Performed by Jonathan Groff, star of the hit Netflix show Mindhunter, and featuring an exclusive conversation between John E. Douglas and Jonathan Groff at the end of the audiobook

In The Killer Across the Table, John E. Douglas, the legendary FBI criminal profiler, number-one New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for Netflix’s Mindhunter delves deep into the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing and complex predatory killers, offering never-before-revealed details about his profiling process, and divulging the strategies used to help crack some of America’s most challenging cases. The Killer Across the Table is narrated by Jonathan Groff, who plays Holden Ford on Mindhunter, the character inspired by John E. Douglas. 

The FBI’s pioneer of criminal profiling, former special agent John Douglas, has studied and interviewed many of America’s most notorious killers—including  Charles Manson, ”Son of Sam Killer” David Berkowitz and ”BTK Strangler” Dennis Rader—trained FBI agents and investigators around and the world, and helped educate the country about these deadly predators and how they operate, and has become a legend in popular culture, fictionalized in The Silence of the Lambs and the hit television shows Criminal Minds and Mindhunter.

Twenty years after his famous memoir, the man who literally wrote the book on FBI criminal profiling opens his case files once again. In this riveting work of true crime, he spotlights four of the most diabolical criminals he’s confronted, interviewed and learned from. Going deep into each man’s life and crimes, he outlines the factors that led them to murder and how he used his interrogation skills to expose their means, motives, and true evil. Like the hit Netflix show, The Killer Across the Table is centered around Douglas’ unique interrogation and profiling process. With his longtime collaborator Mark Olshaker, Douglas recounts the chilling encounters with these four killers as he experienced them—revealing for the first time his profile methods in detail. 

Going step by step through his interviews, Douglas explains how he connects each killer’s crimes to the specific conversation, and contrasts these encounters with those of other deadly criminals to show what he learns from each one. In the process, he returns to other famous cases, killers and interviews that have shaped his career, describing how the knowledge he gained from those exchanges helped prepare him for these.

A glimpse into the mind of a man who has pierced the heart of human darkness, The Killer Across the Table unlocks the ultimate mystery of depravity and the techniques and approaches that have countered evil in the name of justice.

Booklist Reviews

Douglas is well-known criminal profiler, working for the FBI since the early day of the Behavioral Science unit. He has no lack of subjects when it comes to murderers, choosing to study the minds of these predators in hopes of catching others like them. This is a gruesomely detailed look into the mind of four distinctly different serial killers. The discussions with these criminals are intense and Douglas frequently seems to hold back his true feelings about these guys; they are pretty disturbed individuals. Douglas' earlier book, Mindhunter, was the basis for the Netflix series starring Groff, who narrates here with a calm, matter-of fact-tone that helps to balance the horrific details of these murders. At times, Groff conveys a killer's nonchalance when talking about his murders so convincingly that the listener shudders in discomfort. Groff gives the narration a very true crime podcast feel that will appeal to podcast lovers and true crime fans alike. A conversation between Douglas and Groff concludes the production, enhancing the podcast listener appeal and adding to the audiobook's draw. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Booklist Reviews

Douglas is well-known criminal profiler, working for the FBI since the early day of the Behavioral Science unit. He has no lack of subjects when it comes to murderers, choosing to study the minds of these predators in hopes of catching others like them. This is a gruesomely detailed look into the mind of four distinctly different serial killers. The discussions with these criminals are intense and Douglas frequently seems to hold back his true feelings about these guys; they are pretty disturbed individuals. Douglas' earlier book, Mindhunter, was the basis for the Netflix series starring Groff, who narrates here with a calm, matter-of fact-tone that helps to balance the horrific details of these murders. At times, Groff conveys a killer's nonchalance when talking about his murders so convincingly that the listener shudders in discomfort. Groff gives the narration a very true crime podcast feel that will appeal to podcast lovers and true crime fans alike. A conversation between Douglas and Groff concludes the production, enhancing the podcast listener appeal and adding to the audiobook's draw. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.