Review written for ClubReading.com by Gary
Not for the weak at heart, “By Reason of Insanity” is a very violent book. After having heard people at work rant and rave about how great the movie “Hannibal” is, I decided to watch it for myself. During the course of the movie, (and in fact while I was reading the book), I came to realize that I had encountered some of the same story lines somewhere before. So I dug around in my old books and found this one by Stevens.
More than most authors, Stevens gives us perspective as to the reason why Thomas Bishop, the main character and serial killer of the story, has become the way he is. As Bishop works his way east across the country, you begin to realize just how difficult it is to find much less stop a killer who does so at random.
Praised by authors like Stephen King, this book is the final word on serial killers. The original copyright date is in the 1970’s, back before most of knew what serial killers were, and long before novels about them were popular. If you like an intense, well thought out book, I heartily recommend this one.