The Serial Killers: A Study in the Psychology of Violence

In the 1980s, American law enforcement agencies investigating the rising number of 'motiveless murders' stumbled upon a worrying possibility - what if all these crimes were being committed not by many, but by a relatively small number of people? One killer, multiple victims. The serial killer.

As the number of serial killers worldwide has risen steadily - from the emergence of Jack the Ripper in 1888 to Harold Shipman and Ivan Milat, the backpacker killer of the Australian outback - the need to understand this disturbing phenomenon is becoming more urgent. But to understand why serial murder is on the rise, we must first understand how the serial killer thinks.

Using privileged access to the world's first National Centre for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman bring you this incisive study of the psychology of serial killers and the motives behind their crimes.

From childhood traumas to issues of frustration, fear and fantasy, discover what turns an ordinary human being into a compulsive killer.