I don't like traditional crime novels: A pair of cops searches for an evil murderer in a rainy city or on some sunny beaches. I prefer books where the writer makes their own journey to the heart of darkness, asking not 'who is the killer?'
But 'what is in the killer's soul and mind? What does it mean - to be a person like this?' So, I listed books with some unexpected turn of the viewpoint: high postmodernism by Fawles, political satire by Easton Ellis, the descendent aesthetics of Poppy Z. Brite, religious parable by Suskind etc. Of course, I included some classic examples - from Robert Bloch to Stieg Larsson - but normally nobody looks for most of the books listed here on the crime shelf in the bookstore. 'Bluebeard' by Charles Perrault (1659) This classical French fairy tale about an evil nobleman with ugly blue beard who killed his wives is the first sample of the serial killer thriller.
Nobody knows why Bluebeard is so cruel - neither reader nor the main character, a young female investigator, his new wife, who can expose the killer but can't defend herself without her brothers' help. I prefer heroic, badass female characters Perrault couldn't presume to write two and a half centuries ago, before feminism and gender-role challenging.
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (1952) One of the first American novels about a serial killer, and perhaps the first one written from their viewpoint. The narrator, Lou Ford, deputy sheriff in a small town, hides his sadistic and psychopathic spirit under the mask of a good cop, though his desire to dominate, manipulate and kill leads him to the devastating final. Stephen King, the big expert in the depths of criminal minds, used to brave enough to let himself see everything, write it down and publish it. The Killer Inside Me is a proof of this braveness. The Collector by John Robert Fowles (1963) Nobody calls John Fowles 'the guy who writes books about crimes and serial killers': he is a star of high postmodernist fiction ( The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Ebony Tower). However his first published novel is a story of a kidnapper and the girl he captured.
Unlike the most books in the list, the character is not a murderer from the beginning of the book: The Collector is a story of a man turning into a serial killer. Anyway, postmodernism is still present: Fans of Shakespeare's The Tempest would like the novel much more than fans of Hannibal Lector. Gilles et Jeanne by Michel Tournier (1983) Michel Tournier, one of the best French writers of late XXth century with delicate taste to perversion and deviations, reconstructs the story of Gilles de Rais, the famous Breton serial killer of the 15th century, the prototype of Bluebeard and even of the ogre from Hop-o'-My-Thumb. Gilles de Rais raped and killed countless children in his castle before he was exposed and executed, but Tournier reminds us about his past and studies the way the celebrated French general and the associate of Jeanne d'Arc became one of the first documented serial killer in history. Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988) Due to this novel, common readers discover the serial killer may be charming and glamorous. To make us love Hannibal Lector even more, Thomas Harris gives him a female ally - Clarice Starling from the F.B.I.
and an opponent, traditionally ugly serial killer Buffalo Bill. I like the book as a kind of love story - without sex or declaration of the love between characters. For justice I have to mention that real serial killers usually are lowbrow, trivial and frustrated people: Well-educated, talented psychos may become artists, warlords and - in the worst case for us - politicians.
American Psycho by Bred Easton Ellis (1991) The satirical monument of the yuppie '80s and one of the most brutal and violent books in the list (the novel was banned in Canada and Germany). Investment banker Patrick Bateman works at Wall Street by day and kills bums, prostitutes and colleagues at nightfall. The majority of critics described the novel as a satire on post-industrial capitalism, consumerism and the Wall Street boom of the late '80s. I like the book for the twisted end: The reader realizes that although Patrick is objectively mad, he is too much of a coward to have committed murders he wrote about. From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (1999) There has to be at least one graphic novel in this list, because comics writers really love serial killers.
For example, let's remember the great collection of Batman villains and the vicious characters of Sin City. Although my personal favorites are the ghoulish visitors of Cereal Convention from the second volume of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, I added to this list From Hell, not only because the book is thick as a real novel, but also due to its sophisticated plot and impressive characters. What is more, any serial killer list would be incomplete without Jack the Ripper's story. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (2002) Lucky, Alice Sebold's first book, tells the writer's own story of being raped just after her freshman year in Syracuse University. So, we don't expect The Lovely Bones to praise serial killers as Silence of the Lambs or Exquisite Corpse do. Alice Sebold focuses on the victim, not on the killer: The narrator is the dead girl raped and killed by her neighbor.
From her personal heaven, she watches her family and her killer. Read this novel if you have as many brutal fantasies as Patrick Bateman. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (2005) Oh, there should be at least one book with standard crime novel plot: the investigator(s), the cruel murders, search, hide-and-seek, exposure and happy ending. We love the majority of these books not because of serial killers, but for a detective character - and, of course, I listed Stieg Larsson bestselling novel because of red-haired violent hacker Lisbeth Salander.
American critics compare the main female character of Butterfly Skin with Lisbeth; however, I wrote my novel a few years before The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was published. I suppose the explanation is simple: both of us, Stieg Larsson and me, loved the type of heroic and violent female character Charles Perrault couldn't imagine three hundred years ago.
Name Jason Wheeler Alias Gender Male Family James Wheeler (father; deceased) Unnamed mother (deceased) Amy Wheeler (sister) Occupation Messenger Pathology (originally) (later) Signature Keeping shell casings from bullets used to kill victims as trophies Modus Operandi Shooting Blunt-force trauma (once) No. Of Victims 8 killed 56 attempted Status Incarcerated Portrayed By Noel Fisher First Appearance ' 'Fifty of his old friends in one place. Wouldn't miss it for the world.' Jason Wheeler is a -turned- and criminal who appeared in '. Contents History Jason's father was Master Sergeant James Wheeler, a talented sniper in the U.S. He taught his son marksmanship, turning him into a very proficient sniper.
In an attempt to show off his skills, Jason killed Ted Grunberg, a schoolmate, in 1999. The case was never tied to him or his father and the death was attributed to a stray bullet.
Jason tried to join the Army, the Marine Corps, and to get a job for various private defense contractors, but his father wrote letters to all of them asking them not to hire Jason because of his unstable behavior and rage issues. Enraged by this, Jason finally killed him in February 2011 with a blow to the head in revenge. Though he was the prime suspect for that killing, investigators didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. Jason then moved in with his older sister, Amy, and got a job as a messenger. Shortly before, when James Wheeler's military memorial service was to be held, Jason began a killing spree, sniping random people on the streets of Chicago.
When Cooper's Red Cell team arrive and examine a crime scene, Jason is still on the site and spots. At home, he looks into a miliary register and sees him on a list of snipers and sends him a pager on which he tells Mick when he's about to commit his next shooting. After killing four people, Jason began to devolve, killing two people in one shooting before attempting to kill three people in another event, but failed to murder any of them. He then went to his father's memorial service, intending to kill everyone there, but the Red Cell team arrived and managed to apprehend him.
Modus Operandi Jason killed the majority of his victims by sniping them with a suppressed, bolt-action Remington 700 rifle from 300-400 yards away or a quarter of a mile away, killing them with clean head shots. Before leaving his sniping spot, he picked up the shell casings, which he kept as trophies.
When he killed his father, which was a simple act committed out of rage, he used blunt-force trauma. Profile The is a highly talented sniper, meaning he probably has a history in the military, SWAT, or private defense contractors. He is white, 25-35 years old, and likely has a history of bar room fights or workplace aggression.
His random choice of victims suggest that he carries feelings of displaced anger. Snipers in general are disciplined, intelligent, skilled, focused and patient. Patience is part of the job as a military sniper.
In training, snipers are trained not to move a muscle for possibly a day, as said by Mick, who was also a former military sniper. They are also very controlling and have high self-esteem. They feel invincible and prefer to keep people at a distance emotionally. The fact that he keeps upping the ante and challenging himself more and more suggests that he has some kind of endgame in mind, such as a suicide by cop or a massive shooting.
Michael Ainsworth, The Dallas Morning News STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Eddie Ray Routh, the former Marine and Iraq War vet struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, was found guilty of capital murder Tuesday night in the shooting deaths of American Sniper Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield. Routh stared straight ahead at the judge's bench as Judge Jason Cashon read the verdict. The jury of 10 women and two men took just over two hours to convict Routh, 27, in the murder of Kyle, 38, and Littlefield, 35, at an upscale shooting range near Fort Worth on Feb. At 'American Sniper' murder trial, a psychosis defense Immediately after the verdict was read, Cashon condemned Routh to life in prison in the Texas criminal justice system without possibility for parole. Routh could appeal the verdict. 'The deep well of excuse-making for this defendant has to come to an end,' Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash said in closing arguments Tuesday. 'In cold blood, he gunned these two men down.'
Paul Moseley, AP The verdict brings to a close a dramatic nine-day trial that included emotional testimony from Kyle's wife, Taya Kyle, and Judy Littlefield, Chad's mother, as well as graphic photos from the crime scene, revealing testimony from Routh's confession to police and details into his mental troubles after leaving the military. After the verdict and sentencing, Jerry Richardson, Littlefield's stepbrother, read a statement directed at Routh. 'Because of you and your irresponsible choices, we lost a great son, brother, father, husband and uncle,' Richardson said in a voice quivering with emotion. 'Your inhumanity and disregard for life have put you in a world from which you'll never escape.' Routh confessed to shooting Kyle and Littlefield shortly after being arrested the day of the incident. Twilight breaking dawn part 2. Jurors only had to decide if he 'intentionally and willingly' killed the pair and whether he knew what he did was wrong. The trial received widespread attention as the Oscar-nominated American Sniper, the Clint Eastwood-directed film about Kyle's service in Iraq as a celebrated Navy SEAL sniper based on his best-selling book, has grossed more than $400 million in ticket sales and filled theaters across the USA.
The question still looming: Why, exactly, did Routh turn guns on Kyle and Littlefield, who were trying to help him through his PTSD anxiety? The answer to that question remains elusive. Courtesy Routh family and the Erath County Sheriff's Office via AP Highlights from the trial include:.
Text messages between Kyle and Littlefield as they drove Routh to the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort near Fort Worth, in which Kyle described their passenger as being 'straight-up nuts.' .
A phone call from Taya Kyle to her husband while the three were on the shooting range, minutes before he was killed, where Chris Kyle was uncharacteristically curt on the phone. Forensics testimony from law enforcement officials that revealed Kyle was shot six times in the side and back and Littlefield shot seven times in the side, back and head – each with a different caliber handgun.
Details from Routh's confession to police where the defendant said he thought 'pigs were taking over the earth' and was upset that Littlefield wasn't participating at the shooting range. Defense attorneys painted a stark picture of Routh's struggles with psychosis following his service with the Marines, which included an assignment cleaning up bodies in earthquake-scarred Haiti and a tour as a prison guard in Iraq. They showed how Routh was hospitalized in mental institutions four times in the seven months leading to the killings, including less than a week before the shootings. Courtesy Littlefield family via Fort Worth Star-Telegram At the hospitals, Routh was given anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, Ambien for sleep and anti-psychotic drugs to help ease his growing paranoia and delusions, his attorneys said. But prosecutors argued that the defendant fled from police after the shootings and even ordered two Taco Bell burritos after the killings – signs that he knew what he did was wrong and was headed to jail.
'This defendant gunned down two men, shooting them in the back, in cold blood,' Nash said. Kyle had served four tours in the Iraq War as a member of Navy SEAL Team 3 and became one of the most proficient and deadliest snipers in U.S. Military history, reportedly killing more than 160 enemy targets. Upon returning home, he volunteered to help veterans struggling with combat-related anxiety. He was approached by Routh's mother, Jodi Routh, to help her son through his post-combat struggles. Kyle had agreed to work with Routh just a week before the fateful trip to the range.
The day of the shootings, Kyle and Littlefield picked up the troubled veteran at his parents' home in Lancaster, near Fort Worth, and set off on the nearly two-hour drive to the shooting range.
Massive manhunt for a suspected serial killer on the loose in Florida. Police hoping to speak with a person in this surveillance video. After three people were shot to death in Tampa. ABC's Victor Oquendo is there and, Victor, it's understandable the community is on edge this morning. Good morning.
Dc Sniper Victims Crime Scenes
Reporter: Absolutely and good morning, robin. Police asking us once again to come to the station this morning. They did not want us in that neighborhood overnight. Tampa's mayor doing what he can to reassure the public saying they added a thousand streetlights to the Seminole heights neighborhood and won't stop until that killer is caught. We will hunt this son of a Down until we find him.
Reporter: Overnight Tampa police on the hunt for a killer after the shooting deaths of three people in ten days. Nobody comes into our house and does this.
Sniper Serial Killer
Not now, not ever. Reporter: Authorities poring over this grainy surveillance video for clues looking at this person of interest walking alone wearing a hood on the night of the first killing.
Not releasing much information about evidence but insisting the killings are connected and asking the community for help. What we need you to do is pay attention to what's going on in your neighborhood. Everybody at this point is a suspect. If you're out there walking alone, you're either a suspect or a potential victim. Reporter: The three victims gunned down less than half a mile apart. Two, Benjamin Mitchell and Anthony naiboa killed near bus stops. The third victim, Monica Hoffa was walking to a friend's home, her body discovered in an empty lot.
America's most wanted host John Walsh spent 25 years chasing down fugitives. He's caught 1400 and knows firsthand what it takes to apprehend a suspect. We always solve these things when the public gets involved.
Reporter: Walsh says he sees similarities between these shootings to the D.C. Sniper shootings. John Allen Muhammed and low Malveaux critically wounding three others. Why this killer reminds me of the beltway sniper and D.C. Serial killer is it seems to be a person that comes out at night to kill. It's someone killing for the thrill of it. Reporter: With Halloween just days away we're told the plans are in place, a huge police presence.
Adults being asked to accompany their children but should note this killer doesn't go after people in groups but people who are alone. Keep that in mind, Victor.
Let's bring in Lenny Depaul former chief inspector with the marshal service and Dan Abrams. Lenny, you have a lot of experience here. What are investigators focusing on. Right now, robin, it's a pretty chaotic scene. Three people that have been killed in the past two weeks.
They're knocking on door, q&a'ing people and signal intelligence looking at cc-tv if there's any video on the block, surveillance cameras in people's homes and whatnot. There's certainly skwausd knocking on door, K and A'ing and the streets like to talk so $25,000 reward out there. Yeah, might get some Intel that way. Okay, well, what we see going on here and, of course, the community is on edge but authorities are confident that there's a link here. So they've got to balance something which is they've got to balance neighborhood awareness with investigative integrity.
Meaning they want people to know and yet they don't want to give away too much and they've got to balance those two things. I don't think we know everything they know. Here's what we do know. We do know the time of when it happened. We do know the consistent connection to buses. We know who the victims were and my guess is that they are looking for example for a connection to something with bus, a former employee, for example, they'd be looking at why are they targeting bus riders. Is it totally random?
Maybe but that's going to be something they're looking at an I promise you there is something else that they have that they're not disclosing because what they want to do is prevent the crackpots who call call in in these high-profile cases and say, oh, I know something about this. And they want to narrow it down to say, wait a sec, how did this person know that detail? That person really must know something. Lenny knows this all too well.
And not only that, it seems like it's more of a run and gun. Not an armed robbery. He's not spending or she's not spending any time with the victims. They're being ambushed. Is this person on the bus. Is he following them?
You know, it's the million dollar questions right now. Hopefully law enforcement is all over this and has the answers to these question, but right now they're chasing a ghost.
Dc Sniper Shootings
That video that they have is critical. I mean, you know, we've seen the surveillance video. We don't know that this person is connected, right?
But the fact that they have a video like this at their releasing and saying, hey, we'd like to talk to this person at the very least. That's a really big comply and this comes from the first incident and have had it out there for some time and haven't been able to get a definitive link yet. It's such a tough spot when Dan was alluding to because as a public you want as much information as possible but as officers, you got to hold something back.
I mean it's unfortunate. You can't be that transparent. You know, right now, residents in the area are sleeping with one eye open.
They're scared to death. Keep your lights on. Keep your dog out back, whatever. If you see something, say something, obviously.
But they can't get too much out there because they don't - it's a juggling act right now. They're trying to put that puzzle together, connect the dots and don't want interference if you will at this point. Hopefully they'll be able to connect those dots stand, Lenny, Dan. This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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