The Mystery of the Lone Wolf Killer: Anders Behring Breivik and the Threat of Terror in Plain Sight

by Unni Turrettini

Overview

For the first time, the life and mind of Anders Behring Breivik, the most unexpected of mass murderers, is examined and set in the context of wider criminal psychology.

*Winner of the 2016 Silver Falchion Award for Best Nonfiction Adult Book*

July 22, 2011 was the darkest day in Norway’s history since Nazi Germany’s invasion. It was one hundred eighty-nine minutes of terror, from the moment the bomb exploded outside a government building until Anders Behring Breivik was apprehended by the police at Utøya Island. Breivik murdered seventy-seven people, most of them teenagers and young adults, and wounded hundreds more. The massacre left the world in shock.

Breivik is the archetypal "lone wolf killer," often overlooked until the moment they commit their crime. He has inspired others like him, just as Breivik was inspired by Timothy McVeigh and Theodore Kaczynski. No other killer has murdered more people single-handedly in one day. Adam Lanza studied Breivik’s now infamous manifesto prior to his own unthinkable crime. Breivik was Lanza’s role model, as he will no doubt be for others in the future who are frustrated with their societies, and most of all, their lives.

Breivik is also unique as he is the only "lone wolf" killer in recent history to still be alive and in captivity. With unparalleled research and a unique international perspective, The Mystery of the Lone Wolf Killer examines the massacre itself and why this lone-killer phenomenon is increasing worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605989112
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	11/15/2015
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Norwegian-born Unni Turrettini grew up a multicultural citizen, living in Norway, the United States, France, and Switzerland. She has law degrees from Norway, France, and the United States, and is a member of the New York Bar. She worked numerous years in law and finance in Paris, France, and Geneva, Switzerland. Her other works include The Mystery of the Lone Wolf Killer, published by Pegasus Books (2015). After many years abroad, she now lives in Oslo with her family.

Editorial Reviews

08/31/2015
Readers interested in learning how mass murderers who act alone can be stopped are likely to be disappointed by this unpersuasive book. Turrettini, a Norwegian expat residing in the U.S., starts with Anders Behring Breivik’s horrific 2011 crimes: he set off a powerful bomb outside the offices of the Norwegian prime minister in Oslo that killed eight people and then fatally shot 69 more at a nearby summer camp. Turrettini’s account of this massacre is riddled with generalizations. For example, she describes Norwegians as “sleepwalkers” who “don’t take care of one another.” The author is quick to dilute the narrative by frequently switching to discussions of the Unabomber (Ted Kacyzinski) and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. An entire chapter devoted to dismissing the value of gun control adds little to the book’s central argument, which is that such massacres are preventable. Turrettini further weakens the book with inconsistent claims (she cites the Virginia Tech massacre as a case where gun control might have made a difference) and spotty reasoning (she claims that the Virginia Tech shooter was technically not a “lone wolf” because he left a paper trail). The book’s most profound flaw is Turrettini’s argument that lone wolf killers can only be thwarted if members of their communities speak out about their unusual behavior before they strike. The very limited practical value of such an approach is glossed over. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"The author's argument has wide application: namely, that by overlooking announcements of intent, in effect, that these killers often make before acting, law enforcement officials will miss the lone wolf killers among us. An urgent but evenhanded treatise that deserves a wide readership."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"The thesis, that lone wolves can be identified only by sensitive observation by the communities within which they attempt to form connections, is believable and clearly stated. This will appeal to readers interested in criminology, sociology, and psychology."-- "Library Journal"

From the Publisher

10/15/2015
Anders Behring Breivik, whose July 22, 2011 killing spree in Norway ended 77 lives, is characterized here as a "lone wolf killer," and compared and contrasted with past mass murderers, primarily Theodore Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh. The thesis, that lone wolves can be identified only by sensitive observation by the communities within which they attempt to form connections, is believable and clearly stated. There is some awkward tension as the book straddles the line between academic case study and true crime thriller; the running comparisons to Kaczynski and McVeigh resemble the traditional essay format, while sojourns into Breivik's emotions and senses frame a dramatic story line. Occasional apparent contradictions (e.g., Breivik did not kill more people than McVeigh) are confusing, and justifications for not categorizing other mass murderers as lone wolves seem more forced than self-evident. The assertions that better tracking of mentally ill people will reduce the incidence of lone-wolf killings, and that tighter gun control will not stop them, will be unpopular with some readers. VERDICT Overall, this will appeal to readers interested in criminology, sociology, and psychology.—Ricardo Laskaris, York Univ. Lib., Toronto

Library Journal

2015-08-15
In Norwegian-born attorney Turrettini's dispiriting estimation, there are plenty of lone wolves out there, young men—almost always young men—so disconnected from the world that killing is the only form of self-expression they think is left to them. That killing is not without reason, at least in the perpetrator's mind, and it often has a political dimension. "The lone wolf doesn't murder for fun, for profit, or as a shortcut to suicide," she writes. "This killer is so shut off and shut down from humanity that the only way for him to matter is to connect so completely with a cause that he is compelled to kill for it." Exhibit A for much of this discussion is Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 compatriots, mostly young, as a protest against Islam, immigration policy, and a bundle of related far-right causes. Turrettini's account veers into territory that American readers may have trouble accommodating, for the dominant social ideology in Norway, she writes, is a sense of togetherness that manifests itself in de-emphasizing the individual: "Don't think you are anything special," runs one bit of advice that all schoolchildren learn by heart. Breivik's insistence that he was special was one thing, but more pressing was the insistent search for scapegoats for society's flaws, scapegoats who form a stratum "comprising anyone not like them." Though some of the social psychology is specific, then, to Scandinavia, the author's larger argument has wide application: namely, that by overlooking announcements of intent, in effect, that these killers often make before acting, law enforcement officials will miss the lone wolf killers among us. "Unless law enforcement focuses on psychology more than criminal history," she writes darkly, "men like Breivik will escape detection until it is too late." An urgent but evenhanded treatise that deserves a wide readership.

Kirkus Reviews