A review by xxstefaniereadsxx
Fiend: The Shocking True Story of Americas Youngest Serial Killer by Harold Schechter

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

 Jesse Pomeroy was born in Charleston, Massachusetts in 1859. He had a tumultuous home life, resulting in his mother leaving his father and taking Jesse and his brother with her. His father used to beat him in a way that was eerily similar to how he beat and tormented his young victims. From 1871 to 1872, several young boys were lured into isolated areas, stripped naked, tied up, and beaten mercilessly. His mother moved the family to a different neighborhood, where the attacks carried on. One boy that was attacked was able to tell the police that it was an older boy with a weird looking eye. Jesse had one very milky colored eye, making him prime suspect. He was eventually arrested for his attacks on the boys and sent to State Reform School for Boys until the age of 18. Stupidly, he was paroled and returned to his mother not long after. He was arrested again, this time for murder.

I love Harold Schechter. He always does a lot of research on his subjects, and this one was no different. I had never heard about Jesse Pomeroy before reading this book, and I just bought it because of who the author was. He was a severely disturbed person, but apparently fairly intelligent. He did a good job getting over on the people at the reform school, getting them to release him early for good behavior and reformation....what a scam. He also got up to plenty of shenanagins in prison. I can't wait to get to the other books by this author. If you are interested in true crime, check this book out and others by this author!