I like a dose of true crime every once in a while and there is just something about serial killers that intrigues me. Cannibal Killers sounded like an absolutely fascinating read and I've been looking forward to read it. Sadly, it wasn't ment to be... And I ended up having a completely different reading experience instead. I do not mind gruesome or gory (that is what you would expect when you decide to read a book about cannibal killers after all), but for me there was way too much focus on the sexual angle of the crimes. True, part of the cannibal killers do have that motivation, but the constant repetition of the sexual angle AND the sensationalist way it was described really put me off. It felt like this focus was used to attract more readers and make things 'more exciting', while cannibalism alone is a plenty fascinating topic to discuss without resorting to cheap carnival tricks. There was something about the writing style that bothered me considerably as well: it often went between boring and repetitive and way too sensational, and my aversion to the writing style made it really hard to continue reading. I tried skim-reading to see if my reaction to this true crime story would improve, but in the end it was all too off-putting to continue making the effort to keep reading. There is one thing for sure: Cannibal Killers definitely wasn't for me!

I loathe it when this happens and it seldom does thankfully… BUT sadly I just couldn’t finish this book.
It is very competently written and extremely well researched, but I expected the content to be more individual case studies rather than the broader range of historical stories that it is.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Cannibal killers is very well written, and a fascinating insight. Although obviously slightly disturbing

i would say the first half of this book is AMAZING ( like first 100 pages) and then it diverts strangely to talk about cannibals we already discussed and then like a psychology break out.. this was ALMOST a 5 star for me but that strange flip was unneeded here. I seriously was loving this book as it talked about he serial killers and how it told stories about each one and how they got the way they were. Maybe a better transition would have helped this but truly it should have better better introduced or shorter.

True crime is one of my all time favourite genres and I was really looking forward to reading this book. I am curious to find out what drove serial killers to cannibalize their victims. However, I wasn't able to continue reading this book after about 10% in it. There is a lot of interesting information which I appreciated and enjoyed learning them. Unfortunately, I find the writing was dry and it couldn't hold my interest.

***Thank you Ad Lib Publisher for this gifted reading copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

Very informative! I enjoy reading books about this kinda stuff and I found this book to be really interesting and super informative! The wording / sentence structure takes some getting used to but overall it’s a great informative read

I’m a fan of true crime so was happy to get stuck into this one! and this is another excellent book with tons of different stories of some of the most terrifying criminals. Definitely worth reading.

Martindale’s update to her Cannibal Killers book is a true spine chilling winner and well researched book dealing with the vampire and werewolf myth whilst tying in the serial killer cannibal of our generation.

This is an such an interesting book and if you love true crime and want a better analysis of this than look no further than Martindale’s book. She has a great way of looking at the social, psychological and history aspects and putting these in a sensical order for the reader to learn and devour the information.

This is an exceptional book and one of the best written. This author has done their research and I am now a keen follower of this person’s work. This is a true winner for fans of True Crime and people who just have a passing fancy. You can not go wrong with this.

This is a fascinating and comprehensive account detailing Cannibal Killers and the history of the concept.

I found it interesting and a little chilling.

It is thoroughly researched and well written.

Well worth a read if you are interested in this genre.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this read, I love true crime so I was so interested in this book. There were some killers that I was aware of in this book and some that I didn't which I loved, and even with the ones that I did know, it gave me new information. A great read fior true crime lovers.

I'm very torn on this book since the first chapter almost had me giving up on it when the author declared that it was common to find restaurants serving human flesh in China up to the early 19th century, and then gave no further information on the subject, nor any sources to support this shocking claim. You can't just throw out "facts" like that with no context or explanation, and if the book is meant to be in any way trusted academically it ought to have some sources! (I certainly couldn't find any evidence to support this when I Google searched.)

The rest of the book which dealt with the more lurid elements of cannibalism from a criminal rather than an anthropological perspective was much better and seemed to be a lot better researched. It was a gruesome but interesting read. However I strongly feel that if the equally interesting anthropological side of cannibalism was going to be properly explored in this book, then it needed a lot more research.

This was an updated version of a book originally written in the 1990s and if the book is being reissued for a 21st century audience, some of the terminology used for sexual and gender identities is out of date and needs refreshing to avoid causing offence.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Fascinating, Deeply Disturbing..
The more comprehensive and updated edition of the original ‘Cannibal Killers: The Impossible Monsters’ written in 1993 and now taking the reader up to the twenty-first century where these cannibal killers still lurk among us all. With the onset of the internet the situation seems more alarming than ever. A deep and illustrative account of these completely shocking and distressing crimes. Fascinating and deeply disturbing.

From medieval Times, to the Victorian era World War II and even current day on the Internet there is hardly a place in history where you won’t find cannibals. Author Maura Martindale covers the mall. I learned a lot from this book and probably more than I wanted to know. It is chocked full of cannibal stories that will make you cringe and there’s even one where the person considered to be eaten… I am not joking! This book was so good I love true crime stories and I was thoroughly entertained by this one and can’t recommend it enough. If true crime is your jam then you definitely need to read cannibals by Moraa Martendale and is a definite must have for any true crime fan. I was given this book by Net Galley and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any grammar or punctuation errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own

I really enjoyed this. It didn't linger too long on any one killer but explored many. It's interesting to see the common themes and to explore the moral dilemmas- and how to potentially recognise the path before somebody walks down it. All the biggies are here, Chikatilo, Dahmer etc but also newer killers like Luca Magnota

With thanks to NetGalley, Moira Martingale, and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One thing that red flagged me from the start was the seemingly fetishistic inclusion of personal sexual details, and wholesale judgment on any kind of sexual activity outside of “heterosexual and begrudgingly partaken in every now and then”.

Such as the grouping together of pedophiles, stalkers, sadists, cannibals and *all pornographers* seems rather like grouping together fascist dictators, genocidal maniacs, and professional boxers. They then refer to these people at defective, which, yes there certainly are abhorrent practices described in her book but the puritanical idea that pornographers are are bad as *literal cannibals* is a stretch.

They also then proclaim that “this sort of thing just didn’t happen as much” in the 90’s when they wrote their first version of this book because the isolation and shame felt by people with voreaphelia meant that they *checks notes* wouldn’t have done it.

Because, you know, shame and isolation are notoriously good for mental health disorders.

From leaning on psychological studies conducted in the 70s and earlier, the authors almost obsessional anger about sex, to the questionable claims and a whiff of both transphobia and racism - I was disappointed in this book.

The first edition of this book was one of my first true crime books as a kid, and honestly this kind of true crime writing belongs in the 1990s.

This was a gruesome, horrifying book that has left me looking at meat differently. It was disgusting. To be honest, I think it’s turned me off of reading.

My main recommendation is for the author to stop using the word transvestite. It’s no longer used for the transgender community and is seen as insulting.

Well this was a wild ride. I am super into true crime and this is another excellent book with tons of different stories of some of the most terrifying criminals.

My thanks to Ad Lib Publishers, Moira Martingale and Netgalley.
Well, it's cannibals. I think I've finally hit my end. I've been trying to figure out this stuff for years. The eating, and the sexual components are too out there. I finally give up!
This was a good book. It definitely covers a while bunch of cannibals. Matter of fact, it had so many sick mother offers that I finally hit my saturation point.
This was a very well researched book. Kudos to the author.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I don't want to say I "enjoyed" this book but it did bring a very interesting and taboo topic to life, how and why can one become a cannibal? It was full of information and was written in a way that was easy to read and understand. My only gripe with it, was it some parts felt too repetitive.

Very detailed and well written. Explores many different types of cannibalism and the circumstances surrounding each in a clear, interesting way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ad Lib Publishers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.