Reviews tagging 'Blood'

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

21 reviews

arlangrey17's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Outing, and Alcohol

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

4.0

Audiobook narrator was so phenomenal I had to keep reminding myself that this was true crime and that I should be less into the story oops. Devastating, but I loved the way Green compiled this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

hmatt's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

2.5

I'm firmly out of my true crime phase, but I suspect this book might be better liked by those who are more interested in the genre. 

I found the narration pretty dry and scattered. I know the author was attempting to tell the victims' stories, but it resulted in so many tangents about people who had no relevance to the crimes and made it hard for me to follow the main story. There wasn't a whole lot of mystery to the whole thing, but I don't think there was supposed to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

It's true crime, so everything that's described is done in a very matter-of-fact way and is not glorified if that makes a difference.

killerpancake's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Racism, and Blood

This is true crime where the victims were gay men and includes crime scene information. I appreciate that it focused more on the victim's lives instead of venerating the killer.

doric's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

4.0

RTC

 Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. The opinions expressed herein are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.

I have a problem with looking up crime scene photos when a case piques my interest. I think this book has cured that problem.

LAST CALL details several killings in the late 80s and early 90s in and around the NYC area. All the victims were gay men, whether closeted or not, and were particularly gruesome. New Jersey, Manhattan, even Pennsylvania became dumping spots for the Last Call killer's victims. The MO was to dismember and decapitate the bodies, deposit the parts into separate garbage bags, double bad and double tie them, and leave them in 55-gallon barrels along the highways. You can see how that would be easy disposal in such a huge metropolitan area.

Elon Green really does justice to this case with all of the history of the gay communities affected and objective analysis of the police work. He outlines the lives and histories of each victim, painting them in the most human light, and covering wholly the tragic loss of each life. Even though I knew who was going to be murdered, I hated that their life stories came to that end. It's like my brain was beating against the current for a different turnout.

And really, THAT is EXACTLY how true crime should be written. Green knocked it out of the park here. He focused his narrative on the victims and their families, not the killer. People who don't understand the true crime community believe that we're focused on the killer because he or she is fascinating and "cool" in the morbid sense, and that's just not true. (Well, 99% of the time. Sometimes the worrisome fandom pops up, i.e. serial killer crushes.) Yes, the psychology and sociology is a fascinating area of study, but the killers themselves are not the point of the true crime community. The victims are. Their families are. The gaps in law enforcement that show when a unique crime happens, rectifying those deficiencies are the point.

Justice is the point.

Elon Green has crafted a little-known story into a beautiful, heartbreaking, totally human history and case study. True crime books don't usually get under my skin. I've been through a lot of crap in my short life, and it's hard to shock me. But Green's writing--his depiction of brutality against a marginalized community--won't be leaving this ally anytime soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism

rachbake's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

alylentz's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

4.0

Absolutely loved this. Accomplished the very difficult mission of true crime that examines the killer while really giving us a sense of who the victims were and the sense of loss they left behind. I enjoyed it as an audiobook and I think that would be a great choice for those who already listen to true crime podcasts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Medical content

wherethewildreadsare's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Wow, a fantastically researched story about a serial killer that isn’t as talked about due to the sexuality of his victims. Doesn’t dwell on the killer but brings to life the victims. Who they were before they were “victims” and what in their lives led them into the path of their killer!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Murder