Synopsis
In Talking With Psychopaths – A journey into the evil mind, bestselling author and criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee takes readers on a heart-racing journey deep inside the dark minds of some of the most pitiless and dangerous people alive.
With unprecedented access to the world’s most evil killers, Christopher spent years interviewing imprisoned criminals – including notorious serial killers – he discovered that the lack of remorse these people showed was in many ways even more terrifying than the crimes they had committed. In the course of these conversations, the author had the chance to interview his subjects’ psychiatrists and, in doing so, uncovered a terrible truth: a monster can be hidden behind a friendly face.
Some of these experts, he found, proved to have more in common with their patients than he would ever have expected. This book examines horrific crimes committed by some of the most remorseless and merciless people ever to have lived. If it reveals a mindset wholly alien to most people, it also, shockingly, demonstrates that some of the people who treat these psychopaths have their own demons.
This chilling study of darkest of criminal minds will inevitably shift the reader’s view of psychopaths, and in doing so, reveals that horror can be much closer to us than we think…
My Review
As someone who is a big fan of true crime documentaries and all things true crime that is what drew me to this book. I’ve seen many of the books in this series but have never made the time to read them. As I’ve not read many non-fiction books recently I figured that this would be the perfect book to start with especially as it is the first book in the series.
This was a really interesting read and as expected at times it was very dark because the author is delving into crimes committed by very dangerous people but also delving into their minds. Through interviews the author is able to get an insight into the minds and thought processes of criminals where other people haven’t been able to. The author is very brave especially when he interacts with the criminals by letter, by visiting them and in one instance has one stay in his home.
I really liked the different case studies that were presented in the book because the selection was broad and definitely eye opening. There were cases from the UK but also from the US, some of which are well known and some of which I’d not heard of. This was at time a difficult read but also a very sad read. The saddest part of the book and the part that will stay with me for a long time will be the author’s interaction with Mary Blake in the chapter called ‘The Shawcross Confession’. It truly broke my heart.
Having read the case studies and the author’s interaction with these criminals it did make me start looking into some of the crimes that had been committed so that I could understand a little bit more about what had happened and how dangerous the offenders were. A helpful explanation and breakdown is provided of what a psychopath is. What came across clearly is you can’t really tell who is a psychopath or a savage until they commit a crime that is so heinous and it is brought to everyone’s attention. The criminals when interviewed did show narcissistic tendencies and in some instances the only way that the author could speak to them and get information from them was to play on these tendencies. Some criminals were cooperative and happy to speak to the author seeing him as a friend but then they would change all of a sudden and refuse to speak to him. It was a bit like a switch being flicked. What was evident in the case studies is that these very dangerous and sadistic criminals were not sorry for what they had done. They showed no remorse and tried to justify their actions which was truly shocking. It was also very interesting to see the different letters that the author received from criminals themselves who were in prison either to say they had been reading his books or sending threats, which were terrifying and very personal.
An eye opening read for anyone interested in the true crime genre.
Author Bio
CHRISTOPHER BERRY-DEE. Investigative criminologist, worlds No. 1 true crime author, Times bestseller, Former HM Royal Marines ‘Green Beret’ Commando, direct descendant of Dr John DEE, Court Astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, Christopher’s genealogy goes back over 750 years to Roderick the Great, Prince of Wales. Christopher is entitled to use his ancestor’s coat-of-arms.
After Asst Chief Constable Ron Stone QPM, Essex Police, Christopher became ownerand Editor-in-Chief of The Criminologist – the worlds most respected and oldest journal (at 49-years) – on matters concerning: law enforcement; penology; forensic psychiatry/psychology; penal reform; the judiciary, and all matters under the criminology masthead. He was appointed as Director of ‘The Criminology Research Institute’ (CRI) in 2005.
Writer of some 36 separate book titles listed with Public Lending Right (PLR), published by W.H. Allen, Virgin Books and long time loyal friend and publisher John Blake (London) and now also Blake/Bonnier Christopher’s books are translated into numerous languages around the world.
Christopher frequently appears on numerous TV documentaries as a leading authority on serial homicide. He was co-producer/interviewer for the acclaimed 12-part documentary series ‘The Serial Killers’, still being screened today and has consulted on the cases of: Fred and Rose West; Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, and Dr Harold Shipman in the TwoFour produced TV series ‘Born to Kill’, which accompanied another of Christopher’s books.
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