Review: Schizomania?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2014
Dark Deeds (Vol.2) by Susan Fleet is a highly-informative glimpse behind closed doors where the neurotics and even next-door neighbors simmer to boiling point and sometimes explode in murderous rampages that spill across national headlines. Most stalkers, serial killers and mass murderers are notoriously common people whose distinguishing feature is a post-traumatic stress disorder that drives them over the edge. From innkeepers to day traders, nurses to rabbis, Fleet documents the profiles of these disturbed individuals and gives us a guided tour into the world of the dangerously deranged.This ghoulish gallery includes child killer Dean Corll and the Norman Bates-like John Bender, as well as the Angel of Death, Kristen Gilbert, and trick treater Charles Albright. The author also introduces us to the world of stalkers, represented by Robert Hoskins, Edward Taylor and Thomas Kyros. Wife killers such as Fred Neulander and James Magee are also portrayed, as are mass murderers such as Mark Barton, Scott Dekraai and Amy Bishop. Though none of these names ring funeral bells the way Manson, Dahmer and Bundy do, they serve the purpose in reminding us that sociopaths are tragedies waiting to happen. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and bringing the social reject into the fold may defuse lots of situations where the ultimate victim is society at large.For crime fans and psychology buffs alike, Dark Deeds (Vol.2) by Susan Fleet is a worthy addition to any serious collection.