Levin & Fox have produced several serious works on the topic of homicide and all reflect the fact that the authors are academically qualified professionals who definitely know their business. THE WILL TO KILL covers all bases from the chapter on "The Law of Homicide" which provides the reader with specific legal definitions of the various catagories of murder, to the victimology of murder and statistical information on a local and world occurance of the phenomonon to put the entire topic into regional and global perspective. This infomation is of great value to the professional in the field of criminology as well as to the student in the criminal justice and related fields.
Whereas traditional and historical forms of homicide are explored such as serial, mass and cult motivated murders, the new and recent trends of murder are also covered such as school shootings, workplace violence and hate motivated murder. The disturbing trend of youthful killing is discussed with predictions for furture involvement of America's violent young people. Finally, the last chapter of this work, "Getting Away with Murder" looks at the insanity defense and the dilemma of handling youthful killers in the courts. Capital punishment is also a topic of the last chapter.
Throughout the book, interesting and informative case studies are cited which provide the reader with direction for further research on the topic. The overall demographic coverage of this book can save professional and student a great deal of time searching out similar information from numerous sources.
Speaking as a professional criminologist, I look forward to Levin and Fox's next book, DEAD LINES: ESSAYS IN MURDER AND MAYHEM.
