by John E Douglas
In ‘The Killer Across the Table’ FBI profiler John E. Douglas's takes an in-depth look at four of his most prolific cases, and the killers behind them through a mixture of background research, media coverage and personal interviews in an attempt to explain the how, what and why of their crimes.
I don’t really know how to describe my feelings about this book, other than to say that it was equally fascinating and harrowing to read. As a crime fiction fan, I was interested to learn about some real-life serial killers, and after being completely gripped by the Netflix series Mindhunter I knew that this would be an interesting read. What I didn’t expect was how difficult I would find it to hear the details of the murders and especially about the impact the crimes had on the victims’ families. The first section of the book which focusses on the murder of seven-year-old Joan Angela D’Alessandro was probably the hardest to get through. However, despite it being a tough story to read, it was written with a lot of sensitivity and also brought attention to her family who have worked tirelessly to raise awareness and make changes to laws protecting children in Joan’s memory.
This was a heavy read and definitely not for the faint hearted but it detailed four fascinating stories and I honestly don't think I will read a better book this year.