By Reason of Insanity

By Reason of Insanity is a powerful, gut-wrenching book. It's so completely unlike any other serial killer book, even the very very good ones. I'll finish one book and pick up another without a minute in between, but when I finished this I was reluctant to read anything else for quite a while, suspecting that any future crime books are just going to be a pale shadow of this one. So far, they all are. According to the back cover, this is considered 'One of the five greatest crime novels of the century,' and while tags like that are usually ridiculous, I agree with it.At over 500 pages, this book is a saga of far more than murder. It's fiction, but it's written like investigative journalism, and feels very real indeed. Starting with the gas chamber execution of a convicted rapist in 1960 the story swoops back to the post-war years and forward to the 70's as the execution resonates horribly into the next generation. It takes a lot to fill a book this size, and woven in with the evolution of a tragically tortured child into a terrifying and elusive killing machine are incredibly detailed stories of journalism, politics and policing, woven together by issues of mental health and capital punishment.Thomas Bishop is criminally insane - at least he is assumed to be, after an incident horrific enough to get him consigned to a institution at an early age. But Bishop is no raving 'nut case', as the mentally ill were popularly described at the time - his coolly planned escape and ability to use society's tools to escape detection indicate an extreme intelligence, while at the same time the shocking nature of his crimes lead some police to speculate they are up against something not even human. If they only knew, that there are even more terrifying demons inside his head...This is not a perfect book - there are a few quite major and very annoying implausabilities, which would give away too much of the story to describe. It's not for everyone - the sexual violence is relentless and extreme, and if you're a gentle mystery reader you'll have a heart attack. So bloody, graphic and unemotional are the author's descriptions of some of the victims - there are plenty - that when he restrains from describing others, it's even scarier. By Reason of Insanity was first published in 1979, well before the current 'popularity' of serial murder in fiction, and it probably wouldn't be written today, most crime authors seemingly being more concerned with producing endless airport bestsellers. It's bad that this book appears unavailable, it deserves a resurgence, and heaps of new readers, Shane Stevens really puts today's authors in the shade. This isn't light reading - there's no stock romance, no light relief, no predictable ending. But if gruesome doesn't bother you and you're bored with lookalike murder books, find this one and read it, I guarantee it'll shake you up.

I just read this book for the first time and only one word can describe my reaction: WOW. If you enjoy serial killer stories or thrillers featuring truly evil villains, make sure you read "By Reason of Insanity" because it doesn't get any better than this. Have you ever read a book that was so scary and heinous it made you giddy? Then this is the book for you.BROI rivals the best by James Ellroy, Thomas Harris or Jim Thompson. You will go inside the killer's mind and while you will be genuinely repulsed, you will almost develop some sympathy for him. Almost. The nature of the crimes is so ghastly and the scope so grand that any such sympathy will ultimately be lost. But the details of the killer's brilliant sociopathic abilities and horrific childhood make for a fascinating study.Much like with Ellroy, all the characters are flawed and multi-dimensional. In fact, everyone is so busy watching out for himself, there are not many characters to root for, but this adds to the plausibility of the events. The many subplots, several of which tie together, provide depth and keep things from getting too grisly.I could go on about the novel's interesting takes on politics, the Nixon administration and the media, but that's all bonus. The point is you will not find a more insightful, disturbing or exciting book focusing on a serial killer. The phrase is thrown around too often but you truly will not be able to put down this book.

Shane Stevens sure has a way of telling a story. This book weaves in and out of different sub-plots effortlessly. The way that some of them are linked to a serial killer is amusing within itself. Stevens offers a broad array of view points on a serial killer and the true evil that lurks in people just for their own personal gain. The book may seem to slow down at some points but just stick with it. When the different plots and characters start interacting you won't be able to put this one down. Truly a great psycho-thriller. Also recommended is "Blackburn: A novel" by Bradley Denton.

I can remember reading this book when it first came out and it gave me nightmares for weeks. Stevens has a real gift for creating a tense atmosphere and getting into the mind of his protagonist. It is without a doubt one of the best books of the serial killer genre ever written. ATTENTION HOLLYWOOD: When are you going to make this a film??? (Then again, you probably wouldn't be able to do it justice). Do yourself a favour and read this book..you'll sleep with the lights on, when you eventually get to sleep that is.

This is the second Stevens novel I read (the first being The Anvil Chorus) and both of them go in absolutely different paths. "Anvil" is written in a suspense-thriller type way much in the tradition of the contemporary greats of that genre, whereas "Insanity" goes on a completely different path. It has hooked me. I haven't finished it yet but as far as I have read it, I can already put it down and recommend it, just like Stephen King said, to "readers who have strong stomachs". Thomas Bishop, the killer in this book, is like a fictionalized version of Jeffrey Dahmer, the Wisconsin Cannibal. Yet we must be reminded of the following...this book was published in the 70's...Dahmer only became notorious much later. If anything, I think Stevens based himself on "Headhunter" Ed Kemper to create Thomas Bishop. Kemper's crimes were horrific brutal and senseless, and he had murdered his parents (although Bishop only murdered his mother)Perhaps I am wrong in my assumptions as to who Thomas Bishop was based on. But one thing I am not wrong about is the fact that this is to be considered a masterpiece in gruesome and graphic horror, and a must read.