Sons of Cain: A History of Serial Killers from the Stone Age to the Present

《該隱之子：連續殺人魔歷史》偵查歷史學家Peter Vronsky暨2004年關於連環殺手的經典著作Serial Killers之後又一力作，Sons of Cain主要探查人類史上性侵類連環殺手的進化史。本書提供的歷史分析與數據，填補了枯燥的學術研究與聳人聽聞的犯罪實錄之間的鴻溝。連環殺手(serial killers)這個專有詞在1981年才開始出現在新聞媒體上，在此之前，沒有一個特定的名詞來稱呼這一類的殺手，他們大多與社會所了解的狼人、吸血鬼、食屍鬼或是希區考克電影中的變態一樣，是個”怪物”。《聖經》中的該隱因為忌妒，謀殺了親生弟弟亞伯，開啟了人類的謀殺史。從歷史考古資料中可以證明連環謀殺的存在；中世紀的《女巫之槌》加劇了獵巫行動；開膛手傑克出現之前的19世紀下半葉，已有精神病學與犯罪學來鑑定連環殺手的犯案現場；美國在1970與1980年代，甚至出現所謂的”連環殺手大流行”。這些連環謀殺與”獲益”類型的政治連環殺手(如恐怖分子與種族屠殺者)不同，性侵類連環殺手的犯行包括殺害、強暴、拷打折磨、吃人肉以及戀屍。深入了解這些謀殺者的動機與背景，對於防範此類型犯罪大有助益。From the author of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters comes an in-depth examination of sexual serial killers throughout human history, how they evolved, and why we are drawn to their horrifying crimes.Before the term was coined in 1981, there were no "serial killers." There were only "monsters"--killers society first understood as werewolves, vampires, ghouls and witches or, later, Hitchcockian psychos.In Sons of Cain--a book that fills the gap between dry academic studies and sensationalized true crime--investigative historian Peter Vronsky examines our understanding of serial killing from its prehistoric anthropological evolutionary dimensions in the pre-civilization era (c. 15,000 BC) to today. Delving further back into human history and deeper into the human psyche than Serial Killers--Vronsky's 2004 book, which has been called the definitive history of serial murder--he focuses strictly on sexual serial killers: thrill killers who engage in murder, rape, torture, cannibalism and necrophilia, as opposed to for-profit serial killers, including hit men, or "political" serial killers, like terrorists or genocidal murderers.These sexual serial killers differ from all other serial killers in their motives and their foundations. They are uniquely human and--as popular culture has demonstrated--uniquely fascinating.