The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals

“A marvelous, thrilling, chilling, and riveting” (Liz Smith, New York Post) look at the root of crime from FBI profiler John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, the authors behind Mindhunter, the inspiration of Netflix’s original series of the same name.

Every crime is a mystery story with a motive. With the insight he brought to his revolutionary work inside the FBI’s elite serial crime unit, John Douglas pieces together motives behind violent criminal behavior. He not only takes us into the darkest recesses of the minds of arsonists, hijackers, bombers, poisoners, assassins, serial killers, and mass murderers, but also the seemingly ordinary people who suddenly go on a shocking rampage.

With in-depth analysis on real cases and killers, such as Lee Harvey Oswald, Theodore Kaczynski, and Timothy McVeigh, The Anatomy of Motive sheds light on the surprising similarities and differences among various deadly offenders. More importantly, it teaches us how to anticipate potential violent behavior before it’s too late.