The Mind of a Madman

Norway's Struggle to Understand Anders Breivik

De: Richard Orange

Narrado por: Gary Dikeos

Anders Behring Breivik killed more people in his twin terror attack in Norway last year than any lone gunman ever had in peacetime before him. When he was arrested, he claimed to act on behalf of the Knights Templar, a militant network sworn to protect Europe from Islam. But Norwegian police could find no evidence such a group existed.

Was Breivik a genuine terrorist, driven by far-right ideology, or a deluded madman? Over the next year, this question would draw in police specialists, lawyers, psychiatrists, and experts in the far-right, culminating in a trial that ceased to be simply about guilt or innocence. Instead, the court would confront a more troubling question: how could such brutal acts become possible for a young man brought up in some of the most privileged parts of Oslo?

In Mind of a Madman, journalist Richard Orange draws on his own court reporting, three court psychiatric reports, police interviews, and transcripts from the trial to give the most complete account yet of a shocked society's attempt to understand the killer.

©2012 Richard Orange (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Decent book, terrible performance

The narrator's reading of this book made it almost not worth listening. For a presumably american actor living in Los Angeles to try to put on a Norwegian accent for much of the book is just distracting and somewhat offensive. Not only do the characteristics of the accent change during his reading, but they are super inaccurate to begin with.

Surprisingly worthwhile

The narrator's ill-fated attempt at accents notwithstanding, this book was a real surprise and an easy recommendation. The path of enquiry for court-appointed psychologists takes some interesting twists and turns and, for someone like me who has studies right-wing movements, it is easy to see early on where they erred. Extensive use of court transcripts places this book somewhere between psychological primer and court drama.

Can’t Get Past Narration

Dear Audible,
Please do not let narrators do accents. They are always distracting and rarely good.

I couldn’t stick with this book though it seemed interesting.