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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
literally so boring and long and spent way too long in details that did not matter
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
This was a very hard book to get through. The author is the nephew of 19-year old Mary Sullivan, the last and youngest victim of The Boston Strangler. Sherman’s previous books are predominantly true crime. I thought that perhaps his style would center more on the criminal mind and the trial proceedings, however, there were some very graphic and gruesome descriptions of the murders which are repeatedly referenced.
We begin on Cape Cod in the late 1960’s, where young women are starting to disappear. While there is some effort on the part of law enforcement, the disappearances are attributed to the drug and counter culture mantra: turn on, tune in, and drop out. But then their bodies begin to surface. The common denominator is Tony Costa, who will soon be arrested, convicted, sentenced and commit suicide in his cell.
The author fictionalized Costa’s relationships with the women, as well as the actual murders. Costa always maintained his innocence, blaming others as well as an alter ego, and Costa’s conversations with his alter ego are also fictionalized. The details are gruesome, and they are again repeated in the court proceedings. Once was enough. My feeling is that the author should have noted up front, not at the end of the book, that this is a work of fact told with elements of fiction storytelling. That left me wondering what parts were true, and why the author didn’t just market the book as a fictionalized account based on a real event.
There are also so many side stories which give us a sense of the times, yet are not directly relevant to the case itself. We have stories of Charles Manson, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Mary Jo Kopechne’s fateful night with Ted Kennedy and the Apollo 11 moon landing. There are also in-depth biographies of Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer, both residents of the area that wanted to write about the case. While the author could have touched on all of these subjects, it was just way too much information, and fictionalized information perhaps.
https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/
This was a very hard book to get through. The author is the nephew of 19-year old Mary Sullivan, the last and youngest victim of The Boston Strangler. Sherman’s previous books are predominantly true crime. I thought that perhaps his style would center more on the criminal mind and the trial proceedings, however, there were some very graphic and gruesome descriptions of the murders which are repeatedly referenced.
We begin on Cape Cod in the late 1960’s, where young women are starting to disappear. While there is some effort on the part of law enforcement, the disappearances are attributed to the drug and counter culture mantra: turn on, tune in, and drop out. But then their bodies begin to surface. The common denominator is Tony Costa, who will soon be arrested, convicted, sentenced and commit suicide in his cell.
The author fictionalized Costa’s relationships with the women, as well as the actual murders. Costa always maintained his innocence, blaming others as well as an alter ego, and Costa’s conversations with his alter ego are also fictionalized. The details are gruesome, and they are again repeated in the court proceedings. Once was enough. My feeling is that the author should have noted up front, not at the end of the book, that this is a work of fact told with elements of fiction storytelling. That left me wondering what parts were true, and why the author didn’t just market the book as a fictionalized account based on a real event.
There are also so many side stories which give us a sense of the times, yet are not directly relevant to the case itself. We have stories of Charles Manson, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Mary Jo Kopechne’s fateful night with Ted Kennedy and the Apollo 11 moon landing. There are also in-depth biographies of Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer, both residents of the area that wanted to write about the case. While the author could have touched on all of these subjects, it was just way too much information, and fictionalized information perhaps.
https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol
Really not worth the time or effort.
This is not at all what I was expecting from this book. I enjoy true crime and was looking forward to learning about Costa as I had never heard of him. But the way it’s written is just cringey. It’s sensationalized and has elements of fictional storytelling which I feel is disrespectful to the victims. True crime should provide the facts and give a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves, not “entertain readers” with dramatization. I also found it weird adding in a storyline with Kurt Vonnegut-I understand he wrote articles on the murders but there’s no point in creating a fictional plot line for him. Honestly infuriating what this author has done, shame.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
I knew a little of the story of Tony Costa before reading this book. I really loved the way this was written, it wasn’t just facts it was a story. It was interesting following the lives of the two writers involved and seeing the murder and Costa’s life from their perspective. Any true crime fan should definitely check this out!
HELLTOWN by Casey Sherman tells the story of serial killer Tony Costa as he rampaged across Cape Cod in the late 60’s.
This book is being marketed as nonfiction and true crime, yet, in the author’s note, Sherman concludes that he took fictional liberties in the telling of this story…Imagine reading an entire (wild & lengthy) book to then hit that statement…
HELLTOWN also jumped around from one person to another (seemingly unrelated) person and their story, and it just became convoluted and unnecessary, with the pieces barely clicking together by the end.
This one was a slog to get through, and I’m not even sure who I’d recommend it to by the end of it (there are also better books already written on Tony Costa if you want an actual nonfiction recounting).
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review - unfortunately, it ended up not being the book for me.
Publication Date: July 12, 2022
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Murder
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment
Minor: Homophobia, Outing
This was just not for me. Two things:
One: I don’t at all care for the story about Mailer and Vonnegut. At this point the chapters about the time period and these two authors are two times as long as the actual true crime story. And I’m not enjoying it.
Two: I don’t enjoy the writing style. The book has run-on sentences with way too much uninteresting details and it is written in a kind of fiction format, with dialogue and thoughts of people. But some of these people are actually dead, so how do we know that that’s what these victims were thinking? No one, besides our serial killer, who’s high half the time, could have possibly known about these conversations. Let alone the actual thought of his victims. I just prefer more a more fact-based story, if you will.
It just didn’t work for me. And even though I always push through on an arc so I can give an honest review, life’s too short to read books you don’t enjoy. I’m moving on to books that are more my speed.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
One: I don’t at all care for the story about Mailer and Vonnegut. At this point the chapters about the time period and these two authors are two times as long as the actual true crime story. And I’m not enjoying it.
Two: I don’t enjoy the writing style. The book has run-on sentences with way too much uninteresting details and it is written in a kind of fiction format, with dialogue and thoughts of people. But some of these people are actually dead, so how do we know that that’s what these victims were thinking? No one, besides our serial killer, who’s high half the time, could have possibly known about these conversations. Let alone the actual thought of his victims. I just prefer more a more fact-based story, if you will.
It just didn’t work for me. And even though I always push through on an arc so I can give an honest review, life’s too short to read books you don’t enjoy. I’m moving on to books that are more my speed.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.