An illuminating insight into the minds of people who are popularly perceived as irredeemable real life villains: stalkers, arsonists, murdurers, pedophiles, and whathaveyou. The author couples objective facts to empathy by infusing the narrative with word-to-word accounts in the form of interviews with her patients as well as their backgrounds. It does a marvellous job of challenging commonly held beliefs regarding mentally ill offenders, mental health professionals, and secure hospitals. I highly recommend to anyone interested in criminal psychology.