Every year I get books for most of my friends. One of them likes serial murderer books, like Red Dragon and such. I usually like to get a book that I’ve read and have enjoyed, but I no longer read this genre - so I’m turning to the good folks here for recommendations.
All recommendations are welcome, but he reads the genre a lot, so preferably newer ones.
Thanks in advance. 
I like the Dexter series.
Yeah, I gave him those until Dexter’s dark rider became an ancient aztec god or some such nonsenseI hear it got better after that bad one, but I couldn’t go back to them.
May not be quite what you are looking for, but I really enjoyed the Keller series by Laurence Block (series starts with “Hit Man”). Very darkly comic series about a likeable, lonely guy who just happens to work as a killer for hire.
I’ve just startedI Am Not A Serial Killer,by Dan Wells. It’s the beginning of a series for 15 year old sociopath John Wayne Cleaver.
I listen to the podcast Writing Excuses, so I already know more about the plot than I should.
By Reason of Insanity by Shane Stevens. One of the best of the genre, IMO. For non-fiction, Zodiac is terrifying.
Joe
Val McDermid writes a good series that includes a couple of books about serial killers. They were the basis of the BBC show Wire in the Blood, which is the name of one of the books in the series.
I think I may be the only person who didn’t go into foaming rages over that. I thought it was a kind of interesting take on the subject. Certainly didn’t put me off future entries in the series.
Have you tried the True Crime shelf? Whoever Hunts Monsters and anything by Ann Rule.
How about “The Devil in the White City.?” A fictionalized account of the true story on HH Holmes, America’s first serial killer.
Harold Schechter’s true serial killer books- Deviant (Ed Gein), Deranged (Albert Fish), Depraved (H. H. Holmes), and his A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers are the ones I’ve read. Also, his novel Nevermore, which I am sure the John Cusack Poe movie The Raven was ripped off from- Poe & Davy Crockett band together to catch a killer who murders imitate Poe’s stories.
One of the latest in this series, The Retribution, is the Free Friday selection at Nook today.
Thank you!
I’m not sure how broad your definition of serial killer is, but if it includes assassins, then I recommend the John Rain series by Eisler. Very entertaining.
In the classics line, there’s The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham…
Not fictionalized, though.
I am definitely looking for fiction. Also think more psychological thriller rather than assassin.
I will rule out I am not a serial killer pretty much for the same reason as I stopped liking Dexter. In the end, there were supernatural overtones that spoiled it for me and I know my friend will not enjoy
In the past I bought my friend and he enjoyed Silence Of The Lambs, *The Red Dragon, *all of the Cody Mcfadyen books and the first two Dexters.
As I recall, the John Sanford “Prey” books are along the lines of serial killer novels.
*Cat of Many Tails *by Ellery Queen. One of the first mystery novels about a serial killer and still one of the best. The conversation Ellery has with the psychiatrist at the end is extraordinary.
Lincoln and Child’s trilogy: Brimstone, Dance With the Dead, and The Book of the Dead. Special Agent Aloysius F.X. Pendergast hasn’t disappointed me so far.
*The Talented Mr. Ripley *by Patricia Highsmith is one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read. It isn’t exactly about a serial killer, but I believe she wrote several sequels that feature Mr. Ripley.
*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo *by Stieg Larsson is pretty good.
The Doll’s House, a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman with various artists including Michael Zulli and Mike Dringenberg, has a chapter called “The Collectors.” It’s pretty chilling and the rest of the novel, especially “Men of Good Fortune,” is excellent, too.
*Devices and Desires *by P.D. James involves a serial killer. I think it’s one of her best.
For true crime, I recommend *Helter Skelter *by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry and *The Family: The Story of Charles Manson’s Dune Buggy Attack Battalion *by Ed Sanders. They’re both about the Manson Family and Sanders’ book scared the hell out of me.
Happy Like Murderers by Gordon Burns is an extraordinary book detailing the crimes of Fred and Rose West. The writing is amazing, but it isn’t fiction if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s still one of the most brilliantly written books I’ve read.
MiM