The Monsters We Make, 9780393867695
Hardcover
Unmasking the seductive, quixotic history of criminal profiling and the monsters within.
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The Monsters We Make

murder, obsession, and the rise of criminal profiling

$44.00

  • Hardcover

    256 pages

  • Release Date

    21 November 2025

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Summary

The Monsters We Make: Unmasking the Criminal Mind

Criminal profiling—the delicate art of collecting and deciphering the psychological “fingerprints” of the monsters among us—holds an almost mythological status in pop culture. But what exactly is it, does it work, and why is the American public so entranced by it?

In The Monsters We Make, prize-winning author Rachel Corbett explores how criminal profiling became one of society’s most seductive and quixotic undertakin…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780393867695
ISBN-10:0393867692
Author:Rachel Corbett
Publisher:WW Norton & Co
Imprint:WW Norton & Co
Format:Hardcover
Number of Pages:256
Release Date:21 November 2025
Weight:361g
Dimensions:218mm x 147mm x 25mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

[The Monsters We Make] combines riveting accounts of such infamous murderers as Jack the Ripper and Ted Bundy with sharp insights about the rise of the public’s fascination with criminal psychology. … Such evenhandedness permeates the account, elevating it above pulpy indulgence. Readers of true crime will be fascinated.– “Publishers Weekly”The Monsters We Make is a compelling, page-turning book. Part suspenseful true-crime drama, part insightful intellectual history, and part searing memoir–and, thanks to Rachel Corbett’s affecting, elegantly crafted narrative, always a gripping story filled with an intriguing parade of deeply-reported characters.–Howard Blum, New York Times best-selling author of When the Night Comes FallingSerial killers have spawned hundreds of books, but none like this. With a daughter’s heart and a reporter’s keen gaze, Rachel Corbett turns the stories inside out. She profiles the profilers–their methods, their hubris, and the evils they unwittingly commit. An expertly titrated mix of history, true crime, and memoir, The Monsters We Make is the most intriguing crime book I’ve read in quite some time.–Mary Roach, New York Times best-selling author of Fuzz, Gulp, and StiffIn The Monsters We Make, Rachel Corbett goes on an odyssey to show how society identifies the ‘manifestations of evil, ’ and how they change over time. Using her fabulous investigative talents and a tenacity for research she delves into the science of behavioral forensics and writes a roadmap to understanding the minds of both criminals and profilers.–Robert K. Wittman, founder of the FBI Art Crime Team and author of Priceless and The Devil’s DiaryIn her gripping and illuminating The Monsters We Make, Rachel Corbett takes us on an effortless journey through the allure and perils of trying to grasp the criminal mind.–Benjamin Wallace, author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar and The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto

About The Author

Rachel Corbett

Rachel Corbett is the author of You Must Change Your Life, which won the Marfield Prize, the National Award for Arts Writing. A features writer at New York magazine, her writing has also appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, and Atlantic. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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