Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

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

5 reviews

goose's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

3.75

I wanted to love this book more than I did, but maybe Green’s writing style isn’t for me. The writing of the book isn’t straightforward and sometimes take a meandering stroll down an avenue that you can’t quite figure out the relevance of until the next page break. However, in terms of bringing to light a forgotten case as well as bringing to life that time in Manhattan for queer people it does a great job. I also think centering the book around the victims and their lives is how true crime should be. I do wish we got to hear more from the Anti Violence Group, maybe that would be for a different book. I also commend the sheer amount of work researching for the book must have been. Truly bravo on that front. The followups in the epilogue as well as in the addition written in 2021 for this edition were a nice treat, even though they come with bad news. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Body horror, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Homophobia

killerpancake's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Cursing, and Blood

This is true crime where the victims were gay men and includes crime scene information. I appreciate that it focused more on the victim's lives instead of venerating the killer.

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, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Violence

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia and Medical content

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.75

✨REVIEW✨ [ @celadonbooks #partner ]

The Last Call Killer preyed upon gay men in New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s and had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers. Yet because of the sexuality of his victims, the skyhigh murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten. (via Goodreads) 📚

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LAST CALL is not your typical portrait of a killer. Yes, there is some examination of his life, but this book is primarily a look at the Last Call Killer's known victims. We read about their daily lives, their personalities, and how they simply tried to cope with being gay in an era when people often even refused to touch gay people for fear of catching AIDS. 📚

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Green has managed to distill a huge amount of information - this book is clearly so deeply reported - into an easy to follow narrative. No small feat for a story that includes police and investigators from multiple states and precincts, victims with double lives, and more than a few dead ends. 📚

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LAST CALL is also a loving look at New York and its many subcultures. I could practically see the bar districts discussed here, feel the sticky floors and mourn the loss of gay bars with their patrons. 📚

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On top of all that, the final sections of the book, when the clues are coming together and the court case is proceeding had me on the edge of my seat. If you have any interest in true crime and/or queer history, put LAST CALL on your list. 📚

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Content warnings: Addiction, alcoholism, deat), gore (it's REALLY gory, y'all), hate crime, homophobia, physical abuse, torture, violence, police brutality, kidnapping. 📚

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence