Dangerous Instincts

Use an FBI Profiler's Tactics to Avoid Unsafe Situations

Look inside
Fear can't help you in a dangerous situation. A former FBI profiler shows you what can.

As one of the world's top experts on psychopathy and criminal behavior, Mary Ellen O'Toole has seen repeatedly how relying on the sense of fear alone often fails to protect us from danger. Whether you are opening the door to a stranger or meeting a date you connected with online, you need to know how to protect yourself from harm-physical, financial, legal, and professional.

Using the SMART method, which O'Toole developed and used at the FBI, we can confidently know how to:

  • Respond to a threat in any situation
  • Hire someone who will work inside your home like a contractor or housekeeper
  • Figure out whether a prospective employee is a safe bet
  • Know whom you can trust with your children

    An especially useful book for women living alone, parents who are concerned about their children's safety, and employers worried about employees who might go postal, Dangerous Instincts gives us the tools used by professionals to navigate potentially hazardous waters. Like The Gift of Fear and The Sociopath Next Door, it will appeal to anyone looking to make the right call in an ever threatening world.

“Mary Ellen O’Toole is my hero! In Dangerous Instincts she offers sound advice and fascinating examples gleaned from her long career in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. This book will save many lives—including, quite possibly, your own. Whether the knowledge you find herein saves you from a con man, a rapist, a thief, a killer, or just a miserable marriage, this is a classic, valuable book. I recommend it highly to all my family, friends, and readers.”—Ann Rule, author of THE STRANGER BESIDE ME

“A masterful and compelling primer on survival in a world in which people are not always what we think them to be. Dr. O’Toole’s deep understanding of the nature and implications of psychopathy. . . is particularly impressive, and shared by only a few other criminal investigators. This is an important and well-written book on topics of concern to everyone. A great read, highly recommended.”—Robert Hare, Ph.D., author of WITHOUT CONSCIENCE
 

“In this absorbing read, [O’Toole] discusses why people trusted Bernie Madoff and Ted Bundy and dissects online dating responses and typical blind spots. The author helps readers analyze their decision-making patterns and provides a guide for helping them to assess and mitigate risk. O’Toole’s book will provide insight to everyone, but it’s particularly helpful for women living alone, parents concerned about their children’s safety, or employers worried about perplexing employee behavior.”—Library Journal

MARY ELLEN O’TOOLE, Ph.D. has spent her career studying the criminal mind. One of the most senior profilers for the FBI until her retirement in 2009, Dr. O’Toole has helped capture, interview and understand some of the world’s most infamous people including:

·         Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer
·         Derrick Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis, both serial killers in Baton Rouge
·         The Collar Bomb Case, a bank robbery and murder of a pizza delivery man
·         Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber
·         The Polly Klaas child abduction
·         David Parker Ray, a serial sexual sadist
·         The Red Lake School Shooting
·         The Monster of Florence serial murder case
·         The Zodiac serial murder case
·         The bombing during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT
·         The mass murder in Florence, Montana in 2001

Dr. O’Toole also worked the Elizabeth Smart and Natalee Holloway disappearances, the Columbine shootings and many other high profile cases. Dr. O’Toole worked as an FBI agent for 28 years, spending more than half of her Bureau career in the organization’s prestigious Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU)—the unit that is the focus of the hit crime series “Criminal Minds.”

Dr. O’Toole is recognized as the FBI’s leading expert in the area of psychopathy. She has served as adjunct faculty to the FBI’s Prestigious Leadership Development Institute (LDI) at the FBI Academy and also frequently lectures at the Smithsonian Institution about everything from Sherlock Holmes to personal safety. She is a Fellow with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. View titles by Mary Ellen O'Toole Ph.D
Alisa Bowman is a professional writer and collaborator. The co-author of seven New York Timesbestsellers, her work has appeared in Prevention, Better Homes & Gardens, Women’s Health and numerous other publications. View titles by Alisa Bowman

About

Fear can't help you in a dangerous situation. A former FBI profiler shows you what can.

As one of the world's top experts on psychopathy and criminal behavior, Mary Ellen O'Toole has seen repeatedly how relying on the sense of fear alone often fails to protect us from danger. Whether you are opening the door to a stranger or meeting a date you connected with online, you need to know how to protect yourself from harm-physical, financial, legal, and professional.

Using the SMART method, which O'Toole developed and used at the FBI, we can confidently know how to:

  • Respond to a threat in any situation
  • Hire someone who will work inside your home like a contractor or housekeeper
  • Figure out whether a prospective employee is a safe bet
  • Know whom you can trust with your children

    An especially useful book for women living alone, parents who are concerned about their children's safety, and employers worried about employees who might go postal, Dangerous Instincts gives us the tools used by professionals to navigate potentially hazardous waters. Like The Gift of Fear and The Sociopath Next Door, it will appeal to anyone looking to make the right call in an ever threatening world.

Reviews

“Mary Ellen O’Toole is my hero! In Dangerous Instincts she offers sound advice and fascinating examples gleaned from her long career in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. This book will save many lives—including, quite possibly, your own. Whether the knowledge you find herein saves you from a con man, a rapist, a thief, a killer, or just a miserable marriage, this is a classic, valuable book. I recommend it highly to all my family, friends, and readers.”—Ann Rule, author of THE STRANGER BESIDE ME

“A masterful and compelling primer on survival in a world in which people are not always what we think them to be. Dr. O’Toole’s deep understanding of the nature and implications of psychopathy. . . is particularly impressive, and shared by only a few other criminal investigators. This is an important and well-written book on topics of concern to everyone. A great read, highly recommended.”—Robert Hare, Ph.D., author of WITHOUT CONSCIENCE
 

“In this absorbing read, [O’Toole] discusses why people trusted Bernie Madoff and Ted Bundy and dissects online dating responses and typical blind spots. The author helps readers analyze their decision-making patterns and provides a guide for helping them to assess and mitigate risk. O’Toole’s book will provide insight to everyone, but it’s particularly helpful for women living alone, parents concerned about their children’s safety, or employers worried about perplexing employee behavior.”—Library Journal

Author

MARY ELLEN O’TOOLE, Ph.D. has spent her career studying the criminal mind. One of the most senior profilers for the FBI until her retirement in 2009, Dr. O’Toole has helped capture, interview and understand some of the world’s most infamous people including:

·         Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer
·         Derrick Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis, both serial killers in Baton Rouge
·         The Collar Bomb Case, a bank robbery and murder of a pizza delivery man
·         Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber
·         The Polly Klaas child abduction
·         David Parker Ray, a serial sexual sadist
·         The Red Lake School Shooting
·         The Monster of Florence serial murder case
·         The Zodiac serial murder case
·         The bombing during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT
·         The mass murder in Florence, Montana in 2001

Dr. O’Toole also worked the Elizabeth Smart and Natalee Holloway disappearances, the Columbine shootings and many other high profile cases. Dr. O’Toole worked as an FBI agent for 28 years, spending more than half of her Bureau career in the organization’s prestigious Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU)—the unit that is the focus of the hit crime series “Criminal Minds.”

Dr. O’Toole is recognized as the FBI’s leading expert in the area of psychopathy. She has served as adjunct faculty to the FBI’s Prestigious Leadership Development Institute (LDI) at the FBI Academy and also frequently lectures at the Smithsonian Institution about everything from Sherlock Holmes to personal safety. She is a Fellow with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. View titles by Mary Ellen O'Toole Ph.D
Alisa Bowman is a professional writer and collaborator. The co-author of seven New York Timesbestsellers, her work has appeared in Prevention, Better Homes & Gardens, Women’s Health and numerous other publications. View titles by Alisa Bowman