The Man Who Killed Boys

Written shortly after John Wayne Gacy was arrested, while he was awaiting trial, The Man Who Killed Boys is a gut-wrenching snapshot of one of the world's most prolific serial killers. Known as the Killer Clown, Gacy sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 young men, the majority of which lived in the Chicago area. Veteran journalist Clifford L. Linedecker interviewed friends, associates and business partners. Gacy, for a madman, was remarkably functional. He was married twice, ran a successful contracting business and even managed to insert himself into the civic life of Chicago. In May 1978, he was famously photographed meeting with First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Linedecker provides a full portrait, following Gacy through his early days in Iowa to life in Chicago, living atop a crawl space that he used as a working graveyard. This is an immediate, vital work of nonfiction, written with tremendous sympathy and understanding—a story told when Gacy was still alive and the terror was fresh in everyone's minds.