SERIAL KILLERS: THE METHOD AND MADNESS OF MONSTERS  is one of the most complete books I have read on serial killers.  Peter Vronsky starts by making it personal with two instances of fate intervening.  On two separate occasions he ran into serial killers, not actually knowing until much later that they were the Times Square Torso Ripper and the Red Ripper -- Richard Cottingham and Andrei Chikatilo respectively.

     If I weren't prone to paranoia, I would have been shortly after the introduction.  In Vronsky's introduction he brings up the suggestion that serial killers lead perfectly normal lives.  How many times have we run into someone who is a serial killer or has the potential to become a serial killer? 

     Vronsky gives a history of killers, everyone from Ted Bundy to Ed Kemper.  He describes cannibals and necrophiliacs to rampage killers; his descriptions are very detailed.  He brings to life many serial killers that I had never heard of as well as those who have touched everyone's lips at one time or another. 

     In SERIAL KILLERS, the text goes into everything from classifying a serial killer to their childhoods and then onto their first kill.  The final chapter gives some options on dealing with serial killers.  It is not a how-to guide according to the book, just some tips based on FBI interviews with those who have survived an encounter with a serial killer. 

    SERIAL KILLERS is a great book.  It is very detailed, and even includes photos.  I'm not sure this is a good choice for those who are weak-stomached or those who are prone to paranoia.  It is very in-depth.  However, if you are fascinated by the human mind and by those who are abnormal, this is the book for you.