The intertwining stories of three teenagers who find themselves haunted beyond imagining in the depths of a Kentucky mental institution.

Stevens takes readers on a harrowing descent into the mind of a mass murderer in this eerily realistic serial-killer novel. At the center of this gripping epic novel of mass murder, pursuit, and psychological terror is Thomas Bishop, a psychotic young killer who believes he is the son of Caryl Chessman, who was executed for rape in California amid intense controversy. Subjected to unmerciful physical and mental torture from an early age, Bishop kills his mother at the age of ten and is placed in an institution for the criminally insane. He grows to manhood knowing the outside world only through a television screen. At twenty-five, he succeeds in a brilliant escape and change of identity and begins to move across the country, murdering women in particularly gruesome ways. Pursued by reporters, police, and the mob, Bishop manages to elude them all, and the search for him becomes the greatest manhunt in US history.The chilling denouement will hold readers spellbound until the shattering, unforgettable conclusion.

First person account.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1972.

"Vital for all working in the mental health field . . . . Fascinating reading for anyone." —Choice E. Fuller Torrey, the author of the definitive guides to schizophrenia and manic depression, chronicles a disastrous swing in the balance of civil rights that has resulted in numerous violent episodes and left a vulnerable population of mentally ill people homeless and victimized. Interweaving in-depth accounts of landmark cases in California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina with a history of legislation and changes in the mental health care system, Torrey gives shape to the magnitude of our failure and outlines what needs to be done to reverse this ongoing—and accelerating—disaster. A new epilogue on the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, brings this tragic story up to date.

An insider's account of America's ineffectual approach to some of the hardest defense and intelligence issues in the three decades since the Cold War ended. Insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. As a nation, America has cycled through the same defense and intelligence issues since the end of the Cold War. In Insanity Defense, Congresswoman Jane Harman chronicles how four administrations have failed to confront some of the toughest national security policy issues and suggests achievable fixes that can move us toward a safer future. The reasons for these inadequacies are varied and complex, in some cases going back generations. American leaders didn’t realize soon enough that the institutions and habits formed during the Cold War were no longer effective in an increasingly multi-power world transformed by digital technology and riven by ethno-sectarian conflict. Nations freed from the fear of the Soviets no longer deferred to America as before. Yet the United States settled into a comfortable, at times arrogant, position as the lone superpower. At the same time our governing institutions, which had stayed resilient, however imperfectly, through multiple crises, began their own unraveling. Congresswoman Harman was there—as witness, legislator, exhorter, enabler, dissident and, eventually, outside advisor and commentator. Insanity Defense is an insider’s account of decades of American national security—of its failures and omissions—and a roadmap to making significant progress on solving these perennially difficult issues.

Twenty-year-old Andrew James Archer seemed to have it all as a midwestern college student at the top of the dean's list and with a beautiful girlfriend at his side. Yet somehow the balance of perfectionist goals and the ability to temporarily turn off anxiety with the help of alcohol and friends allowed Andrew to hide what was lying just beneath the surface: bipolar disorder. In his poignant personal narrative, Andrew invites others inside a hellish prism that left him the victim of substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, mania, and delusions--and in a psychiatric unit with a mind separated from reality and a body confined to a jail cell. As Andrew reveals the details of his harrowing journey through mental illness and subsequent treatment, he helps to demystify common misperceptions, build awareness, and provide hope to others suffering from bipolar disorder. Drawing on Andrew's personal reflections, this memoir exposes the dirty insides of mental illness from an individual and family perspective. It navigates the intimate details of mania that few can recall and most cannot articulate. Whether you have no knowledge of bipolar disorder or are an expert in the mental health field, the earnest nature of Pleading Insanity begs you to listen. "This valuable journal includes ... the stumbling mistakes of psychiatric treatment alongside moments of touching clarity and profound grace." --Flint Sparks, PhD, psychologist and Zen teacher "Truly remarkable!" --Lyn Y. Abramson, PhD, professor of psychology