Author(s): Nigel Latta

NZ Non Fiction

Would you recognise a child molester standing in a supermarket queue? And if you did, would you understand what went on in his - or her mind? Nigel Latta is a forensic psychologist. He spends his working life with the sort of people most of us would prefer to pretend didn't exist. In this ground-breaking book, Nigel takes us inside the minds of some of the most chilling characters to walk our streets. The journey is challenging, and though Nigel has trodden the path many times, he offers no sense of familiarity or contempt. Rather, there is a palpable sense of danger as he treads carefully through the present and past psychological mines strewn through the lives of his clients. His challenge is to make these people confront and admit the damage their actions have caused, and so minimise the risk of them reoffending. It is not an easy task. The case studies in this book, all based on reality, will shock, unnerve and disturb. Yet it is compulsive reading - once you have visited the Darklands, you will never be able to leave. First published February 2005.