‘Sadistic Killers’ by Carol Anne Davis
Published by Summersdale,
ISBN 978-1-84024-581-3

Tackling a true-crime book entitled Sadistic Killers generated feelings of unease: was I reading to learn and understand, or guilty of ghoulishly peering into an abyss of extreme cruelty and depravity? Fortunately, this book feels more educational than voyeuristic, being saved by Davis’s non-sensationalist prose, descriptions of the formative influences on sadistic killers, a contrasting chapter on consensual sadomasochism, and a concluding chapter on therapeutic successes with sadistic killers.

The book begins by examining British, American and Australian cases. It follows with chapters on sadists who kill men, who kill women, who kill children, and who kill indiscriminately, followed by a chapter entitled ‘Female Sadists’ – a startling reminder that the vast majority of sadistic killers are men (usually working class, and usually in their twenties or thirties). Unsurprisingly, the killers’ backgrounds have recurrent themes of childhood abuse, dysfunctional families, and early signs of sadism that went unchecked.

Reading what the victims had to endure is extremely harrowing: particularly when, as with Suzanne Capper, their torment lasted for days. This book is not an easy read. Nevertheless, it ends on a note of partial optimism. Dr Bob Johnson’s 700 hours of interviews with eighteen psychopaths in Parkhurst Prison led him to conclude that most sadistic killers are made evil by childhood trauma, rather than being born evil . His work was, unfortunately, cut short when the prisoners were relocated at a

crucial time in their therapy. Who knows how many troubled children could be prevented from growing into sadistic killers, given more research into the causes and symptoms? Davis doesn’t excuse the killers’ behaviour, but does make it more comprehensible.
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Julian Maynard-Smith
Carol Anne Davis has written four true crime works: Women Who Kill, Children Who Kill, Couples Who Kill, and Sadistic Killers. She has also written five crime novels: Noise Abatement, Safe As Houses, Kiss It Away, Sob Story, and Shrouded.