. I always seemed to enjoy everything that hurt. The desire to inflict pain, that is all that is uppermost.

Product Details