Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds – Sociopaths, Serial Killers & Other Deviants

Written by Jeff Mariotte

Jeff Mariotte is an author originally born in Park Forest, Illinois, and now resides in Arizona with his family. He has graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in film, radio, and television arts. He is most known for writing horror, mystery, science fiction and fantasy novels. He is also a partner and owner in an independent bookstore named Mysterious Galaxy. A few examples of his more advanced novels include; Charmed – Mirror Image, CSI: Miami: Right to Die, CSI: Brass in Pocket, and Supernatural: Witch’s Canyon.

Chapter Fourteen: Celebrity Stalkers

The celebrity stalker extensively focused on within this chapter of the novel is Mark David Chapman. Chapman is known for the murder of former Beatles member John Lennon. The murder had taken place on December the eighth, 1980, outside Lennon’s Manhattan Apartment. Although, prior to the killing Chapman had ‘visited’ Georgia after difficulty purchasing ammunition in New York.

‘Most murder victims know their killers. During an investigation, the detectives dig deep into the victims’ lives to find out why they in particular were attacked, since there’s almost always some link between a victim and a perpetrator. In a very few cases, people like JonBenét Ramsey become famous in death when the crimes against them become part of the national landscape. But every now and then, crimes are committed against people who are already famous. Celebrities, the rich, the powerful—these people can also be victimized, and in some cases, as with Patty Hearst’s [American 1970’s socialite and actress] kidnapping, who they are makes them targets.’

 

I had chosen to read this passage to the class because it gives a breakdown of the exact definition of what a Celebrity Stalker is, and why celebrities are targeted. The passage also gives two brief, but prominent examples of targeted celebrities or socialites.

Novel Review

 

There is no considerable way I could put myself in the view of any of the sociopaths and/or killers focused on within this novel. To even have a general idea of their daily lives would take the extensive knowledge of a criminal profiler. A profiler is an investigator who specializes in the behaviour of the unknown subject or criminal. Their job is to exactly put themselves in the shoes of the criminal and look at any behaviour pattern that a general investigator may have missed.

 

What I liked about this novel is that it gave detailed insight on the stories behind the top rated television series ‘Criminal Minds’. Criminal Minds is most definitely one of, if not my favourite television show still airing. Actually, it has become a slight addiction. However, what you don’t see on the show is real life stories being acted out. Although the series is based on a high percent of true material, Criminal Minds: Sociopaths, Serial Killers & Other Deviants offers many examples and detailed stories of killings that are 100% true. You obtain more of a storyline instead of what CBS can detail in 44 minutes.

There is not much about the novel that I did not like, although I did find that in some chapters, the author needed to use repetitive descriptions for filler space to give the character outline more detail.

It had been fairly interesting, but much more disturbing. Overall, the novel had been very well written, explaining its high four star review.

I would recommend this book to another person, under the circumstance that they have an interest in the topic of criminal profiling. The novel does not follow a general story line as the show does. Also, you would have to have knowledge about the television series to make connections and understand why the author related a killer to an episode, giving the excerpt more understanding.

The Giver

Well, where to start… There’s 180 pages of my life I’ll never get back.
I had done my research on ‘The Giver’ prior and following my reading of
the novel. I had read the reviews, and I do not understand why they had
been so positive. Lois Lowry had won the Newberry Medal for this novel..
Why? That’s beyond my understanding. As I read through the novel, I felt a
cult like semblance. After each chapter, I felt more like I was
experiencing the story of the 1982 cult classic ‘Blade Runner’, with the
“Wake up, time to die” theme. Conceivably I’m being slightly melodramatic
with my personal opinion, but I feel this novel desecrated the author’s
limit of imagination. This was supposed to be a book written for the
teenage generation, and the author astonishingly pushed the comprehension
of the events in this novel to a much older and understanding audience.
I’m sorry for the contemptible opinion, but these were simply my notes
written throughout the novel brought within my one main idea.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief

Written by Marcus Zusak

A True Series of Unfortunate Events…

 

The Book Thief, explaining it’s title, is about a girl named Liesel Meminger, who after her brother and mother’s death is placed with a foster family, and has an odd fascination to stealing books.  It had all started while Liesel had been at her brother’s funeral, and an apprentice had dropped a small book titled, ‘The Grade Digger’s Handbook’. Later, Liesel moves in with her foster family, and her foster father, Hans, discovers the book under her mattress. Hans is glad to teach Liesel how to read, although he faced many difficulties with it himself. Throughout the book, Liesel had stolen many books, including from a Nazi book burning, the mayor’s library, who is fully aware and not bothered of her thievery.

As the story continues, Hans takes in a Jew named Max, who had been the son of his ex-war buddy. Max and Liesel had a close connection. Liesel would find a newspaper and bring it to Max on an often occasion, so that he would be able to do the crossword. I find that Liesel had such a strong connection to Max because he had seemed to play the role of ‘the older brother she never had’. Through his stay, he had repainted pages of ‘Mein Kampf’ (My Story) and had written a book for her, and had left it to Rosa to give it to her at the right time. Later, due to suspicion from the Nazi’s, the family had to turn out Max so their safety would not be endangered. Hans agrees to meet Max a few days after, but Max simply says ‘Thank You, but you have done enough.’ Hans then receives a letter that he is being sent off to war. Few months after his departure, he is returned home after a broken leg.

Towards the end of the book, Liesel is given the book Max had written for her, and she begins to read it. She had often read in the basement, because that’s where she felt the most connection to Max, although he wasn’t staying there anymore. One day she had been reading there, and war had hit the street. A bomb had been dropped over the town, and killed Liesel’s entire street, only herself surviving because she had been in the basement of the house reading. She then discovered her foster parent’s bodies as she made her way upstairs, and the body of her bestfriend Rudy, lying on the street. She had then given him his final wish that he had been asking for since they had met, a kiss. And then, she knew all along, she really had loved him. The entire story had oddly been narrated by the character of “Death”, who had dealt with Liesel on numerous occasions.

This story was truly phenomenal, and deserves the title of a ‘New York Time’s Bestseller’. It has taken on a more dialogued, exciting role similar to ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’. All Eight Hundred and Fifty Nine pages of this book had been enjoyment to me, and I would strongly recommend this book to others.

Bones to Ashes

Bones to Ashes

Kathy Reichs

‘As a child she was told to forget about the missing girl, but some memories don’t die.’ The phrasing of that statement is what triggered me to read this book. The theme of this book basically revolves around that entire sentence. It refers to the fact that when the main character of the book, Temperance Brennan, was a child, her short lived friendship with a girl named Evangeline Landry had ended after the sudden disappearance of her and her sister Obeline from Tracadie, the temporary home for Temperance and her sister Harry after their mother had became ill and had moved in with their grandmother. Also, the memory of the childhood friend would lead to the closing of the unsolved murder case throughout the span of more than thirty years.

Years after the death of Brennan`s mother, she had moved to Quebec and Harry had moved to Texas after (approximately) three unsuccessful marriages. Temperance has become a forensic anthropologist and after the discovery of remains of a young girl in Acadia from almost four decades ago, it triggers the memory of Temperance that it may the skeleton of her friend that had disappeared at exactly the same time ago.  In further reading the story reveals it was not.

When Temperance’s sister Harry arrives in Quebec after her recent divorce trouble, Temperance informs her of the case she’s working on, and the chance it may be Evangeline’s skeleton. Temperance asks her partner and ex-boyfriend Ryan to find contact information for Evangeline’s sister Obeline. Harry and Temperance then take a trip to Tracadie hopefully finding out information about the suspected death of Evangeline. While visiting Obeline, Harry had noticed a book that had contained poetry similar to those of the works Temperance remembered Evangeline writing back in Tracadie as a child titled ‘Bones to Ashes’ (hence the title). Temperance had noticed that one of the poems had been dated after 9/11, after Obeline claiming her sister had been killed in the Eighties.

With the assistance of Temperance’s partner Ryan and her sister Harry, they had pieced together what had really happened. After the death of Evangeline and Obeline’s mother, they had been forced to leave Tracaide without notice, revealing that she had not been murdered. When Evangeline was 16, she had been discovered (as were many other minors) by her soon to be lover David Barastache for ‘skin flicks’, referring to child pornography. Obeline claimed that Evangeline had been killed and married David when it became legal so that the love for him and her teenage sister would not be discovered.

During the story, Temperance had faced much frustration due to the fact that her childhood friend had been exposed in such an industry, and at times it had caused her to break down. Although, knowing in order to solve this mystery, she must keep it together. If I was in a situation similar to hers, I would also fight until the end, not leaving one secret unturned.

Although the storyline of ‘Bones to Ashes’ had been at points morbid and disturbing, it had created enough twists and turns to keep a reader interested. I highly enjoyed this book, and have learned that as explained earlier, some memories truly do not die, and do not give up if it involves the revelation of a hidden past of such a close friend. The title, ‘Bones to Ashes’, was the title of the poetry book pieced together with Evangeline’s work. The novel had been titled this because of the fact the poetry book had revealed that Evangeline was alive during 9/11, after her claimed date of death.

The City of Ember

Doon and Lina like very different things.. Doon wants to work in the Pipeworks; Lina yearns to be a messenger. Doon likes to study how things work. Lina likes to run and explore. But their friendships grow because they are ultimately searching for the same thing. How do they complement one another and help one another develop through the novel?

Despite the fact Doon and Lina have many similar traits; they do work together through problems in the novel. Lina has the ‘want to’ to get things done, and Doon has the knowledge to arrange it. They both try a hand at magic and risk virtually everything to find an exit out of their self-suppressive city. Although not stated in the novel, I feel there’s a connection between Lina and Doon that has not yet been discovered.

Earth today has many environmental and social issues. What sort of problems could have led to the building of The City of Ember?

There are many possibilities that could have led to the building of The City of Ember. The first possibility could be an environmental concern, which is global warming. Since no earth date was provided throughout the novel, it could most definitely be in a view of the future. They may have been growing more worried about global warming, so they had the future generation placed underground for protection from the harmful rays from the sun or the possibility of excessive heat.  Another possibility could be war, the idealistic social issue. War had claimed many lives throughout it’s time, and it could be a factor for the building of The City of Ember.

Clary tells Lina, “Everybody has some darkness inside”. Light and color both play very key roles in the novel. In what ways, other than the falling street lamps, are color and light important?

In the question above, I believe the statement may refer to the fact that the Citizens of Ember are not aware that there is light beyond their city. Lina often dreams of the city with a blue sky. She believes that this may be where she’s going after the downfall of Ember, but she is doubtful. Ember has no natural light, and beyond it.. And also beyond the knowledge of the townspeople, there is a fully natural lit city..

The possibility of never-ending darkness changes many of Lina’s friends and many of the town’s people. She discovers that her friend Lizzie has begun to accept things from Looper, who is stealing things from the store rooms. Why does Lina turn down the gifts that Lizzie offers her? Do you think she was right to do so?

Lina turns down the gifts Lizzie offers her, because in Lina’s opinion, it’s retaliation against the City of Ember.  Although these supplies would benefit Lina, she feels that it’s not right to accept them through this manner. I think Lina was right to refuse the offer of the goods, although it may have caused difficulty to find the basic needs to survive.. Her morals are still intact.

The City of Ember was built when people were worried that the human race might not survive. Do you think this was a good plan?

Yes, I do think the concept for building The City of Ember to protect the human race was a good idea. Although it repeals my theory that everything happens for a reason, I still believe it was a smart choice. I do have an idea that the theory that it was to be entirely isolated from the above with very little instruction for exit slightly impertinent. As described, the city was shabbily built, and had very little technology or necessities to sustain life for the expected timeframe.

The mayor is the most corrupt character in the novel. He squelches the thirst for knowledge and limits freedom, yet the majority of the town’s people just accept his behaviour. Why do you think they act this way? What other actions might they have taken?

The townspeople in The City of Ember have no knowledge from the right or wrong doings of the Mayor, or the government in general. Most see him as the leader, and they must accept and put their trust into his actions. Some individuals have gathered at Harken Square, protesting that the mayor reveals his ‘plan’ to save The City of Ember, but no further action was taken.

People react in various ways when they feel threatened. How do the people of Ember react to danger? Have you seen people reacting to danger in these ways?

The citizens of Ember act with great emotion to the danger in The City of Ember. They have never known panic similar to their situation, and have no experience of how to react to it. Many people react to danger in different ways, some are easily calm and collected, but others are far from comfort and begin to break down. The citizens of Ember are frightened that it may be closing in on the end of the city, and it’s similar to the futurist myth of the rapture. Although I have never personally seen people react to danger in the extremes of this, I’m aware of the fact that there have been many occurrences of natural disasters or terrorist attacks that have caused people to react in such a way.

What role does Poppy play in the story? Why is this role important to the story? Which of Poppy’s actions were important to the plot of the story?

Poppy plays a major role in the story of The City of Ember. Without her coming across the box containing the Instructions for Egress, there would have been no story at all. Also, her recurrence in the novel altered the storyline. For example, Lina had returned to Harken Square to take Poppy with her and Doon. Also, Poppy had found the journal on the travel to the new city, explaining the occurrence of why the City of Ember was built.

At the end of the novel, Lina, Doon and Poppy have discovered a sunlit earth. What do you think will become of them in the sequel? Do you think that there will be other people on the surface?

My outlook for the sequel is that (judging that there have been more books added to the series) Doon and Lina must have either found more people so they could sustain their lives, or the citizens of Ember has received their message and arrived with more supplies. I think there will be more people on the surface; they could easily just be placed far outside mainstream cities.

Compare the novel to the movie.

Overall, the movie was a disappointment to the novel. Many important details had been left out, and it hadn’t been played out why the city was built, which was an important part of the novel. Some features of the movie had been over exaggerated, but had some great parts. It was great to have another person’s perspective of what they were seeing as they read the novel