Based on a truly horrifying man very well written and although it is a republish I had to read it before watching it on Netflix

The first I heard of Dennis Nilsen is when I watched a TV series “Des” on Netflix so when I saw the opportunity to read Brian Master’s book about him, I couldn’t resist.

Dennis Nilsen a serial killer in the late 70s/early 80s murdered 15 men having only been caught due to blocked pipes at the home where he lived only for human remains being discovered as the reason for the blockage. 

This was an interesting read with Masters not only having first account knowledge from interviews with Nilsen himself but also from thorough research. It gave an in-depth account of Nilsen’s background, childhood depicting his relationship with his grandad and the trauma that ensued seeing his grandad’s body laid out. There are many theories as to why he did what he did but most notably as the book is entitled “Killing for Company”, he was lonely. A morbidly fascinating read!

I am a big fan of true crime but generally like to read the books before watching any television or film adaptations. I saw the show Des advertised and was really excited to read the book.

The book is a detailed and well-thought-out biography of the serial killer Dennis Nilsen and because of this is difficult and harrowing to read at times. Although this is a true crime book, it does a great job at reflecting the atmosphere of the 1970's and 80's and gives a fascinating insight into the circumstances surrounding the murders.

Thank you for arrow for the arc of this book! 

This is a fascinating and interesting read into the account of serial killer Dennis Nilsen whom murdered at least 15 people before his arrest in 1983. He only targeted boys and men and homeless ones to by luring them back to his for means of shelter food etc then he would kill them, sit with them then dismember their bodies and performed sexual acts on their corpses.  His crimes ended up being recovered after he tried to flush away remains in which blocked his drains so a plumber came to sort it but then saw that so he informed the authorites of this. They then found remains in his house, in the drains, etc. he then coberated with police and said exactly what he did etc 

i also watched Des on ITV! 

5 stars!!

Killing for Company is a fascinating read that is expertly and brilliantly told. It is quite detailed, making it riveting and disturbing. A fascinating look into the mind and behaviour of a mild-mannered, aloof, articulate and intelligent serial killer who just wanted company and killed for it, again and again.

Dennis “Des” Nilsen murdered 15 men between 1978 and 1983, and was eventually arrested when the drains in his London flat were found to be clogged with human remains - he had been butchering his victims in the bathtub and flushing pieces down his toilet! Because of the recent hit TV show, Des, starring David Tennant as Nilsen, Brian Masters’ 1985 true crime book, Killing For Company, where he interviewed the serial killer in person, has been reissued - and it’s a pretty decent read for the most part.

It’s morbidly fascinating to read about Nilsen’s crimes: how he’d mostly pick up gay men in bars (he was a repressed gay man himself), take them home, get drunk with them and, when they were passed out, strangle them with a necktie and sometimes drown them in his tub. He’d wash the bodies and hang onto them for weeks, sometimes months, storing the corpses under the floorboards!

Nilsen’s behaviour when the police stepped in was interesting. When he was caught, he almost seemed relieved to unburden himself and was glad that he had finally been stopped - he said he would’ve kept going and who knows how many would’ve died as a result! He confessed to everything, being 100% co-operative with the police and gave them all the evidence they wanted. But he was too effective at body disposal so, while he confessed to killing 15 men, in the end they only had enough evidence to prove 6 murders and 2 attempted murders.

There were also numerous men who came back to his flat, drank with him, stayed the night, and left the next day without being murdered - so why did he kill the ones that he did? It’s unclear. In fact, quite a lot of Nilsen’s pathology remains murky. Motive is extensively explored by Masters in what becomes a tediously overlong psychological review in the final third of the book, that ends, essentially, with a shrug - we dunno why Nilsen was the way he was. He seems to have been a real Jekyll/Hyde character with Mr Hyde only emerging after heavy drinking and a trigger of some kind.

It’s a bit of an unsatisfying conclusion given how much time is spent contemplating possible reasons: his love of his granddad and the trauma of seeing him dead when he was a child which possibly fatally fused love and death in his head. That said, numerous people see their grandparents die and don’t become serial killers! Ditto the explanation that he was lonely and depressed - they’re very tenuous, and therefore unconvincing, connections to make for such extreme behaviour.

The court case was also a bit dull as it rehashed what we already knew of Nilsen’s crimes and boils down to an uninteresting, dry discussion on the lexiconical differences between legalese and psychological terminology.

Still, this is a sometimes compelling portrait of an articulate, intelligent man who bizarrely ended up a serial killer for no real reason, and the search to understand why kept me reading. Nilsen’s drawings at the end of the book, showing the bodies and what he did with them, are also chilling in their child-like simplicity of horrific deeds.

Dennis Nilsen died in prison in 2018 so he will remain a mystery, in terms of how he became who he did. Though the court case and psychological study that make up most of the second half of the book were a bit dull to get through and didn’t really add all that much in the end, it’s compelling to read about the murders and for anyone looking for an overview of Nilsen’s case, Brian Masters has done a thorough job here.

I found this to be an uncomfortable yet worthwhile read. Masters succeeds in providing a full and detailed account of Dennis Nilsen's life, including the experiences of his parents and grandparents, to attempt to figure out how he became a killer.

Masters covers the victims and what they suffered, the pain of their families, and the impact on the police officers involved in the case without being insensitive or sensationalist. He also presents Nilsen as more than a bogeyman, a complex individual, and in some ways, a pitiable one.

An excellent detailed account of one of Britain's most awful serial killers. 

Having a huge interest in criminology, real life British crime and what motivates the bad to do what they do this one was a must read for me and a must read for anyone with a similar interest. 

There are no details spared in this book and it's not for the faint hearted

I've been intrigued by serial killers and what makes them tick for years (also studying Psychology/Criminology at Uni!) but I've not really read any true crime books such as this (no idea why!). I've come across Dennis Nilsen a few times over the years but it was only when I watched the recent TV drama based on his crimes, that I eventually got around to reading this (I recommend it if you haven't!). 

Anyway, I digress. Almost immediately Nilsen (or Des as he preferred to be known) was apprehended for the discovery of his murders, I imagine to grab the readers attention straight away. The author then takes us on a journey through Des's life analysing along the way, what might have led him to commit the murders that he did. 

With whole chapters on certain parts of his life, the trial, and an analysis from a psychologist at the end - it was a really interesting, chilling journey through his life. Particularly his letters and journals written whilst he was in prison, hearing his own words. Through Masters time interviewing Nilsen for the book, I believe he is the only person who came to know Des just as good as he knew himself. 

Underneath it all, to the outside world and the reader, Dennis Nilsen was just an ordinary guy - until he wasn't. 

Definitely one to read if you have an interest in true crime and/or serial killers.

This reprint of the Dennis Nilsen biography by Brian Masters is an interesting and fascinating look at the man and serial killer though there are times that answers seemed to be warranted on the reasoning.  Using the pompous wording of Nilsen himself, one has to wonder if his reality is the actual reality of the truth as we seem to be entering his own perceptions.  

Masters has densely written a very detailed biography to maybe help diagnose or give reasons to why Nilsen did what he did but personally, it feels a little bit like putting a round peg in a square hole.    Nilsen’s early childhood and the death of his grandfather is suggested to starting point to his psychological break which would take 25 plus years to fully emerge.  Whether this theory is true or not, Nilsen seems to revel in using this as his crutch.  

Masters does go in great detail and I personally, do not think that such care and detail has been used in a book about a serial killer.  We also get different psychological aspects of Nilsen’s mind thrown in to the mix.  As this book came out back in the mid-80’s, it is a shame that there is not an update.  It would be interesting to know if Masters views have changed since his initial publication and as the world of psychology has moved in, especially in the view of serial killers, etc.  

It would also have been interesting to see what has transpired since the court rulings, and the dust has settled and where everything is from the point of view of 2020.  It seems new interest is there for Dennis Nilsen due to the ITV three part docudrama and since Nilsen has passed two years ago, it would be interested to see what he believes thirty years after the crimes and if he has another point of view.

Overall, this is very well documented book with lots of interesting theories and facts.  I should warn that once this is done, you may very much need a bath and a light breather but excellent nonetheless.

I really enjoyed this.  The author as well as having direct communication with Nielsen has also done his research both in terms of the background of the killer but also the many theories relating to his motives.  I liked that the author did not dwell on the gory details of the murder (and there were a lot) and showed respect to the victims talking about their background and being sensitive to their issues and experiences.  I found the theories about the types of necrophilia interesting and although I have read a lot about true crime and abnormal psychology this is information I had not encountered previously.  The author although does give his personal perspective does not play ‘sofa psychologist’ and only references established theorists and psychologists rather than go through rambling theories and interpretations of their own.  This book covers the darkness of Nilsen without treating him as a celebrity as is so often the case.  Thoroughly recommended for true crime lovers.

Gripping, gruesome account.

Dennis Nilsen was arrested in 1983, in North London. Brian Masters wrote this book with Nilsen's full cooperation. It's written from Nilsen's own prison journals, and letters and interviews with the author. This is something of a classic; first published quite a few years ago, and now reissued with a new cover to tie-in with the recent tv dramatisation. There is expert description and scene-setting. No wonder this book lead to a movie style production of the story of this serial killer.

The first sign of any grim discovery was when a tenant found his toilet blocked. Dynorod were called-and the blockage turned out to be human remains. Straightaway, this is full-on, in your face, spares no scares. I've read lots of true crime, but nothing before had prepared me for this cringefest! Although I'd heard of this killer's name, I didn't know any details. And I resisted watching the tv programmes. I tend to regard books better than films/tv versions etc. After reading this, I am eager to watch the tv version too. This is certainly a gripping, gory, gruesome account.
Also contains background too; info about his roots, plus Nilsen's own comments and thoughts.

I wondered if the new edition has the info that Nilsen is now dead, and how? The Netgalley pre-publication copy I had does not. I feel it should have that small update, rather than just sticking a new cover on the original edition and leaving it totally unchanged. Or maybe the new final edition does?

I skimmed some of the analytical stuff and theories. I found this portion more heavy-going and a bit tedious. The rest of it was an excellent account.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

An incredibly thorough account of some truly terrible crimes. If you like detail you’ll love this!

A Thorough Account....
A thorough account of the Dennis Nilson case and the gruesome murders perpetrated. Both engaging and highly disturbing, well researched and detailed. Copies of Nilsons’ sketches and writings are included in the detail. Chilling, unsettling and distressing reading but written in a factual, no nonsense format.

After watching the recent TV documentary about this serial killer, I was so excited to read this book.
And when I first started reading this book it appeared I wasn't going to be disappointed as it went in to a lot more detail than the documentary did. 
Unfortunately it also went into a lot or detail that I had absolutely no interest in at all, and I frequently realised that I had actually read 3/4 pages and I hadn't actually took in a single word.
When this book was good, it was really really good but the rest sadly for me was incredibly boring. 
I have read a lot of true crime books and have thoroughly enjoyed them but this just didn't come across as an exciting read to me at all.
I am clearly in the minority as this has had some really good reviews, but I'm afraid it wasn't for me.

There's no doubt in my mind that the author put his life and soul into researching and writing this book as it's meticulously researched, thorough and extremely well written. But...it was also boring as all hell. 

I'm not exactly sure what I expected going into this one, but it wasn't what I got. I'm a reader who has read a lot of true crime novels and non-fiction books about well-known criminals and, more specifically, serial killers. In general, I've found most of those books to be absolutely fascinating and I've loved a number of them. This one was just too longwinded and dull for me. In part I think that this is due to the fact that as far as serial killers go, Nilsen was a pretty boring one. All the crimes were the same, and I didn't feel the intense fascination with Nilsen that I've felt with other serial killers. I know that this probably sounds very bizarre, but I'm just telling it like it is. Nilsen did some disgusting and upsetting things in regard to the storage and disposal of the bodies, but other than that, he was a fairly dull and uncharismatic individual. 

There was so much detail given in this book and a lot of the detail just wasn't of interest to me. This almost read like a text book, and it wasn't the interesting summary of Dennis Nilsen and his killings and victims that I expected it to be. Every single thing about the man and his character was analyzed to death, including his childhood, family tree, adolescence, time spent in the Navy, and then ending in a lengthy analysis of what type of man Nilsen was, and how one could classify him. 

Overall, this one just wasn't for me. I can genuinely appreciate the effort put into this book by the author and the good writing skills, but the book lacked appeal and I didn't find it gripping or interesting. I actually stopped reading at 79% because I had just had enough, and I wanted to be done with it.

This is a detailed and comprehensive look at one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers. I found that Master’s really had a fine handle on his subject matter and researched tirelessly both academically and by interviewing Nilsen himself to provide such a detailed account of Nilsen’s criminal timeline and motivations. Considering this book was written originally in the 1980s, Masters is sharp with his analysis of psychology, criminology and academic case law to bolster his findings on Nilsen. Many of which are still relevant and sound in those fields of academic study today. This book is ultimately, morbidly fascinating as an academic reference for those who wish to study or are interested in the study of the criminal mind. 

Trigger warnings for those that have a sensitive nature. Nilsen’s commentary on his murders and the ways in which he disposed of his victims bodies,as well as Nilsen’s own sketches of some of the dead bodies at the back of the book make for harrowing and disturbing reading. If you are easily upset or repulsed I would not recommend you read this book.

However I found this book incredibly well written and done in a respectful and sensitive way. Master’s had a clear intention with this book which he executed brilliantly(pardon the pun!). Master’s structured the chapters clearly and elaborated very articulately on the points he wanted to address. While Master’s points of conclusion aren’t concretely accurate or without some faults, this book started the conversation on a wider area of study still being mined today. A very impressive book to add to the criminology and criminal profiling cannon.

Thank you to the author, Random House UK and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

An in depth biography of Dennis Nilsen, a man who murdered up to fifteen young men between 1978 and 1983. Masters developed a relationship with Nilsen when he was in prison and the book was written with his  full co-operation. 

A fascinating, although disturbing, look into the mind of one of Britain's most prolific serial killers. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in true-crime. However, this book was a thoroughly comprehensive look at this man, his history and his psychological profile, which is great for the most part, but there were some long passages on Nilsen's ancestry near the start of the book and some repetitive points closer to end that felt unnecessary to me. 

I alternated between reading the e-book and listening to the audio-book and I can recommend both formats. If you choose the e-book you will be able to see some of Nilsen's drawings, his “sad sketches”. John Watkins narrates the audio-book and he does a really great job, especially in differentiating between Master's narration and Nilsen's quotes. 

Thank you, #NetGalley W.F. Howes and Random House UK  for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who has read quite a lot of true crime, including Brian Masters later book about Rose West: She Must Have Known, the overriding feeling I got with this one was one of repugnance. Of course that has far more to do with the crime itself than a slur on the author.

The fact that the author had a relationship with the subject of course makes it a unique look at the man behind the awful crimes. However even with a foray into Denis Nielson's childhood and background the lack of reason, even an off the wall one, for him committing all of his despicable deeds meant that I found this faiIrly hard to stomach. 

Unusually I found the TV series easier to handle.

I read this in one evening after watching the tv programme. What an evil man and no remorse. Give me Goosebumps. It is so brilliantly written