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    The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter
    The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter
    The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter

    Written by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker

    Narrated by Jonathan Groff

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Performed by Jonathan Groff, star of the hit Netflix show Mindhunter, and featuring an exclusive conversation between John E. Douglas and Jonathan Groff at the end of the audiobook

    In The Killer Across the Table, John E. Douglas, the legendary FBI criminal profiler, number-one New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for Netflix’s Mindhunter delves deep into the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing and complex predatory killers, offering never-before-revealed details about his profiling process, and divulging the strategies used to help crack some of America’s most challenging cases. The Killer Across the Table is narrated by Jonathan Groff, who plays Holden Ford on Mindhunter, the character inspired by John E. Douglas. 

    The FBI’s pioneer of criminal profiling, former special agent John Douglas, has studied and interviewed many of America’s most notorious killers—including  Charles Manson, ”Son of Sam Killer” David Berkowitz and ”BTK Strangler” Dennis Rader—trained FBI agents and investigators around and the world, and helped educate the country about these deadly predators and how they operate, and has become a legend in popular culture, fictionalized in The Silence of the Lambs and the hit television shows Criminal Minds and Mindhunter.

    Twenty years after his famous memoir, the man who literally wrote the book on FBI criminal profiling opens his case files once again. In this riveting work of true crime, he spotlights four of the most diabolical criminals he’s confronted, interviewed and learned from. Going deep into each man’s life and crimes, he outlines the factors that led them to murder and how he used his interrogation skills to expose their means, motives, and true evil. Like the hit Netflix show, The Killer Across the Table is centered around Douglas’ unique interrogation and profiling process. With his longtime collaborator Mark Olshaker, Douglas recounts the chilling encounters with these four killers as he experienced them—revealing for the first time his profile methods in detail. 

    Going step by step through his interviews, Douglas explains how he connects each killer’s crimes to the specific conversation, and contrasts these encounters with those of other deadly criminals to show what he learns from each one. In the process, he returns to other famous cases, killers and interviews that have shaped his career, describing how the knowledge he gained from those exchanges helped prepare him for these.

    A glimpse into the mind of a man who has pierced the heart of human darkness, The Killer Across the Table unlocks the ultimate mystery of depravity and the techniques and approaches that have countered evil in the name of justice.

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 7, 2019
    ISBN9780062939500
    Author

    John E. Douglas

    John Douglas, the legendary FBI criminal profiler and veteran author of true crime books, has spent over twenty-five years researching and culling the stories of America’s most disturbing criminals. A veteran of the United States Air Force, he has directly worked and/or had overall supervision in over 5,000 violent crime cases over the past 48 years. He is currently chairman of the board of the “Cold Case Foundation.” One of the foremost experts and investigators of criminal minds and motivations, he currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area. Mark Olshaker is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and author of ten nonfiction books and five novels, including Einstein’s Brain and The Edge. His books with former FBI Special Agent and criminal profiling pioneer John Douglas, beginning with Mindhunter and, most recently, Law & Disorder, have sold millions of copies and have been translated into many languages. Mindhunter is now a dramatic series on Netflix, directed by David Fincher. He and his wife Carolyn, an attorney, live in Washington, D.C.

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    Reviews for The Killer Across the Table

    4.5/5

    482 ratings26 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a fascinating and insightful book about true crime. John Douglas, the original criminal profiler for the FBI, takes the reader on a journey through his years of work, providing deep insights into the psychology of predators and killers. The narration by Jonathan Groff adds to the engaging and captivating nature of the book. It is highly recommended for true crime enthusiasts who want to understand the motivations behind these crimes.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      John Douglas has done it again. He manages to get the reader through each gruesome and heart-breaking case he worked on during his years as an FBI profiler in a deftly manner. The decades of excruciating work and his psychological take on serial killer's behavior makes John Douglas an authority on the subject matter and truly takes you on a journey of depraved and sickening acts carried out but no other than a person that could easily be your neighbor or co-worker.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I really loved the behind the scenes information. Such as more about the FBI's personal life and the effects it has on them as they're working through these cases. I hold the FBI agents in high regard.
    • 4/5
      John Douglas is always interesting. I watched “Mindhunter” on Netflix, and it was fascinating. This goes over the interviews in more detail.
    • 2/5
      Somewhat disjointed book about profiling. The author discusses many cases.
    • 5/5
      Great book. I love Jonathan Groff was the narrator. I recognized his voice right away before knowing he was reading it. It made it that much better. I love all the John Douglas books I've read so far. Looking forward to more.
    • 5/5
      Loved it. Specially the surprise at the end. Everything in this book is interesting and a must read for true crime enthusiasts
    • 5/5
      Excellent, deeply researched book written by the original criminal profiler for the FBI, John Douglas, and read by the actor playing his character on the series 'Mindhunter'.

      Insightful regarding the internal workings and motivations of predators and killers, and written in an engaging and interesting interview style, this book is awesome for those who love true crime and want to understand a little more of the psychology of criminals.

      Both a pleasurable listen and an informative one.
    • 5/5
      A really great book full of insights , I would suggest it if you are a fan of the genre
    • 5/5
      Fascinating. I couldn't stop listening! A must for tc fans.
    • 5/5
      So real. Not just facts spouting out at you. Although not a researcher in criminology, I know well done research and he points out key elements they had to make sure were done correctly. I’m sad it’s over!
    • 5/5
      Great audiobook if you like True Crime. If you watch Mindhunter you will appreciate that Jonathan Groff is the narrator.
    • 4/5
      The narrator’s voice was so easy to listen to, even though the subject matter was so disturbing. Great audiobook
    • 5/5
      Amazing! I loved the interview in the last chapter. It was awesome to listen to the actor and the real life agent.
    • 5/5
      John douglas is amazing!! I listen over and over again
    • 5/5
      What a life John Douglas has lived. Great, insightful delivery Jonathan Geoff!
    • 5/5
      Fascinating stories of true crime made even better by narrator Jonathan Groff!
    • 5/5
      The Narration and the procedure was top notch. I enjoyed each and every moment spent on this audiobook. I recommend everyone to listen it if they are interested into criminal investigations.
    • 5/5
      Excellent but often harrowing text. Very well read. My home town of Todmorden in Yorkshire got a mention because of serial killer Shipman.
    • 4/5
      This is my second book by Douglas, [b:Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit|126584|Mindhunter Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit|John E. Douglas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308169929l/126584._SY75_.jpg|3979692] being the first. If I remember correctly, my biggest issue with Mindhunter the impression I got of John Douglas as a human being: sexist and egotistical. I didn't get that impression with this one.

      Maybe because this book is much more recent? I don't know but it was fascinating to get inside the heads of these killers. I occasionally got frustrated by the jumping back and forth between the current killer being discussed and some other one who the author(s) wanted to compare him to. The narration (done by the actor who plays the John Douglas-esque character on the Netflix show) was sometimes slow and the inflections he used to denote something that must have been italicized or in some other way set apart in the written text were halting. Even though I understood the reasoning behind the change, it was still annoying.

      This is a book I'd definitely recommend to any true crime buff. I hadn't heard of many of the killers discussed and was mostly riveted throughout the book.
    • 5/5
      Its an awesome story .....I like this crime story ....
      John Douglas and Mark Olshaker is genus writers ....Thank you All of you for written the wonderful story

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Douglas is the original FBI profiler and the author of Mind Hunter, along with several other books about the work he and his early colleagues did in creating profiles on the worst criminals in America. In this book, he discusses many murders, some that involve children, where he was able to conduct extensive interviews with the killers. Much of the book is about how he studied the murderers beforehand, and what techniques he used or advised parole boards to use in order to get the murderer talking, and often giving unintentionally honest answers.
    • 3/5
      This is fascinating and deeply unsettling. It left me questioning why I listened to the whole thing, because while it is very interesting, it also gives you so many details about the crimes and motivations that it was very dark.
    • 5/5
      Excellent book. This is a very interesting book written by well known criminal profiler, John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Very detailed description of interviews with 4 killers.
    • 5/5
      Author and FBI criminal profiler John Douglas has done it again. In this book he describes interviews with a variety of killers to try to ascertain why they did what they did. It is a fascinating read that takes the reader inside the minds of some of people who have committed some of the worst acts known to mankind. While many of them suffered as children, what most of them have in common is that they have made the choice to do what they did to others. It is a frightening look that makes one really think and wonder if there will ever be a way to prevent people from taking this path.
    • 5/5
      Super! I've been waiting for this book since watching the Mindhunter mini-series on Netflix. A real, fleshed-out (sorry for the pun) version of what actually happened.
      The way the author has of drawing you into the situations he faced is amazing. You feel like you are there in the room with him, interviewing these people. And the way he has of getting these monsters to open up to him is incredible. You would have to think that if the author wasn't a law enforcement professional, he would have made a great priest, getting people to confess their sins.
      While only covering a handful of cases, the author is given time to delve deeper into each case. The result being a great read!
      I can't wait for his next book. And for the next season of Mindhunter!
    • 3/5
      While this book has some interesting content, I was disappointed by the overall presentation and tone.

      The basis of the book is an overview of four killers Douglas interviewed. We learn about their lives, from childhood up through their crimes, and then we're told about the interviews Douglas later did with each of the men. Direct quotes are included, so we get a good sense of their thought processes. I found these parts informative and interesting.

      Unfortunately, the content gets kind of messy as Douglas continually strays from the subject at hand. We wander off into long passages about various killers featured on the Netflix show Mindhunters in which Douglas took part. These killers are far more notorious and well known, but their stories are unnecessary and distracting. Many of the passages are so long that, by the time we got back to the original story, I'd forgotten the point of it all. Tossing in tidbits for comparison would've been fine, but the volume and tone felt gratuitous, as if we had to keep being reminded about the Netflix show and all the infamous killers Douglas worked with.

      The writing style is conversational. While the topic is dark and disturbing, the book itself is an easy read. In fact, for me it's a little too light. I was hoping for something more science-based, and the tone here is very much pop culture.

      Finally, I have to mention the Epilogue, because, well, it made me cringe inside. Douglas talks about Dr. Stanton E. Samenow, a forensic psychologist whom he praises as "a hero". Samenow, in my view, is anything but. He wrote a book in which he claimed that genetics, upbringing, poverty, and environment have absolutely nothing to do with the making of a criminal. All our actions are choices we make from equal ground. He spoke about a man who'd sexually abused dozens of children, calling his crime an "irresponsibility". Another man who'd been arrested for possession of child porn was only looking for "a relief from boredom", and Samenow authoritatively stated that the man should not have received such a harsh prison sentence. I know this is not a book about Samenow, but when Douglas referred to him as a hero, I had to stop and question this author's judgement.

      *I received a review copy from the publisher, via NetGalley.*