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trin's review
3.0
True crime more compelling for its depiction of queer New York history, and specifically the gay piano bar scene of the '80s and '90s, than for that of the crimes themselves. The queer history makes it more than worth the read, though. On the crime front: I wish someone had helped Green clarify his timeline, which is frequently confusing (weird moments like someone who knew the murderer talking about attending a screening of Titanic with him when, chronologically, we're still in 1996); more importantly, I wish Green were a bit more insightful about the murderer himself (he remains a cipher) or harsher in his analysis of why the man was repeatedly let go by law enforcement despite, to say the least, obvious warning signs (shocker: it was police incompetence). But as a tribute to the victims, and an exploration of a bygone era, this book succeeds.
eamcmahon3's review
3.0
I had never heard of this case. I think the author did a great job of focusing on the lives of the men who were killed.
I'd give it a 3.5 rating
I'd give it a 3.5 rating
stephanie_w11's review
3.0
Overall, this is a very interesting and meticulously researched book. I didn’t know anything about these events or much about gay life in early 90s New York so it was very educational. At times, though, it did feel like the author provided TOO many details (so many names and places) that I lost the thread of whose story he was telling. The ending also felt very abrupt because a significant portion of the book is actually the notes section. That’s probably my own fault for not realizing it but it did catch me off guard. Still, I recommend this book and enjoyed reading it.
honnari_hannya's review
4.0
A comprehensive account of a case that could have very easily fallen into obscurity because of who the victims were. I didn't know much about this book going in, and that alone was really rather intriguing to me because this was also around the time when true crime was experiencing a resurgence of popularity in all forms of media—it seemed that every case, no matter how big or small, had been covered already, some of them more than once. But I had never heard of this one being mentioned, even in other cases within New York.
I really appreciate the sensitivity with which Green rendered each victim, painting as full a picture of their lives as he could—how they lived before their fateful encounter with their murder, their feelings about their sexuality, and eventually, the wrong turn that led to their untimely deaths. As much as he could, I think Green was sympathetic to each man's circumstance without ever having spoken to them.
I also appreciated Green's contextual history of the climate that made it so incredibly difficult to get press for these crimes. Although it was harrowing, and sometimes laborious to read through accounts of HIV/AIDS during the 1980s and 1990s, especially when it seemed tangential a book about a serial killer, it did offer a lot of insight about why no one seemed to care about the victims. This became especially true when these murders lapsed into cold case territory and members of the queer community in the affected bars began dying of the disease—another contributing factor to the obscurity of this particular story, a piece of queer history (one of its more gruesome ones) nearly lost to this terrible disease.
Last, I appreciate that Green only gave as much attention to the murderer as he did the victims, and that he left it for last. Usually in these true crime narratives, the split between victim and murderer tends to be relatively skewed—and the murderer tends to take up the spotlight as both author and readers try to make sense of their actions, psychoanalyze them so to speak. I think Green did a really smart thing in reserving space primarily for victims, putting them first, and then giving their murderer the closing act, not even mentioning him by name until their names had been said first. It felt very poignant the moment Rogers was introduced, so that he was not cast as the "main character" but rather just another troubled man who had a story that was going to be told in the chapters to come.
I really appreciate the sensitivity with which Green rendered each victim, painting as full a picture of their lives as he could—how they lived before their fateful encounter with their murder, their feelings about their sexuality, and eventually, the wrong turn that led to their untimely deaths. As much as he could, I think Green was sympathetic to each man's circumstance without ever having spoken to them.
I also appreciated Green's contextual history of the climate that made it so incredibly difficult to get press for these crimes. Although it was harrowing, and sometimes laborious to read through accounts of HIV/AIDS during the 1980s and 1990s, especially when it seemed tangential a book about a serial killer, it did offer a lot of insight about why no one seemed to care about the victims. This became especially true when these murders lapsed into cold case territory and members of the queer community in the affected bars began dying of the disease—another contributing factor to the obscurity of this particular story, a piece of queer history (one of its more gruesome ones) nearly lost to this terrible disease.
Last, I appreciate that Green only gave as much attention to the murderer as he did the victims, and that he left it for last. Usually in these true crime narratives, the split between victim and murderer tends to be relatively skewed—and the murderer tends to take up the spotlight as both author and readers try to make sense of their actions, psychoanalyze them so to speak. I think Green did a really smart thing in reserving space primarily for victims, putting them first, and then giving their murderer the closing act, not even mentioning him by name until their names had been said first. It felt very poignant the moment Rogers was introduced, so that he was not cast as the "main character" but rather just another troubled man who had a story that was going to be told in the chapters to come.
eyre_ph02's review
5.0
I first listened to this book and then I read it. Reading helped me appreciate the in-depth research the author did.
rainbowbookworm's review
3.0
I was expecting a book about a serial killer, but the author also expounds on the rampant homophobia of the era and it was too much for this reader.