Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

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

11 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

i’m can’t believe that i’ve never heard anything about this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jhbandcats's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

This is a sorrowful book about a time and a place where gay men were in the closet and being felled by AIDS. They weren’t important enough for police to take them seriously or for non-gay newspapers to mention anything about assaults or murders. It just wasn’t done. 

The focus on New York City gives a feel for what it was like, living in an ostensibly liberal city while never able to be safe. The author’s compassionate focus on the victims and the friends who loved them shows how wrong it was that police departments did nothing about gay bashing for decades. Only when it was politically expedient did the politicians encourage the police to be at least somewhat sympathetic. When enough people started protesting the inaction, the city authorities finally created a liaison position between gays and cops. 

Even then, cases were dropped and then forgotten when new homicides came along. It was almost fifteen years between the first known homicide and the court case. Other homicides weren’t investigated because some police departments didn’t think they were connected. The Rockland County Medical Examiner and the FBI mishandled evidence so badly that it couldn’t be used. The initial lack of interest and the difficulty of working in multiple jurisdictions overshadow the success of finding and jailing the killer. 

Overall, a fascinating social history and a look back at how poorly gays were - and still are - treated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Grief, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

I just couldn't push myself to listen to more cruel and bloody things happening to queer and trans people. It didn't feel like an expose or homage - it felt salacious and invasive. Just couldn't do it right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

jmross10's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

I will not be rating this book owing to the subject matter but that is not a reflection of my feelings. 

I think it was very well written and does not suffer from timeline confusion many historical nonfiction books do. It follows the narrative in a mostly linear fashion which makes it easier for readers to follow. 

Green did a good job of explaining the circumstances around the murders but also, in my opinion, trying to make these men more than just victims. He took the time to tell their life story separate from their tragic deaths which is so important. It forces readers to remember they are people and not just another name on the page. 

There is an air of mystery around the outcome which Green handles well. Not for the sake of monopolizing on the unknown but because that’s where it makes the most sense in the narrative. Once they start looking for legitimate suspects, the information about those individuals (including the guilty parties) is revealed. 

As a whole, I think it did a good job recounting the events. It had some information about forensics practices but didn’t overwhelm the reader with it. The historical context was helpful for those who didn’t have that information without being dry or feeling alienating. There was discussion of politics and society as well that made the history more fleshed out than just dates. Lastly, the commentary from his interviewees was well used and distributed throughout the book. It felt like a cohesive narrative and not just a hodge podge of other people’s work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Outing, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

bi_n_large's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Transphobia, and Police brutality

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

book_enjoyer's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

I’m not usually one for true crime, or even fictional murder mysteries, but I enjoyed this one. Green lays out the details of the Last Call Killer’s murders in unflinching, brutal detail, but he takes equal care with the victims’ lives and the gay bar culture that forms the setting of the book. As a queer reader, I appreciated that the book didn’t feel like it was written for a straight audience—Green doesn’t pause to explain what a bear or a leather daddy is, for example—and didn’t shy away from detailing the level of casual homophobia present at the time. In the epilogue, Green expresses some hesitancy as to whether he, a straight man, should be telling this story: “Could I do right by the queer community and its history? That’s not for me to say. What I tried to do in this book was let my sources tell the story.” In my opinion, he has risen to this challenge. Last Call is compelling, atmospheric, and thoroughly-researched, and it sheds light on a brutal serial killer whose actions were ignored for too long because of his victims’ sexuality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Medical content, and Alcohol

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Rape, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use and Panic attacks/disorders

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