Guilty By Reason Of Insanity

Guilty By Reason of Insanity: A Psychiatrist Explores The Minds of Killers by Dorothy Otnow Lewis, Ph.D. was different than I expected it to be, and in a pretty fantastic way.

I was expecting to read a book that focused on stories of killers, by Dr. Lewis delves into her career using a few specific cases to bolster her points.  And it was terrifyingly addicting.  It's sick, I know, my deep and abiding love of true-crime, but I seriously can't get enough.  And Dr. Lewis being a psychologist only pulls me in deeper as I have a desire to know the "why" of everything.  She creates a window (more like "pull up a couch," really) into her work with some notorious and some not-so-notorious murderers, and the result is this astounding book.

Do you notice that the quote on the front of the book is, "Compelling."  Try more like, "As a reader I am obsessed with continuing to read this book."  It takes compelling to a new level. 

I just love books like these, and I am so happy that I was able to be engrossed in this book.  If you are a true-crime fan or love psychology (and psychiatry, too), pick this up.  I murders make you squeamish, skip it.  But know you are missing out.