Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling
Written by Michael Cannell
Narrated by Peter Berkrot
4/5
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About this audiobook
Long before the specter of terrorism haunted the public imagination, a serial bomber stalked the streets of 1950s New York. The race to catch him would give birth to a new science called criminal profiling.
Grand Central, Penn Station, Radio City Music Hall—for almost two decades, no place was safe from the man who signed his anonymous letters “FP” and left his lethal devices in phone booths, storage lockers, even tucked into the plush seats of movie theaters. His victims were left cruelly maimed. Tabloids called him “the greatest individual menace New York City ever faced.”
In desperation, Police Captain Howard Finney sought the help of a little known psychiatrist, Dr. James Brussel, whose expertise was the criminal mind. Examining crime scene evidence and the strange wording in the bomber’s letters, he compiled a portrait of the suspect down to the cut of his jacket. But how to put a name to the description? Seymour Berkson—a handsome New York socialite, protégé of William Randolph Hearst, and publisher of the tabloid The Journal-American—joined in pursuit of the Mad Bomber. The three men hatched a brilliant scheme to catch him at his own game. Together, they would capture a monster and change the face of American law enforcement.
This program includes a prologue read by the author.
Michael Cannell
MICHAEL CANNELL is the author of A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc, and three other works of non-fiction. He has worked as an editor at The New York Times and contributed to The New Yorker and many other publications. He lives in New York City. A more complete catalog of his work may be found at michaelcannell.com.
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Reviews for Incendiary
18 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fascinating account of the 17 year hunt for the Mad Bomber of New York and the inception of criminal profiling, which led police to an arrest. The bomber, known to newspapers as F. P., left pipe bombs in phone booths, lockers and inside plush seats of movie theaters from 1941 until he was arrested in 1957. The book follows the timeline of the bomber and the involvement of psychiatrist Dr. James Brussel, who was able to give police a detailed profile of the bomber, down to the type of jacket he would be wearing when arrested. (Dr. Brussel went on to assist the police and give detailed profiles of other criminals, including the Boston Strangler, profiles which narrowed suspect pools and aided investigations) It further follows the bomber after he was found to be mentally incompetent and sent to a forensic psychiatric facility. The book is smartly read by Peter Berkrot and is recommended.