I got this book from www.readitswapit.co.uk which is a good book swapping website if you're in the UK. I decided to take a punt and choose a book from this person's list of available books even though none of them particularly interested me. I've always had a slight fascination I suppose with crime and the darker side of human nature, having grown up watching crime dramas on TV with my Mum.This wasn't quite as analytical as I'd hoped. It was merely summaries of each of the full-lifers currently being held behind bars in the UK. Most of it is stuff you could have read in the papers and nothing really in depth.
They were mostly the same - usually from bad families to begin with serial rapists, turn murderers, usually killing by strangulation. Some of them were really crazy and bizarre. Nothing really surprising all in all. I can't say I learnt anything new. I knew there were sick people in this world out there.
Appleyard did not very often refer to the criminals as monsters or evil although occasionally these emotive words did crop up - few and far between. Mostly the language was quite plain and Applegate concentrated on merely reporting on the background of the criminal, what happened and the police investigation - with a few sound-bites from the family and police.
However, it is a good introduction to true crime and I'd like to read some more books which perhaps go more into depth into the crime and the police investigation.