A TRUE CRIME MEMOIR

Privileged Killers: and Sociopaths Who Live and Walk among Us

Criminologist Karl Schonborn, who studies how authorities respond to violence, is well acquainted with privileged killers. This classic true-crime work focuses on his experiences with several sociopathic individuals. Four of them, ironically white males, committed monstrous violent crimes. And because each of them was privileged - blessed with brilliance, wealth, talent, or charm - Lady Justice only slapped their wrists despite their homicidal attacks.

What's shocking is these killers seemingly appeared from nowhere in Schonborn's everyday life, and each helped erode his long-standing criminal-justice idealism. Professor Schonborn details his interactions with these highly disturbed men, including how a brush with one on parole nearly cost him his life.

Schonborn's in-depth training in psychology helps him provide us with useful insights about identifying and dealing with the burgeoning numbers of sociopaths who work and live among us.