I Am a Killer
The authors, Ned Parker and Danny Tipping secured exceptional access to high-security prisons across America. This book is a remarkably interesting read and all the prisoners suffered terrible abuse and had terrible childhoods. What is it that makes killers do what they do? After reading this book the results where surprising. Imagine being so poor and so hungry that you steal to feed yourself and are then beaten and sexually abused afterwards and nobody helps. Alcohol and drugs play a big part in most cases, Race, witness statements, and injustice and other reasons apply also.
Many of the killers will die in prison – either by serving their sentence of life without parole or the death penalty. You will read the psychology of the killers in this book, and I found this book makes you think about the concept and the true depth of these crimes.
I notice most killers do not want to die but have no problem taking another life and somehow, they always blame the drugs and alcohol instead of themselves and the action they took that day. No matter what they could have walked away or just chosen a different life which many of them seem to have done when it is too late for their victims, and they have been caught and incarcerated without parole or getting of death row.
I genuinely feel sorry for what they have had to endure in life as it is just horrific, but also do not forget their victims some suffered horrific abuse at the hands of these criminals. Remember most used the above excuses and only one or two seemed to show genuine remorse. I can see how the authors did such an excellent job finding the underlying cause of these crimes and telling their stories and this is a very professionally researched book and a terrific book club reading topic. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Wow. This was so good. I was simply fascinated by each interview and the stories. I ate this up!!
I just reviewed I Am a Killer by Danny Tipping; Ned Parker. #NetGalley
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If you're a fan of this Netflix series then you'll enjoy this book. It was a good read but I was left wanting more. They say that they published a book for more detail but often I felt myself asking the question "why" or "what?" Overall, this was interesting and good but I just felt like they could've added more backstory and give more detail on things.

I've never seen the Netflix series, but I love true crime. This was interesting, the stories intriguing. I wish it had been organized better, but it wasn't too bsd.

This was an interesting book. The reader got a taste of what was going on in the killers mind/the situations leading up to a murder, and talking with people with knowledge of the murder.

The problem that I had with the book, was at the very beginning the authors said they contacted people close to the victim, the killer, police, etc.
However, there was one story where the guy wanted the death penalty and the authors did not contact the victims family, they did not give the victim any credence, they took everything this killer said at face value.

Further, sometimes the stories were so convoluted that I had a hard time following what the heck was going on. Brandon Sanderson and the Freddy situation...what the heck was going on.

I felt that this book could have been organized a little bit better, where the authors could have outlined the crimes and then talked to the killers.

Most of the killers basically said the same thing....I went into a rage, I attacked, I can't remember. It was really just another way to deflect.

Overall its an ok true crime book, but needed some more context and more about the victims.

This wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was really informative and interesting to read nonetheless. If you like true crime, this will definitely be something that keeps your interest.

I really enjoyed the docuseries so the slightly more in-depth look at some of the stories was a good angle to take--as well as some of the challenges in filming. I almost wish it went more into that. I'm not sure I would recommend this if you hadn't watched the Netflix series.

This is really hard to read. But I have so many thoughts about what I just read. The producers have gathered some really interesting stories here. Although each case is it’s own, each has some similarities, too, I’d take this book one case at a time, because I can’t handle much more than that. The amount of child abuse mentioned here, particularly child sexual abuse, just makes my head hurt. Why aren’t we doing more to help our young people escape from the hell so many are living in? Amazing work here, these experiences need telling.

Accessing high-security prisons around the country, the creators of Netflix's I Am a Killer set out to seek answers by speaking with killers.. Most of the which will die in prison, but each speaks about their pasts and lawlessness.
Not as addictive as I was hoping, but interesting nonetheless. If you’re a true crime junkie, this is for you.
Thank you NetGalley and SourceBooks for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Pub date: 9.5.23