Jana Monroe's memoir is a deep dive into her groundbreaking career as one of the first female profilers in the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit. What sets this book apart is that it's not just about the infamous crimes she encountered, but it's a personal journey from her side of the desk. In a world where true crime is everywhere, it's refreshing to get the inside scoop from someone who lived it.

Having followed serial killer and mass murder cases for years, I thought I knew it all, but Jana's firsthand perspective adds a new layer of fascination. She delves into the psychology behind these crimes, offering insights that you won't find in the glossy world of TV crime dramas.

The book also sheds light on her interactions with Hollywood, where she mentored Jodie Foster and Demi Moore for film roles. Hearing about her experiences in that realm was a captivating bonus. What's striking is the resilience and dedication Jana and her FBI husband, Dale, displayed in their careers, despite the challenges and horrors they faced.

This isn't a book for the faint of heart. It's a raw, unfiltered look at the gruesome realities of her work, from dealing with serial killers to cases involving animal and human abuse. Hillary Huber's narration in the audiobook version handles this heavy subject matter well.

Jana Monroe's memoir is a rollercoaster of emotions, with humor mingling with the most gruesome of stories. It's a testament to the incredible strength and determination it takes to work in such a field day after day. Reading this, I couldn't help but be in awe of her and everyone else who deals with the darkest aspects of humanity. It's a must-read for any true crime enthusiast looking for a different, more personal perspective.

HEARTS OF DARKNESS is the true story of author Jana Monroe’s time as an FBI Agent who spent half a decade as a member of the BSU (Behavioral Science Unit) before transferring to other specialties within the FBI.

I found Jana's memoir absolutely riveting. Now retired, she joined the Bureau at a time when the only other women at Quantico were secretaries. In fact, one supervisor had the nerve to tell her to go home and change her shoes because she was wearing heels. She obviously refused, and that supervisor knew from that moment on that Jana would not be pushed around.

Although this book is a memoir, it also belongs in the "True Crime" genre. As Jana details her time in various law enforcement positions, she also discusses cases, both known and unknown, that she was involved in. Obviously it is her years spent in the BSU of the FBI that readers will be most enthralled with, and Jana does not disappoint.

Profiling is a science that people have been interested in ever since television shows like "Criminal Minds" and movies such as "Silence of the Lambs" were released. In fact, Jodie Foster's role as Clarice Starling was modeled after Jana Monroe. Jana even had Jodie spend time with her at the FBI's famous training academy - Quantico.

I listened to this book as an audiobook which was narrated by Hillary Huber. Her voice, her slight accent, and her cadence are all sheer perfection. Somehow she was able to draw me in and had me thinking it was the author speaking about her own experiences. In fact, there were a few times that I went back to the description to check if Jana was narrating as well as Hillary. Because of these qualities, I have to rate Hillary's narration as 5 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I love that Jana talks about the misogyny she has dealt with throughout her law enforcement career. She also had no qualms about exposing those officers and agents who committed crimes. She will probably experience some blowback from crossing the imaginative "thin blue line" but she is tough enough that she will be able to deal with it.

In fact, I rate the entirety of HEARTS OF DARKNESS as 5 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


I hope that Jana will consider writing an additional book that delves into the cases of the serial killers that she mentions in the book that have largely gone unnoticed by the media. The victims of these nameless killers deserve to have their stories told, and Jana is the perfect person to write about them.

Hearts of Darkness
Serial Killers, The Behavioral Science Unit, and My Life as a Woman in the FBI
by Jana Monroe, Joe Navarro
Narrated by Hillary Huber

I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this audiobook through Netgalley.

This is an autobiography of Jana Monroe, the real life FBI agent that Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster) in The Silence of the Lambs was partially based on.

This book includes real life accounts of FBI’s BSU (Behavioral Science Unit) cases, as well as other cases Jana has worked on throughout her career.

Details are shared about cases (not all of these were worked on by Jana herself) Edmund Kemper, the Rogers women, the Ruby Ridge siege, the Waco siege, the Macdonald murders, Eileen Wuornos, John Lizst, Timothy McVeigh

As well as interesting accounts of time spent with Jodie Foster in preparation for her role.

This book has good tips for being safe in everyday life too.

I enjoyed this book a lot. But, it’s not for the faint of heart.

This books was great insight on what the fbi was like, especially for a woman in a male dominated field.
Learning the behavioral patterns on repeat offenders, life long criminals, and serial killers. It gives a new insight and perspective on all those true crime shows and podcasts, an inside look on directly dealing with these people and the crimes they commit. And on the fallout on how it effects the people involved, the officers, and everyone who has to deal with these cases.
It also sheds some terrifying light on the recent police brutality and shooting of innocent people by the police. They do train for these situations and the statistics of those trainings where officers would end up shooting innocent victims and justifying it as fine was horrifying. The thought process was that those innocents were a worthy sacrifice for saving the larger population from the threat that the real perpetrator would have posed. But the "shoot first ask questions later" mentality was terrifying to read how common place that was and obviously still is for armed officers.
The author did not agree with this and writes about how they tried to have more training of these types of situations implemented to help reduce innocent casualties but was denied time and again.

A fascinating read for anyone interested in true crime, behavioral sciences, or the inner workings of a career field we don’t actually hear much about outside of Hollywood stylized and embellished versions of.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It was interesting to hear about the progression that the author took through her career. Starting out as a police officer, and then moving into the FBI, she has been involved in some of the biggest cases in American history. Her work in the behavior science unit, and the different paths that she took throughout her career were extremely interesting.

Highly recommend this book!

I love nonfiction based on people with law enforcement and forensics experience, and this book was no different. I was especially excited to pick this one up because I’ve been hearing Jana’s name since I was in school for forensics almost 25 years ago. She was a legend to us, especially after we all heard she was the one who trained Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs, seeing as how, even at the time in the early 2000s, women still weren’t often seen in forensics. Despite what some reviews have said, I have to wholeheartedly disagree. The synopsis was exactly what the book was about. It’s not just a book about the BSU, nor is it a book about a woman who just chased serial killers. As the synopsis says, it’s about a woman’s life and career in law enforcement as a whole, from cop to FBI, and beyond, and the tole that took on her mentally. It doesn’t say anything about being only about profiling, being only about serial killers, but it certainly DOES say it’s about her journey through the male dominated field of law enforcement AS A WHOLE. You get the entire package with this one. However, if you are one of those anti-cop people, don’t bother. You won’t like it, so please don’t get this book just to give it a bad review because you don’t agree with the author’s career choices. On another note, it was really interesting to hear insight from someone who had been in the thick of all these events and murderers I grew up hearing about. And when she got to the chapter about 9/11, I teared up. She was right, we all remember what we were doing when we heard. I did much the same as her, albeit with a one-year-old. It’s a fantastic book, and having Hillary Huber as the narrator was the icing on the cake. She is one of my favorite narrators. So much so, that if I’m on the fence about picking a book, having her as the narrator will make the decision for me. Well done!

Huge thanks to Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

Really enjoyed the first half of this book but then it started to feel like a woman stroking her own ego more than anything. A long resume or "aren't I the coolest" essay.
Would have been 5 stars if it had more emotion and less self importance.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of Hearts of Darkness by Jana Monroe, Joe Navarro in exchange for an honest review. I found this book really interesting. It was neat to get to see how one of the first female FBI agents made her mark and the cases she was involved in. The reader gets an insider view into a lot of well known cases. I've already recommended this book to my friends.

This one was challenging to review. I have such deep admiration for Jana Monroe, both as a woman and as a survivor advocate. Her story and perspective is incredibly interesting to listen to. The challenging part comes to the narrator, which is a huge part of the absorption of an audio based story. The narrator was fast, almost monotone, and with no inflection/emotion/or change of pace. It felt like it was one extremely long run-on sentence.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC Audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

As for Hearts of Darkness, all I can say is wow. I absolutely loved this audiobook. Jana tells a very intimate story of what is was like to be one of the only female FBI agents in the Behavioral Science Unit and what it was like to track down serial killers, terrorists and setting sale for assignments on a moments notice. This book was as interesting as it sounds.

The grabber for me when looking into this book before receiving an ARC was, of course, that Clarice Starling (Jodi Foster) of Silence of the Lambs was based on Jana Monroe. Silence of the Lambs is arguably one of the most iconic (and absolutely awesome) movies of the early 90's. I of course loved Foster's character, and thus wanted to know more about the real Clarice.

I loved the PACE of the book- there were longer chapters and shorter chapter depending on the subject that was being discussed. It was almost like a memoir of stories (from how she got into the FBI, then the BSU, then one of major profiles, then out of the FBI) and all that in-between. Each story was told in fantastic detail, although not cumbersomely detailed, and incredibly personal.

If I were to describe this memoir in an elevator speech, I would say: Hearts of Darkness is like reading/listening to your favorite murder podcaster who has actually solved some of the murders and dived deep into the depravity that is the darkness of humankind firsthand. That being said, if you are a fellow murderino, true crime lover or memoir reader, I would 100% recommend Hearts of Darkness.

I also have to note that the audiobook was fantastic. The narration, Hillary Huber was great. I will in fact be looking into other audiobook she narrated because this narration was one of the best I've ever listened to. Audiobook readers, you know how often books read by their authors tend to be narrated more passionately, personally and sincerely....well Huber's narration for this memoir was so good that I kept forgetting that it wasn't read by the author.

I in fact have already recommended this book already, and recommend it to you too!

October 10, 2023:

I'm @ 50% through and as others have said, this is more memoir than true crime. She does a lot of name-dropping which is annoying. Also, some of the writing is just poor. At one point when discussing where she might be assigned, she says it comes down to "location and geography." Um, they are the same thing. Also, in mentioning agents in the hostage negotiations team, she refers to young agents who have "starter families." What does THAT mean?

Not enough yet on serial killers....

80% and I'm fighting the urge to DNF. Such bad writing! Who edited this? "Take the Texas 7. Henny Youngman would have said, Take the Texas 7, please!" REALLY? Who puts a stupid line like this in a book? Especially in an ostensibly "true crime" book?

Also, the story jumps around in time too much. Too many, "as mentioned earlier" and "I'll get to that soon" lines. No, just tell your story in a linear fashion and your reader will figure it out.

Nope, I'm done. My time is more valuable than this.

Thank you NetGalley for the free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a super interesting read and I love hearing about women trailblazing in male-dominated fields! I am not sure how she took all the crap that was dished out to her so well, especially since she actually knew how to kick ass and shoot things! I would love to read more books by this author.

#HeartsofDarkness
#NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley for this e-ARC! I think this book was misleadingly marketed; what I thought would be a book about serial killers and working with Jodi Foster was just another piece of copaganda peddling harmful stereotypes and an Us vs. Them mentality. I cannot in good faith recommend this book to anyone and regret picking it up in the first place.

I could not finish this book, and I think the title of this book is misleading. I thought this book would be more about the behavioral science unit at the FBI and her time working with serial killers. The author says in the opening chapter that she only spent five years in the BSU, meaning this book is largely about the other times in her life.

I ultimately did not finish this book because it is written by a "Girl Boss" Cop. I completely understand why the author would have had a difficult time working her way up at the time that she did, but a lot of the things she discusses are very complicated and nuanced, and she simplifies it to simply "bad guys" that she was catching. If you're at all weary about police, this book is not for you (as it is not for me). As she wrote about her time as a parole officer, it shows that she sees the people involved in the system to be bad through and through, and she does not seem to understand the complexities behind it. I was honestly pretty horrified by the way she wrote this section, and decided I couldn't handle it anymore.

Thank you to Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for approving me for Hearts of Darkness, Audiobook.

As a woman in a male dominated field, Jana Monroe had to work harder at proving not only her worth but also her capabilities, which with time she did. Jana went on to have a mind-blowing career and ended up setting a standard not just for women but for men. Blowing all stereotypical beliefs right out of the water.

Hearts of Darkness is an overview of the some of the most memorable cases Jana worked. These cases raged from the most heartbreaking to the most gruesome, to the absolute strangest I have ever heard. There are infamous criminals discussed such as Ted Bundy and Aileen Wournos to much lesser-known cases.

Jana knew at a young age that she wanted to grow up and enforce justice. She was continually told she would grow out of it. Once it became apparent that, that was not happening she then had to face the men that looked down on her and thought less of her just because of a difference of anatomy. Yet, again Jana proved them wrong and outshone every single nay sayer.

Jana Monroe is a shining example of what can happen when you know your goals, name your goals, and absolutely crush your goals. Easy 5 Stars.

Hearts of Darkness by Jana Monroe, Joe Navarro
Serial Killers, The Behavioral Science Unit, and My Life as a Woman in the FBI
Narrated by Hillary Huber

Jana Monroe relates her experiences as one of the first female profilers of the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit and real-life model for The Silence of the Lambs’ Clarice Starling. She had a long career dealing with serial killers and a variety of other criminals. Because I read so much true crime nonfiction plus have followed many of the serial killer/mass murder cases throughout the years, I am familiar with most of the cases that Jana mentions here. That makes them even more interesting, getting to hear from an insider and especially someone who who has knowledgeable insight into why people do the things they do.

But this is less the retelling of very famous crimes even though it does touch on so many horrendous acts of murder, but more a look from the inside, a look for Jana's side of things. Rarely is the real thing like we see on TV or at the movies, but I actually like knowing about the real job, not the made for TV glitzing up of a job with crimes that would haunt anyone who sees them first hand. Because we are talking serial killers (and more) here, know that the facts are gruesome and often too hard to take in. Both people abuse and animal abuse make up what we read/hear in this book. My version is the audiobook and narrator Hillary Huber handles this subject matter very well.

As Jana relates her time on the job, we get all kinds of interesting tidbits. She mentored (or tried to when it came to one of the women) Jodie Foster and Demi Moore for movie roles (one role came to fruition and the other one didn't) and those stories were interesting. I'm intrigued by not only Jana's career but that of her FBI husband, Dale. He seems to have been at so many big terrorist/hostage situation events and often Jana was working the case, too, even if it was in a completely different capacity and from a faraway location. Both were totally immersed in their jobs and I can see how being married to someone who understands the challenges, stresses, travel, and lack of stable hours or schedule has been an advantage to these two in their careers. Each time I learn from people who dealt first hand with criminals who have done the most unthinkable crimes, I'm in awe of their ability to do the job, day after day. Jana gives us an idea of how the job affected her in every way, often giving us some humor mixed in with the horrendous.

Thank you to Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for this ARC.

The most popular tag right now is True Crime- if you pick this up thinking it is True Crime, I think you will be disappointed. It is definitely a memoir.

I wanted to enjoy this, but sadly, it was just OK. The farther into the book, the less I enjoyed it. I far preferred the earlier portion, which dealt more with breaking barriers in law enforcement, due to being female in a very male dominated field. I feel like it started really going off the rails once Demi Moore was brought into the book. It stopped being about being a pioneer and the things she worked on, to more of a list of assignments and where they were located. The timeline started jumping a whole lot more then, too.

Hillary Huber narrates the audiobook version. She is a very consistent and dependable narrator for those not familiar with audiobook narrators.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio ARC. The synopsis of this book sounded very intriguing, and I was looking forward to reading this book. However, I was not a fan. This book was filled harmful and outdated prejudices that contribute to the ongoing problems in the mental health world. I was unable to finish for these reasons.

I am so thankful to Spotify Audiobooks, Jana Monroe, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this audiobook that's set to hit audio-shelves on October 10, 2023. From true crime podcasts, documentaries, and other forms of media, I've always been very interested in the mechanics of crime scene investigations, and especially from a behavioral science pov. Hearts of Darkness is Jana Monroe's first-hand take at being one of the first women in the FBI, her experience, and how the work she mastered changed her and those around her for good.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Spotify AudioBooks for the free audio book in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Hillary Huber who does an excellent job!

I am a major fan of Mind Hunter and anything involving a serial killer so I was very excited to read this! Its definitely an entertaining read from the woman who was the pioneer for all womenkind in the FBI BSU. I loved the background of how Jana got her start as just a police officer and then worked her way up. The crap she had to put up with is a great reminder of how much effort has been exhausted by women who were the firsts.

While I would have loved to have more insight into the serial killers themselves, this read did not disappoint! Its shocking to hear how many of the serial killer cases that she touched! Awesome!!!

Highly recommend!