The Man Who Killed Boys by Clifford J. Linedecker

 The fact that so many of these creatures walk freely among us will never become less disturbing.

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The Man Who Killed Boys (The John Wayne Gacy, Jr Story) 

by Clifford L. Linedecker

Released January 1980

Source: Purchased

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I've had this paperback in my tbr for years (gah, imagine if paperbacks were still $3.99 new?!) and its time finally came up. I read it on and off for over a month, having to take breaks because it's just so tragic and a difficult read. The failures of our law enforcement system and the failure to protect innocents from a predator are very hard to read. The ability of some people to discard their gay children is also heartrending and sadly hasn't changed in a big meaningful way in a lot of households. None of this needed to happen but as it goes people fall through the cracks and warning signs are ignored if one has a little charisma. It's all so gross.

It is well researched and I learned a lot about Gacy and those around him. Sometimes too much. I had no idea he was some sort of "pillar" of his community. Or at least he tried to be, all the while killing and raping young men and boys. It does tend to include too many details and skips around quite a bit which honestly hurt my head and forced me to put it down after a chapter several times.

I finished but it was a struggle for so many reasons. Only recommended if you want to read about a real-life monster and the people who let him get away with it for so very long.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Publisher Plot Synopsis 

The classic true crime story of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Jr., who lived in a quiet Chicago suburb.

Successful businessman, community benefactor, good friend and neighbor—and perverted mass murderer.

Over a period of three years, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. sexually tortured and murdered thirty-three boys. His friends and neighbors in his unassuming Illinois community never suspected a thing. Gacy was a Jekyll-and-Hyde figure, leading an outwardly normal life, but secretly brutalizing dozens of young men in a hidden lair, and concealing their bodies under the floorboards of his suburban home.

Through extensive personal interviews with those who knew Gacy, veteran true-crime scribe Clifford L. Linedecker takes us on a shocking ride through Gacy's life, delving deep into the man's troubled past, recounting his appalling series of murders, and recreating the drama of his trial—which resulted in his execution by lethal injection in 1994. Gruesome and horrifying, The Man Who Killed Boys reveals stark terror set amid the daily lives of an ordinary community.