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The Killer Across the Table cover art

The Killer Across the Table

By: Mark Olshaker, John E. Douglas
Narrated by: Jonathan Groff
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Publisher's Summary

In The Killer Across the Table, legendary FBI criminal profiler and number one bestselling author John Douglas delves deep into the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing and complex predatory killers he’s encountered, offering never-before-revealed details about his profiling process and divulging the strategies used to crack some of his most challenging cases.

Former Special Agent John Douglas has sat across the table from many of the world’s most notorious killers – including Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, ‘Coed Killer’ Edmund Kemper, ‘Son of Sam Killer’ David Berkowitz and ‘BTK Strangler’ Dennis Rader, and has also been instrumental in the exoneration of Amanda Knox and the West Memphis Three. He has gone on to become a legend in the world of criminal investigative analysis, and his work has inspired TV shows and films such as Mindhunter, Criminal Minds and The Silence of the Lambs.

In this riveting work of true crime, Douglas spotlights four very different criminals he’s confronted over the course of his career, and explains how they helped him to put together the puzzle of how psychopaths and predators think. Taking us inside the interrogation room and demonstrating the unique techniques he uses to understand the workings of the most terrifying and incomprehensible minds, The Killer Across the Table is an unputdownable journey into the darkest reaches of criminal profiling and behavioural science from a man who knows serial killers better than anyone else. As Douglas says:

‘If you want to understand the artist, look at his art.’

If you want to understand what makes a murderer, start here.

©2019 John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"John Douglas is the FBI's pioneer and master of investigative profiling, and one of the most exciting figures in law enforcement I've had the privilege of knowing." (Patricia Cornwell)

"John Douglas knows more about serial killers than anybody in the world." (Jonathan Demme, Director of The Silence of the Lambs)

"Douglas was instrumental in expanding our understanding of murderous psychopathy. He even coined the term “serial killer'." (Telegraph)

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Truly insightful

John Douglas, in my opinion, is the greatest true crime writer of modern times. This book examines four different offenders, explaining in great detail the nuances of their upbringings and experiences and how these impacted and facilitated their offending behaviour. Most interesting is that these offenders are lesser known than the more prolific or perverted killers, which is refreshing as I find most true crime tends to focus on a group of well-known offenders. I have read all Douglas's books, and like the others I found this to be wonderfully written and difficult to put down. Groff is also probably one of the better narrators I have come across on audible. I could not recommend this more.

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  • Tim
  • 22-03-2021

Loved it

Was very engaging and well narrated I’m a tough marker and this got 5 stars from me

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1 person found this helpful

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Excellent

Riveting but you need to disassociate. It's quite wrenching throughout the whole book but so captivating I couldn't put it down.

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A great insight into criminal profiling

This was a really interesting listen. If you're interested in the world of criminal profiling, or if you enjoyed the Netflix show "Mindhunter" you'll enjoy this audio book. There's also a great little interview between the author and narrator at the end.

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amazing and intense

this book is so amazing and it is very intense. it is fascinating but well take some time to get through. I had to pause it for a while before I could continue.

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Spoiled my macabre interest

absolutely brilliant. this was the first time I properly listened on this subject and I've been ruined for other books. must have. 1000/10

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Fascinating Story, Well read

Loved every minute of this book, including the bonus interview at the end. Jonathon Groff's voice is honey! It is really well suited to this style of crime story and storytelling. A fascinating look at the psychological aspect of criminals and why they do what they do.

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Very interesting

This book is very well put together. It’s not just a guy reading about some serial killers that he interviewed, but he describes very well how he started to understand their profiles and how he built his career as an FBI agent.

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Very matter of factly

Informative, best option while waiting for Mindhunter S3.

Gruesome, but tackles the importance of having the maturity to parent someone in their formative years.

For people who think they have criminal tendencies (not me) and are finding ways to stop themselves.

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Highly recommend! Especially if you are a fan of mindhunter (tv show)

A brilliant book and brilliantly read. Delved further than the tv show, with more explanations surrounding his method of profiling serial killers.

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