Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green

21 reviews

phoebemurtagh's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

Last Call is a super well-researched book and despite the relatively short length, I got a really good sense of who everyone was, the context in which they lived, and just how outrageously violent and homophobic and apathetic NYC and the world was to gay people during the height of the AIDS crisis. 

I think it's easy to forget (or at least I do) that NYC was extremely violent towards LGBTQIA+ people (and still is in many ways) despite also serving as a haven for many who moved there from other areas of the USA. I did appreciate the chapters on NYC queer/gay social scenes and the gay bars that many frequented - it's a piece of queer history that I didn't know much about. 

To me, Green did a good job capturing the closeted 20th century queer experience and showing just how difficult it was to be visibly whole and yourself. Pretty much all the known or suspected victims of the serial killer were deeply closeted/scared men - and even with all their relative privileges (middle/upper class, white, presumed straight, family men, etc.) were largely forgotten about and ignored by authorities. Despite the hard work by law enforcement to identify, prosecute, and imprison Rogers, it was largely due to luck and activist support from the Anti-Violence Project, in my opinion, that they were successful given the apathy and/or homophobia of politicians and senior law enforcement (and I'm sure some of the detectives, technicians, etc.).

The writing was good but not outstanding, which I find a feature of many journalists who tackle longer narrative/investigative journalism for the first time (and apparently parts of it were line edited by David Grann, which I found a fun coincidence given I just finished one of his books).

What I find truly upsetting is just how many people Rogers's may have murdered in the decades of freedom he had. I'm glad he's behind bars now. 

CW: murder, dismemberment, homophobia, violence/beatings/attacks as hate crimes, needles/injections, AIDS, and anything else you can think of to associate with serial murder of gay people in the early 90s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Outing

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

i’m can’t believe that i’ve never heard anything about this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mandi_lea's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Outing, and Alcohol

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

I just couldn't push myself to listen to more cruel and bloody things happening to queer and trans people. It didn't feel like an expose or homage - it felt salacious and invasive. Just couldn't do it right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

jmross10's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

I will not be rating this book owing to the subject matter but that is not a reflection of my feelings. 

I think it was very well written and does not suffer from timeline confusion many historical nonfiction books do. It follows the narrative in a mostly linear fashion which makes it easier for readers to follow. 

Green did a good job of explaining the circumstances around the murders but also, in my opinion, trying to make these men more than just victims. He took the time to tell their life story separate from their tragic deaths which is so important. It forces readers to remember they are people and not just another name on the page. 

There is an air of mystery around the outcome which Green handles well. Not for the sake of monopolizing on the unknown but because that’s where it makes the most sense in the narrative. Once they start looking for legitimate suspects, the information about those individuals (including the guilty parties) is revealed. 

As a whole, I think it did a good job recounting the events. It had some information about forensics practices but didn’t overwhelm the reader with it. The historical context was helpful for those who didn’t have that information without being dry or feeling alienating. There was discussion of politics and society as well that made the history more fleshed out than just dates. Lastly, the commentary from his interviewees was well used and distributed throughout the book. It felt like a cohesive narrative and not just a hodge podge of other people’s work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Outing, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

shieldbearer's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.5

I have to strongly recommend the audiobook, because the author's interview at the end of the book provides so much context with the author's intent upon writing this. It is very clear that this book was written from such a place of empathy for the victims and their loved ones to honor their lives and memories. 

Almost every complaint in the reviews stems from completely missing this point. 

+ While I agree the use of the n word was not necessary (and is why I have docked the book by half a star for such an egregious oversight) the use of the f-slur are because of the sources the author was utilizing, included to contextualize the sort of environment queer people had to live in, and are direct quotes from people involved in the case. If you do not understand why this contextualization matters, you need to get off twitter. 

+ the absolute genius who complained this was a "limited" "exploration of queerness" missed the memo where the author is working to show us the victims and their lives- their specific experiences and histories, and the failures of the system and society that made their deaths possible. This is not a book about "queerness" and furthermore, there is no universal "queerness." again. please get off twitter.

+ the vague "disappointing... not what I was expecting" reviews are almost invariably more interested in the 
"glamour" of the killer's motives and the gory details of the case. The author is thoroughly uninterested in the killer, and continually centers the victims and their lives. 

This book has ruined all other true crime books for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Blood, and Classism

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bloom_18's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

This account of the gruesome murders of four queer men in the 1990’s is well researched and generally well structured. It’s an enjoyable- and sometimes horrifying read. However, the author’s sensitivity to language sometimes feels awkward. In the sentence after he describes, with jarring detail, the way a victim was found, Green remarks that the victims favorite bar was a blazer mandatory- “pen in pocket”- affair. This remark is upsetting because, well, another word that begins with “pen” was just at the crux of a brutal image. Anyways- no book can have it all. 

Ultimately, the best books about queer life and queer violence are written by queer people. Green is an empathetic writer, but his exploration of queerness is largely limited to sexual preference. Queerness can be so much more than that. Check out david wojnarowicz‘s memoir if you want to read more about queer life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

book_enjoyer's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

I’m not usually one for true crime, or even fictional murder mysteries, but I enjoyed this one. Green lays out the details of the Last Call Killer’s murders in unflinching, brutal detail, but he takes equal care with the victims’ lives and the gay bar culture that forms the setting of the book. As a queer reader, I appreciated that the book didn’t feel like it was written for a straight audience—Green doesn’t pause to explain what a bear or a leather daddy is, for example—and didn’t shy away from detailing the level of casual homophobia present at the time. In the epilogue, Green expresses some hesitancy as to whether he, a straight man, should be telling this story: “Could I do right by the queer community and its history? That’s not for me to say. What I tried to do in this book was let my sources tell the story.” In my opinion, he has risen to this challenge. Last Call is compelling, atmospheric, and thoroughly-researched, and it sheds light on a brutal serial killer whose actions were ignored for too long because of his victims’ sexuality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Medical content, and Alcohol