Reviews

The prolific Wilson (A Criminal History of Mankind, et al.) offers this compilation of true crime narratives, abbreviated accounts of both famous and lesser-known cases. ``Murder interests me,'' Wilson writes, ``because it is the most extreme form of the denial of this human potentiality. Life devaluation has become a commonplace of our century.'' Wilson analyzes numerous crimes and their perpetrators, ranging from lady-killers to manic messiahs, contemporary and past: `` . . . to kill by poison is perhaps the most childish of all criminal acts . . . . Nearly all the famous poisoners have been rather childish personalitiesoften delightful and charming, but fundamentally children determined to get their own way by stealth.'' In the ``Motiveless Murder'' chapter, he once again expounds on the importance of science-fiction author A. E. Van Vogt's ``right man'' theoryviolent men who treat women as slavesas ``one of the most important breakthroughs since Sigmund Freud `discovered' the unconscious.'' Wilson's now-familiar practice of intertwining throughout a rich array of literary references (Ray Bradbury, James Thurber, James Jones, etc.) only adds to the informed tone of this massive survey, so extensive and worthy a reference that some repetition is not an annoyance. An introduction defines the links between Wilson's fiction and nonfiction. (July)

This collection consists of 74 alphabetically arranged chapters with headings such as ``Hired Killers,'' ``Mass Murderers,'' `` Perverts,'' and ``Stranglers.'' Despite its length, the book is not comprehensive; each chapter briefly outlines a few cases with comments by Wilson, a British popularizer of crime. (See his Encyclopedia of Modern Murder , co-authored with Donald Seaman, LJ 5/15/85.) No explanation is given for Wilson's choices, most of which will be unfamiliar. Unevenly written and without a bibliography, this book is unsuitable as a reference. Even true crime buffs, who otherwise might be interested, will be upset to discover that the copyright date is 1973. Index not seen. Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis