"The Real Cracker: Investigating the Criminal Mind" by Stephen Cook is the accompanying book to the Channel 4 television series of the same name. The titular "Cracker" is a reference to a famous fictional psychologist who was always called upon to help police catch criminals. But was "Cracker" truly a fictional character? Who are the real-life offender profilers, how do they work, what exactly do they do and how successful are they?
Stephen Cook's book looks at two of Britain's top offender profilers, the dapper, conservative Richard Badcock and the flamboyant extrovert Julian Boon. It follows both as they apply their distinctive methods of working to cases of rape, assault, murder and blackmail and charts their successes - and failures. And it goes beyond just profiling the profilers, looking also at both the history and the future of offender profiling and asking whether or not it is relevant to criminal investigations. It also examines in some detail one of the most controversial usages of offender profiling in recent history in the case of Rachel Nickell, which led to a psychologist being discredited for his part in the alleged entrapment of a suspect.
Having avidly watched the TV series, I found that the book followed it fairly faithfully - in other words, there is little, if any, new material contained in the book that you won't already have seen. For me, though, having the book was a bonus since it gave me time to contemplate at my leisure, unhindered by TV scheduling demands and commercial breaks. This is a very readable book, one that explains the processes of offender profiling and its application to real crimes without becoming unnecessarily complex, although at times, I personally found that lack of depth frustrating.
The concept of having two profilers (and two such differing characters) to compare and contrast is inspired and adds greatly to the book's interest. Had it featured just one of the two, I feel this book might have become tedious - as it is, the reader is able to recognise that different approaches exist and that these approaches can compliment each other.
Experienced journalist and writer Cook has written an interesting book and, given that it's two subjects are both amongst the acknowledged best in their field, has remained even-handed throughout. He presents offender profiling not as a miracle in the making, but simply states the facts and allows the reader to make up his/her own mind about its efficacy. This straightforward, 'warts and all' overview of the subject manages to strike the right balance between education and entertainment for the layperson with an interest in the subject, although the true psychology buffs may find it insufiiciently detailed.
Publisher: Channel 4 Books
ISBN: 0752262033
Price: £6.99 p/b
Date Reviewed: December 2002
My Rating: 3.5/5
