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  • Killing for Company

  • By: Brian Masters
  • Narrated by: Jason Watkins
  • Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (605 ratings)

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Killing for Company

By: Brian Masters
Narrated by: Jason Watkins
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Summary

Soon to be an ITV drama, Des, starring David Tennant.

Winner of the Gold Dagger Award for Crime Non-Fiction.

Dennis Nilsen, who died in May 2018, murdered at least 15 people before his arrest in 1983. This ground-breaking criminal study of his killings was written with Nilsen's full cooperation, resulting in a fascinating - and horrifying - portrait of the man who worshipped death.

On February 9th 1983, Dennis Nilsen was arrested at his Muswell Hill home, after human remains had been identified as the cause of blocked drains. 'Are we talking about one body or two,' a detective asked. Nilsen replied 'Fifteen or sixteen, since 1978. I'll tell you everything.'

Within days he had confessed to 15 gruesome murders over a period of four years. His victims, all young homosexual men, had never been missed. Brian Masters, with Nilsen's full cooperation, has produced a unique study of a murderer's mind, essential listening for true crime aficionados.

©1985 Brian Masters (P)2020 W F Howes
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Critic reviews

"One of the most remarkable and accurate accounts ever written of the singular relationship between a mass murderer and a society.” (Observer)

What listeners say about Killing for Company

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

started ok...

Started ok, but couldn't finish as seemed to go on and on, good early on but became bored.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Chilling , fascination mixed with disturbment

Delving into the sick and shocking history of Britain's most prolific serial killer and more importantly attempting to understand his mindset. To understand is to forgive. I'm not sure I still understand.

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Killing for Company

First off Dennis Nielsen was a monstrous serial killer who deserved to die behind bars but this book shows him to be intelligent, articulate and someone who gave the appearance of being just a normal joe.

Inwardly Nilsen harboured psychopathic tendencies which resulted in the deaths and dismemberment of young men whom he mostly pickup via gay bars.

In the book Masters , using correspondence from Nilsen, suggests this behavior began with the death of his grandfather. This left him with feelings of loneliness, rage and the need to relate to death. Who knows.....

I ‘enjoyed’ this book but it’s not for the faint hearted as it does contain some graphic descriptions of Nilsen actions against the bodies of his murder victims but it’s a book about a serial killer.

So to sum up it’s interesting, well written, well narrated and well worth my time and money.

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37 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Crikey ... a tough one to take

Not for the faint hearted and I confess I could only listen to bits of it and then have a break, listen to something else before coming back.

It's so fascinating in a macabre way and so well written. The whole idea of serial killers, psychopaths, necrophiliacs is quite bewildering but also begs the question if they are not made then why do they happen. If you take humans as a species, have these personality types always been around even in, for want of a better phrase, "cave man days"? Presumably if they were, did they help or hinder our early communities - if it is a modern phenomena, then why is it happening? And why to such extremes?

Might look up some books and delve a bit deeper.

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mental

not am easy listen by any stretch but I couldn't stop listening it gripped me from start to finish would 100% recommend

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Killing for company.

Well read and well constructed. I did feel that it was one chapter too long though. It didn’t need to be there. It was just recapping and repeating what had already been discussed.
Saying that it’s a great listen. Such an interesting case and horrific.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant account of Nielsen's chilling crimes

Jason Watkins is superb in narrating this true crime story of Dennis Nielsen's monstrous murders. Brian Masters' account is as thorough, erudite, and gripping as you could wish for. Highly recommended.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Thrilling and captivating

The narrator took you through the mind of a killer, dissected it, and broke down into pieces that gave you the probably reasoning, behind the man they called Des. The whole book was memorable and certainly worth a read.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

Gut wrenching at times but a great audible title well read highly recommend you listern to this one.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Recording volume low

unlike all other audible books I was not able to hear this book in busy traffic as the recording volume was so low, pity because the narrator was good

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