
Killing For Company
The No. 1 bestseller behind the ITV drama 'Des'
Brian Masters(Author)
Arrow Books Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 24. August 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-1-78475-942-1 (ISBN)
Description
Now the hit ITV true crime drama DES, starring David Tennant, and the follow-up documentary The Real 'Des'
***WINNER OF THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD FOR CRIME NON-FICTION***
__________________
Dennis Nilsen, who died in May 2018, admitted to killing at least 15 people before his arrest in 1983. This ground-breaking criminal study of his killings was written with Nilsen's full cooperation, resulting in a fascinating - and horrifying - portrait of the man who worshipped death.
In February 1983, residents of Muswell Hill had been plagued by blocked drains. When a plumber was called to investigate, he discovered a large blockage of biological material. To his horror, it appeared to be formed of human flesh and bones.
The next day, local resident Dennis Nilsen was arrested.
'Are we talking about one body or two?' a detective asked. Nilsen replied 'Fifteen or sixteen, since 1978. I'll tell you everything.'
Within days he had confessed to fifteen gruesome murders over a period of four years. His victims, mostly young gay men at a time when society cared little for them, had never been missed. Brian Masters, with Nilsen's full cooperation, has produced a unique study of a murderer's mind, essential reading for true crime aficionados.
__________________
'You really have to read this extraordinary book to get a full flavour of the weirdness of Nilsen and his crimes' SUNDAY TIMES
'Brian Masters has given us a full, well-ordered, dispassionate account of Nilsen's life and crimes' THE TIMES
'Without any doubt one of the most remarkable, complete and most humanely informative accounts of a murderer's mind ever achieved... the book is far superior to any previous English book of its kind and deserves to serve as a model for all future attempts in this genre' NEW SOCIETY
'The book is a perceptive and at times coldly brutal assessment of Nilsen's psychology' MIRROR
'A compelling and remarkable book ... through Masters' fine writing the reader suspends his nausea for the crimes, and concentrates with Nilsen on his motives and himself' THE LISTENER
'Killing For Company must stand as one of the most remarkable and accurate accounts ever written of the singular relationship between a mass murderer and a society. [Brian Masters] has managed, God knows how, to treat his material with such objectivity and restraint that what we have is not a penny dreadful from the Hammer House of Horror, but a bloody masterpiece.' BERYL BAINBRIDGE
'A truly awesome tale, brilliantly told' LITERARY REVIEW
'Probably the best thing of its kind since In Cold Blood ... a classic study in criminal mentality' YORKSHIRE POST
'A meticulous study of the dark intricacies of the human mind' THE BOOKBAG
'A comprehensive and compelling account' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Brian Masters can rest assured that the job he undertook with such obvious doubts was one worth doing' SPECTATOR
'Masters has written an extraordinary book, and his achievement has been the ability to recount horrific details without descending to the lurid sensationalism of the instant books and Fleet Street reports' POLICE
***WINNER OF THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD FOR CRIME NON-FICTION***
__________________
Dennis Nilsen, who died in May 2018, admitted to killing at least 15 people before his arrest in 1983. This ground-breaking criminal study of his killings was written with Nilsen's full cooperation, resulting in a fascinating - and horrifying - portrait of the man who worshipped death.
In February 1983, residents of Muswell Hill had been plagued by blocked drains. When a plumber was called to investigate, he discovered a large blockage of biological material. To his horror, it appeared to be formed of human flesh and bones.
The next day, local resident Dennis Nilsen was arrested.
'Are we talking about one body or two?' a detective asked. Nilsen replied 'Fifteen or sixteen, since 1978. I'll tell you everything.'
Within days he had confessed to fifteen gruesome murders over a period of four years. His victims, mostly young gay men at a time when society cared little for them, had never been missed. Brian Masters, with Nilsen's full cooperation, has produced a unique study of a murderer's mind, essential reading for true crime aficionados.
__________________
'You really have to read this extraordinary book to get a full flavour of the weirdness of Nilsen and his crimes' SUNDAY TIMES
'Brian Masters has given us a full, well-ordered, dispassionate account of Nilsen's life and crimes' THE TIMES
'Without any doubt one of the most remarkable, complete and most humanely informative accounts of a murderer's mind ever achieved... the book is far superior to any previous English book of its kind and deserves to serve as a model for all future attempts in this genre' NEW SOCIETY
'The book is a perceptive and at times coldly brutal assessment of Nilsen's psychology' MIRROR
'A compelling and remarkable book ... through Masters' fine writing the reader suspends his nausea for the crimes, and concentrates with Nilsen on his motives and himself' THE LISTENER
'Killing For Company must stand as one of the most remarkable and accurate accounts ever written of the singular relationship between a mass murderer and a society. [Brian Masters] has managed, God knows how, to treat his material with such objectivity and restraint that what we have is not a penny dreadful from the Hammer House of Horror, but a bloody masterpiece.' BERYL BAINBRIDGE
'A truly awesome tale, brilliantly told' LITERARY REVIEW
'Probably the best thing of its kind since In Cold Blood ... a classic study in criminal mentality' YORKSHIRE POST
'A meticulous study of the dark intricacies of the human mind' THE BOOKBAG
'A comprehensive and compelling account' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Brian Masters can rest assured that the job he undertook with such obvious doubts was one worth doing' SPECTATOR
'Masters has written an extraordinary book, and his achievement has been the ability to recount horrific details without descending to the lurid sensationalism of the instant books and Fleet Street reports' POLICE
Reviews / Votes
Brian Masters has given us a full, well-ordered, dispassionate account of Nilsen's life and crimes * The Times * A comprehensive and compelling account * Financial Times * Brian Masters can rest assured that the job he undertook with such obvious doubts was one worth doing * Spectator * Probably the best thing of its kind since In Cold Blood...a classic study in criminal mentality * Yorkshire Post * Quite brilliant in its assimilation of the facts... Killing for Company is a book that needed to be written, and has been executed with extreme skill and good sense * Time Out *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
255 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78475-942-1 (9781784759421)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Brian Masters has written over twenty books on subjects as diverse as French literature, the dukedoms in Great Britain, E.F. Benson and Marie Corelli. His groundbreaking study of mass murderer Dennis Nilsen, Killing for Company, won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction in 1985. He is also highly regarded for his journalism.