John Douglas, Mark Olshaker - Law and Disorder: The Legendary FBI Profiler's Relentless Pursuit of Justice

 96 kbps, Unabridged, Read by Joe Barrett
 
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/law-and-disorder-john-douglas/1112938236?ean=9780758273123

Overview
From law enforcement legend John Douglas, the FBI's pioneer of criminal profiling and the model for Agent Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, comes a provocative and personal look at our criminal justice system and mankind's most abominable crime: murder. Delving more deeply into the subject than ever before, Douglas shares his unique perspective on some of his most notorious cases--and reveals how a high-profile crime can challenge even the most seasoned investigator.

Over the course of his nearly forty-year career, John Douglas has pursued, studied, and interviewed criminals including Charles Manson, James Earl Ray, Dennis Rader, and David Berkowitz--a veritable Who's Who of violent predators. But he has also devoted extensive energies to helping the wrongfully accused and convicted, including several inmates of death row. Now, with longtime co-author and collaborator Mark Olshaker, Douglas addresses every law enforcement professional's worst nightmare: cases in which justice was delayed, or even denied. Eloquently and passionately, he speaks up not only for victims of crime--but for victims of the system itself.

In fascinating and meticulous detail he recreates his ground-breaking findings in the investigation of the West Memphis Three and the bungled trial of Amanda Knox; how he reached his controversial conclusions in the JonBenet Ramsey murder; and his involvement in other historic, headline-making cases. Douglas reveals what happens when preconceived ideas, bias, superstition, and even media coverage obstruct a dispassionate pursuit of the evidence--and shows what we must do to avoid modern-day re-enactments of the Salem Witch Trials.

Brimming with gripping narratives and shedding light on some of our most mystifying questions about guilt and innocence, Law & Disorder is an unrestrained account of the exhilaration and frustration that attend the quest for justice, from the most prominent criminal investigator of our time.

John Edward Douglas served as a special agent of the FBI for over twenty-five years. He is widely admired as the leading expert on criminal personality profiling and modern criminal investigative analysis. A veteran of the Air Force, he has written numerous books including the #1 international bestseller Mindhunter.

Mark Olshaker is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, New York Times bestselling non-fiction author, and critically acclaimed novelist who has worked with Douglas for many years.

Kirkus Reviews
From a pioneer of behavioral analysis, a look at notorious murder investigations marred by controversy. Well-known FBI profiler Douglas has co-authored several books with Olshaker on this specialty (The Cases that Haunt Us, 2000, etc.). Here, he focuses on diverse cases that share one commonality: Either the investigation developed around false leads with disastrous results, or the actual killer was targeted yet saw justice confounded by similar procedural issues. "The role of the profiler is to redirect or refocus an investigation and to help police narrow and analyze their suspect list," he writes. The cases he discusses here are those he did not address as an active-duty agent, and he often wonders if he would have fared better as an investigator. In at least two cases, he reluctantly argues that wrongful convictions led to miscarriages of justice. William Heirens served a life sentence as Chicago's "Lipstick Killer," yet Douglas believes him innocent: "I would have considered him too young to…make the leap from petty burglaries to violent rapes and murders." He also argues that Texas executed Cameron Todd Willingham for the arson murders of his children based on scientific theories that were disproven well before the execution. The author devotes long sections to two notorious cases: the murder of JonBenet Ramsey and the wrongfully convicted West Memphis Three. He consulted in both cases and remains convinced that shoddy evidence management, prosecutorial overreach and media frenzies led to false accusations with dreadful consequences. Douglas remains fascinated by the nitty-gritty of advanced investigation, and he smoothly explains key evidentiary details and psychological twists, though he becomes impatient with those who question his conclusions. Yet, his thesis remains bifurcated: He both agonizes over the prospect of an innocent person being executed and strongly argues that the death penalty ought to protect society from the "worst of the worst," sadistic repeat offenders like Ted Bundy. The prose is mostly workmanlike, but in a culture besotted with serial killers, Douglas can claim a rare authenticity regarding the evil that men do.