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Hearts of darkness : serial killers, the behavioral science unit and my life as a women in the FBI
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2023
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Publishers Weekly Review
In this fascinating debut, Monroe shares how she rose in the FBI's ranks and became the inspiration for the character of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. Ever since she was a child in 1960s Long Beach, Calif., Monroe longed to work in law enforcement, but as a petite blonde, the road wasn't easy: she lacked role models ("I would have done better to search for Amelia Earhart's remains") and chafed against the old boys' club atmosphere of police departments. When she scored an interview with the FBI in the 1980s after growing dissatisfied with her policing assignments in Southern California, she was called into a "special joint interview" with her then husband to "make sure he supported" her ambitions. He didn't, and attempted to dissuade Monroe from joining, but she divorced him and took the job. The stories Monroe shares of her 22 years in the FBI are thrilling, frightening, and occasionally amusing (like the time she and a colleague went charging into a hotel room to arrest a suspect at the same time--and got stuck in the doorway). In sharp, no-nonsense prose, Monroe describes delving into the psyches of such killers as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and finding love with a fellow agent, with whom she survived the 1992 FBI siege at Ruby Ridge. Readers interested in criminology will devour this. Agent: Steve Ross, Steve Ross Agency. (Oct.)
Summary
For fans of Mindhunter , Criminal Minds , and My Favorite Murder , a riveting memoir of a trailblazing woman's life hunting down serial killers as one of the first female profilers of the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit and the real-life model for Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs .



"Jana Monroe is the single most influential woman to ever serve in the FBI." --Joe Navarro, bestselling author of What Every BODY Is Saying



Jana Monroe was no ordinary cop. One of the first analysts--and, at the time, the only female agent--in the world-renowned FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit at Quantico, she consulted on more than 850 homicide cases, including infamous serial killers Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Edmund Kemper, and Aileen Wuornos.



Monroe was also the model for Clarice Starling in the movie version of The Silence of the Lambs ; she even helped train Jodie Foster for her Oscar-winning role. Monroe's later years found her dealing with the aftermath of Columbine, heading up the FBI's post-9/11 investigation in Las Vegas, and much more.



In Hearts of Darkness , Monroe steps out from the shadows to tell the story of her astonishing life in shaping law enforcement and intelligence analysis. Monroe explores the cases that have stayed with her, breaking down victimology, offering new insight into the minds of serial killers, and discussing the psychological toll of the job and the obstacles she faced as a woman in the male-dominated Bureau.



This is a gripping, sometimes gruesome, and always remarkable memoir of an unparalleled life and career spent chasing the monsters among us.
Table of Contents
Forewordix
Prologue: Just Another Day at the Officexiii
1Days and Nights with Dirty Harry1
2Girls are Girls, Cops are Cops6
3Getting Serious17
4Breaking Through27
5What's She Doing Here?41
6Welcome to the Sunshine State55
7Thinking Big62
8The Third Degree74
9God is in the Details81
10Beware What You Wish For97
11The Silence of the Lambs102
12Starstruck111
13For Better or for Worse122
14Hearts of Darkness136
15Victimology 101159
16When the Abnormal Becomes Normal …169
17… and Normal is Hell178
18Low Crimes in High Places187
19Help is on the Way199
20The Texas Seven205
219/11213
22Trailer Trash221
23Crime and Punishment228
24Phishing Trip237
25Fork in the Road251
26Never Enough Time259
Epilogue275
Acknowledgments279
Notes281
Index287
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