Routledge Wicked Deeds: Murder in America

To most Americans, homicide appears to be a random act, one committed by a deranged and irrational killer in a haphazard, unpredictable manner. Murder is seen as a chaotic, disorganized act beyond the realm of reason. In Wicked Deeds, James O'Kane shows that homicide is actually rather predictable, and patterned with respect to its assailants and victims, the circumstances in which it takes place, the time and location where it occurs, and the motives which precipitate the murderous act. Engagingly written and solidly grounded in evidence, this is a definitive study of murder in the United States. O'Kane explores the phenomena of homicide, illustrating the journalists' "who, what, why, when, and where" of murder. He differentiates criminal homicide, such as murder in the first and second degree, from other types of killings, including legal and quasi-legal killings. These include suicide, abortion, accidental death, terrorism, and other non-criminal types of homicide, such as justifiable and excusable homicide. The author's focus is criminal homicide, and he uses age, sex, race, and socioeconomic status, as well as demographic data to explain ever-recurring patterns of murder in the United States. Wicked Deeds analyzes numerous categories of murder: intimate partner homicide, child and family murders, multiple victim killings, including mass murder and serial homicide. Each type of murder is illustrated by accounts of actual murders reported in the media and on internet sites. Approximately 200 cases illustrate the typical homicides as well as the bizarre ones. In portraying the patterns and regularities of murder in the United States, Wicked Deeds is an essential treatment of a subject too often given over to sensationalism. It will be of keen interest to professionals and students of criminal justice, as well as those interested in American culture and the general reader who wants to grasp the patterns underlying the headlines. Review -O'Kane has an amazing talent for both storytelling and teaching. It is the marriage of these talents that makes Wicked Deeds so engaging and accessible. He masterfully uses the reader's fascination with murder to entice them into understanding the reality, normality, and complexity of the 'ultimate crime'.- --Maureen Outlaw, Providence College -For those who are new to the study of murder in America and for experienced criminologists alike, James O'Kane's new book, Wicked Deeds, provides important insight and information into the darker side of human behavior. This book serves well as a compendium of the latest data and explanations for the phenomenon of murder in our country. Not only does the author provide a comprehensive overview of the demography, geography, methodology, and chronology of murder in the U.S., but he includes chapters with more detailed discussions of the all-too-common cases of intimate partner and family murder as well as the increasing but less common instances of multiple murder that we see in the news. In this well-written, well-organized, and highly readable book, O'Kane is able -to summarize what we know about murder in the United States and present a plausible explanation of it.- As such, this book is, in his own words -a primer which introduces the reader to the fascinating realm of homicide- and helps -to make intelligible that which seems chaotic....- (O'Kane, p.7).- --Deborah Abowitz, Bucknell University Wicked Deeds is a fascinating analysis of something that Americans have long been fascinated with -- murder. Using case studies and homicide statistics O'Kane, to mix metaphors, breathes life into the understanding of this heinous crime. Wicked Deeds is so well-written and informative, it would make a superb supplement to any criminology or deviancy textbook.- --Joe Scimecca, Professor of Sociology, George Mason University -This volume is a crossover book, meaning it is not only a good read for the average person but it can be used as