Portraits of Guilt

You may not know her name, but you probably know her work--Boylan is the profiler who drew, among others, the infamous hood-and-sunglasses sketch of the Unabomber. Here she tells her own story, from her childhood in Colorado through her difficult training in the Pacific Northwest, to her current work for the FBI. In a plainspoken, likable voice, the wry and spirited Boylan also describes the often overwhelming emotional and physical demands of her job.She also details her unusual interview and sketching methods, which have made her one of the most successful profilers in the country. ""Honoring and understanding the weight of [a crime victim's] psychological issues,"" she argues, is the best way to get an accurate description of perpetrators--but it is an element that's missing from ""the traditional police process."" She supports her methodological claims with her major case record: she was instrumental in solving both the Polly Klaas kidnapping and the Unabomber case. Die-hard true-crime fans may detect digressive, New Age-y vapors clouding her writing, and they might tire of her repetitive account of her deteriorating relationship with her husband, whom she portrays as selfish and boorish. Overall, however, Boylan has produced a unique account of civilian crime fighting, in which a sensitive woman ultimately becomes a trusted resource of the FBI. Furthermore, her unorthodox ideas on witness/victim interviewing deserve to be taken seriously by professionals and aficionados alike. Illustrations. Agent, Dan Strone. (June)