New Book: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

Yesterday, I finished reading The Anatomy of Evil by Michael H. Stone, M.D.  It was a fascinating look at acts we consider "evil" and what causes those acts.  Stone is a forensic psychiatrist, and the purpose of the book is to try to categorize evil into 22 gradations of evil, so that a better understanding of the causes of what makes people do horrible things.  The book focuses on acts of evil in peacetime, rather than acts of evil in wartime, as there may be other reasons people do otherwise terrible things in war than being "evil."  I really enjoyed Stone's discussions about both the "nature" and the "nurture" factors that contribute to someone becoming a murderer, someone who tortures others, or a serial killer.  Suffice it to say, children who are physically, emotionally, or sexually abused have a much higher likelihood of becoming violent as they get older, but there are also genetic factors and, of course, many other environmental factors.  Some of the more technical discussions of neuroscience were a little over my head, but Stone did a good job of explaining things in layman's terms.  I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is interested in what makes serial killers (or other types of murderers and miscreants) tick or, more importantly, how to spot warning signs.  Narcissists, animal torturers, bed wetters, and arsonists, beware!

Thanks to that book and some of my recent TV binge-watching (I definitely recommend The Killing, available on Amazon Prime, and The Innocent Man on Netflix), I am nearing my capacity for true crime and/or gruesome murder.  Thus, today, I started a relatively short novel, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King.  It's about a preteen girl who gets lost in the woods while on a family hiking trip in 1998, and she summons her favorite baseball player, then-Red Sox closer Tom "Flash" Gordon (who was in the midst of an All-Star season that year), to help her get through the night.

Books Read in 2019:
-The Anatomy of Evil by Michael H. Stone, M.D.