Mark Olshaker Books

We are facing an overwhelming army of deadly, invisible enemies. We need a plan -- before it's too late. Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt. In today's world, it's easier than ever to move people, animals, and materials around the planet, but the same advances that make modern infrastructure so efficient have made epidemics and even pandemics nearly inevitable. And as outbreaks of Ebola, MERS, yellow fever, and Zika have demonstrated, we are woefully underprepared to deal with the fallout. So what can -- and must -- we do in order to protect ourselves from mankind's deadliest enemy? Drawing on the latest medical science, case studies, policy research, and hard-earned epidemiological lessons, Deadliest Enemy explores the resources and programs we need to develop if we are to keep ourselves safe from infectious disease. The authors show how we could wake up to a reality in which many antibiotics no longer cure, bioterror is a certainty, and the threat of a disastrous influenza pandemic looms ever larger. Only by understanding the challenges we face can we prevent the unthinkable from becoming the inevitable. Deadliest Enemy is high scientific drama, a chronicle of medical mystery and discovery, a reality check, and a practical plan of action.

From legendary FBI profiler John Douglas and Mark Olshaker -- authors of the nonfiction international bestsellers Mindhunter, Journey into Darkness, and Obsession -- comes an unprecedented, insightful look at the root of all crime.Every crime is a mystery story with a motive at its heart. With the brilliant insight he brought to his renowned work inside the FBI's elite serial-crime unit, John Douglas pieces together motives behind violent sociopathic 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 kill their families or go on a rampage in the workplace.Douglas identifies the antisocial personality, showing surprising similarities and differences among various types of deadly offenders. He also tracks the progressive escalation of those criminals' sociopathic behavior. His analysis of such diverse killers as Lee Harvey Oswald, Theodore Kaczynski, and Timothy McVeigh is gripping, but more importantly, helps us learn how to anticipate potential violent behavior before it's too late.

'John Douglas is the FBI's pioneer and master of investigative profiling' Patricia Cornwell

THE BESTSELLING TRUE STORY THAT INSPIRED THE MAJOR NETFLIX SERIESFBI Special Agent and expert in criminal profiling and behavioural science, John Douglas, is a man who has looked evil in the eye and made a vocation of understanding it. Now retired, Douglas can let us inside the FBI elite serial crime unit and into the disturbed minds of some of the most savage serial killers in the world.The man who was the inspiration for Special Agent Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambsand who lent the film's makers his expertise explains how he invented and established the practice of criminal profiling; what it was like to submerge himself mentally in the world of serial killers to the point of 'becoming' both perpetrator and victim; and individual case histories including those of Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and the Atlanta child murders.With the fierce page-turning power of a bestselling novel, yet terrifyingly true, Mindhunter is a true crime classic.John Douglas knows more about serial killers than anybody in the world - Jonathan Demme, Director of The Silence of the LambsA cracker of a book - Esquire

"From John Douglas--the legendary FBI criminal profiler, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for the Netflix show Mindhunter--comes a chilling journey inside the mind and crimes of Larry Gene Bell, one of the most dangerous serial killers Douglas confronted, and the desperate effort to identify and catch him. On May 31, 1985, two days before her high school graduation, Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home in South Carolina. Based on the crime scene and the abductor's repeated and taunting calls to the family, law enforcement quickly realized they were dealing with a sophisticated and highly dangerous criminal. A letter arrived the next day entitled "Last Will & Testament," in which Shari, knowing she was to be murdered, wrote bravely and achingly of her love for her parents, siblings, and boyfriend, saying that while they would miss her, she knew they would persevere through their faith. The abduction rocked her quiet town, triggering a massive manhunt and bringing in the FBI, which enlisted profiler John Douglas. A few days later, a phone call told the family where they could find Shari's body. Then nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her yard, confirming the harsh realization that Smith's murder was no random act. A serial killer was evolving, and the only way to stop him would be to use the study of criminal behavior to anticipate his next move before he could kill again. Douglas devised a risky and emotionally fraught strategy to use Shari's lookalike older sister Dawn as bait to draw out the unknown subject. Dawn and her parents courageously agreed. One of the most haunting investigations of Douglas's storied career, this case details how the eerily accurate profile he created--alongside his carefully crafted and stage-managed manipulation of the killer's psychology--combined with dedicated police work and cutting-edge forensic science to end a reign of criminal terror. As Shari's family took incredible personal risks to lure her killer from the shadows, Douglas and the FBI pushed criminal profiling to its limits, culminating in one of his most dramatic and effective confrontations with a sadistic and remorseless killer" -- Provided by publisher

"The FBI's legendary profiler probes the psyches of killers, rapists, and stalkers and their victims and tells how to fight back." [from cover.].

A cat-and-mouse game between Detective Sandy Mansfield and a serial killer in Washington. By the artistic way the killer cuts his victim, Sandy suspects a surgeon. By the author of Blood Race.

The authors explore eight major crime mysteries, such as Jack the Ripper and JonBenet Ramsey, offering a new perspective that challenges established beliefs and reconstructs the narratives surrounding these infamous cases with surprising outcomes.

THE SHOCKING FOLLOW-UP TO MINDHUNTER , NOW A SMASH-HIT NETFLIX DRAMAJohn Douglas is the world's top pioneer and expert on criminal profiling. His lifelong work to understand and combat serial killers is legendary among law enforcement circles. Now, following up on his first book, Mindhunter , Journey Into Darkness delves further into the criminal mind in a range of chilling new cases.Profiling suspects from OJ Simpson to the Unabomber, and investigating the assassination of John Lennon and the Waco tragedy, Journey Into Darkness explores the crimes of the century – as well as cases you've never heard of – with the peerless eye of one of the FBI's finest.Douglas, famously the inspiration for Special Agent Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, reveals the fascinating circumstance of each crime in detail as he explores the larger issues, from crime prevention and rehabilitation to the reasons behind escalating violence in society. A must read for all true crime fans.

An electrifying novel of intrigue, Broken Wings moves beyond the authors' New York Times best-selling nonfiction—and takes readers along on a furious psychological duel between the nation's top profiler and a ruthless criminal mastermind.The director of the FBI is dead. Officially it's being called suicide; unofficially, it's a murder. On the first morning of his retirement as head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Profiling Unit, Jake Donovan is summoned back to Quantico—and into the most dangerous, volatile, and politically charged case of his career.After suffering a brutal attack from assailants who may have been linked to the director's death, Jake enlists an elite team of "broken wings"—damaged-goods agents like himself who have been frozen out of the FBI. Equipped with a state-of-the-art airplane that serves as a mobile lab and headquarters, this secretly funded rogue squad of expert mindhunters is going to do what the Bureau can't or won't: follow the trail of evidence, no matter where it leads, no matter whom it implicates.