The killer's shadow : the FBI's hunt for a white supremacist serial killer

Title:

Author:

Douglas, John E., author.

Personal Author:

Douglas, John E., author.

ISBN:

9780062979766

9780063074446

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

294 pages ; 21 cm

Series:

Cases of the FBI's original Mindhunter ; Book 1

Cases of the FBI's original mindhunter ; 1.

Abstract:

John Douglas, the FBI's pioneering, first full-time criminal profiler, presents a timely, relevant book that goes to the heart of extremism and domestic terrorism, examining in-depth his chilling pursuit of, and eventual prison confrontation with Joseph Paul Franklin, a White Nationalist serial killer and one of the most disturbing psychopaths he has ever encountered.

Personal Subject:

Franklin, Joseph Paul.

Subject Term:

Serial murder investigation.

Serial murderers -- Psychology -- Case studies.

Serial murderers -- Biography.

Hate crimes.

Genre:

Biographies.

True crime stories.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

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Summary

The legendary FBI criminal profiler and international bestselling author of Mindhunter and The Killer Across the Table returns with this timely, relevant book that goes to the heart of extremism and domestic terrorism, examining in-depth his chilling pursuit of, and eventual prison confrontation with Joseph Paul Franklin, a White Nationalist serial killer and one of the most disturbing psychopaths he has ever encountered.

Worshippers stream out of an Midwestern synagogue after sabbath services, unaware that only a hundred yards away, an expert marksman and avowed racist, antisemite and member of the Ku Klux Klan, patiently awaits, his hunting rifle at the ready.

The October 8, 1977 shooting was a forerunner to the tragedies and divisiveness that plague us today. John Douglas, the FBI's pioneering, first full-time criminal profiler, hunted the shooter--a white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin, whose Nazi-inspired beliefs propelled a three-year reign of terror across the United States, targeting African Americans, Jews, and interracial couples. In addition, Franklin bombed the home of Jewish leader Morris Amitay, shot and paralyzed Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, and seriously wounded civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. The fugitive supported his murderous spree robbing banks in five states, from Georgia to Ohio.

Douglas and his writing partner Mark Olshaker return to this disturbing case that reached the highest levels of the Bureau, which was fearful Franklin would become a presidential assassin--and haunted him for years to come as the threat of copycat domestic terrorist killers increasingly became a reality. Detailing the dogged pursuit of Franklin that employed profiling, psychology and meticulous detective work, Douglas and Olshaker relate how the case was a make-or-break test for the still-experimental behavioral science unit and revealed a new type of, determined, mission-driven serial killer whose only motivation was hate.

A riveting, cautionary tale rooted in history that continues to echo today, The Killer's Shadow is a terrifying and essential exploration of the criminal personality in the vile grip of extremism and what happens when rage-filled speech evolves into deadly action and hatred of the "other" is allowed full reign.

The Killer's Shadow includes an 8-page color photo insert.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Fast-paced tale of the search for a racist serial killer in the early days of criminal profiling. As an FBI agent and instructor, Douglas largely invented the criminal profile, a branch of psychology of the sort that fuels TV shows like NCIS and Criminal Minds. He gained a reputation for ferreting out likely perpetrators by means of patterns. For example, when a young woman was murdered in the Georgia woods, he specified a subject in his 20s, with a military record ending in a dishonorable discharge, a smug attitude, a blue-collar trade, and a dark vehicle--the last because, he and Olshaker write, "I had observed that orderly, compulsive people tended to drive darker cars." Bingo: He perfectly described a subject whom the Georgia police had just interviewed. These skills come into play when the narrative turns to the search for the virulently racist Joseph Paul Franklin, who targeted Jews, Black men, and, more pointedly, White women who dated the latter. Sometimes his victims were Black children, targets of opportunity. "Though it still wasn't part of the cultural lexicon," write the authors, "by then we were already using the phrase serial killer to reference a predatory offender who killed three or more victims at different times and places." They found Franklin also was implicated in the shootings of Larry Flynt, who published pornographic images of interracial couples, and Vernon Jordan, the civil rights leader. Douglas and Olshaker carefully lay out the trail of evidence but come to unsettling conclusions. Although such killers are marked by a sense of powerlessness and alienation, the racist murderer at the heart of this book has also inspired other killers such as Dylann Roof. As the authors write about Franklin, "his unwavering dedication to fomenting hate made him a potential inspiration and symbol to others with similar orientation." A taut, terrifying view of White supremacy taken to murderous extremes, now all too common. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.