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A review by mnboyer
Through the Eyes of Serial Killers: Interviews with Seven Murderers by Nadia Fezzani
5.0
Fezzani spent four years of her life writing to serial killers in prison, and then went on to interview several of them face-to-face. I already applaud her because in order to communicate with these individuals you have to be patient, try to understand their views, and then of course--listen to the details of their horrific crimes.
A good example of the still-applicable uses of journalism and methodology in the true crime field.
Not for readers that are feint of heart or don't actually want to read about crimes. Before reading this, I glanced at some reviews on Amazon to try and get an idea of what I'd be reading (although I'd already checked the e-book out from the public library) and there were several one and two star reviews that complained about the graphic nature of this book. Well.... yep, there is a lot of discussion of graphic crimes in this book so don't pick it up if you don't want that. Stay out of true crime in general.
I also saw a few readers that gave this 1-2 stars because it was poorly researched. One reviewer went so far as to claim Fezzani didn't disclose that one of the subjects she was interviewing was known to lie in his interviews and possibly never saw combat in Vietnam (although he adamantly claims he did and has murderous tales from those times). Actually, if this reviewer would have read a few more pages in Fezzani does a *wonderful* job of explaining that some stories from serial killers remain the same over time, some change, and that not all of the stories have hard evidence. Another example would be the number of murders a criminal has committed: several are charged with fewer crimes than they themselves committed. But the research is here--there is no doubt about it.
I blazed through reading this because it was highly interesting. I think hearing from the criminals is a unique perspective. At times, you even have to feel bad for them--their upbringings are often filled with neglect, abuse, sexual assault, etc., and that definitely feeds into who they grew to become. There is no excuse, of course, for their crimes. Fezzani doesn't walk away being able to tell you 100% who a serial killer is (because they still vary). Yet this is nonetheless an amazing read.
A good example of the still-applicable uses of journalism and methodology in the true crime field.
Not for readers that are feint of heart or don't actually want to read about crimes. Before reading this, I glanced at some reviews on Amazon to try and get an idea of what I'd be reading (although I'd already checked the e-book out from the public library) and there were several one and two star reviews that complained about the graphic nature of this book. Well.... yep, there is a lot of discussion of graphic crimes in this book so don't pick it up if you don't want that. Stay out of true crime in general.
I also saw a few readers that gave this 1-2 stars because it was poorly researched. One reviewer went so far as to claim Fezzani didn't disclose that one of the subjects she was interviewing was known to lie in his interviews and possibly never saw combat in Vietnam (although he adamantly claims he did and has murderous tales from those times). Actually, if this reviewer would have read a few more pages in Fezzani does a *wonderful* job of explaining that some stories from serial killers remain the same over time, some change, and that not all of the stories have hard evidence. Another example would be the number of murders a criminal has committed: several are charged with fewer crimes than they themselves committed. But the research is here--there is no doubt about it.
I blazed through reading this because it was highly interesting. I think hearing from the criminals is a unique perspective. At times, you even have to feel bad for them--their upbringings are often filled with neglect, abuse, sexual assault, etc., and that definitely feeds into who they grew to become. There is no excuse, of course, for their crimes. Fezzani doesn't walk away being able to tell you 100% who a serial killer is (because they still vary). Yet this is nonetheless an amazing read.