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List Price: $6.99 | | Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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Editorial Review:
A true story of mass murder in a Chicago suburb.
Successful businessman, community benefactor, good friend and neighbor-- and perverted mass murderer.
Over a period of three years, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. sexually tortured and murdered 33 boys. His friends and neighbors in his unassuming Illinois community never suspected a thing. Gacy was a Jekyll-and-Hyde figure, leading an outwardly normal life, but secretly brutalizing dozens of young men in a hidden lair, and concealing their bodies under the floorboards of his suburban home.
Through extensive personal interviews with those who knew Gacy, veteran true-crime scribe Clifford L. Linedecker takes us on a shocking ride through Gacy's life, delving deep into the man's troubled past, recounting his appalling series of murders, and recreating the drama of his trial-- which resulted in his execution by lethal injection in 1994. Gruesome and horrifying, The Man Who Killed Boys reveals stark terror set amid the daily lives of an ordinary community.
Documented with an 8-page photo archive
The Man Who Killed Boys: The John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Story Reviews:
the man who killed boys 
2007-12-08 - The man who killed boys should be called the man who loved sex with dead boys, because that is ultimately what Gacy was doing with the boys he killed. This book while it does NOT go into much detail concerning Gacy's childhood, is still a very good read. I found the interviews with Gacy's neighbors to be very interesting and they revealed some previously unknown details about the man (or monster?). I sincerely believe that Gacy's bizarre obsession with bodies has its roots way back in the 1950s and quite possibly includes the Peterson-Schuesler murder from that period. I had the opportunity to correspond (verbally and literally) with one of Gacy's childhood friends from that period recently and what he revealed about Gacy's childhood was downright shocking. Hopefully one day the complete TRUTH will come out concerning this man...or monster...
Marginal at Best... Gives the Reader a History Lesson...
2004-06-04 - This book really was rather disappointing. After reading the back cover and Introduction, the reader is told to expect detailed insight into the details of this near north side Chicago house of horrors and the man who owned it.
While The Man Who Killed Boys offers to the reader a reasonably accurate chronicle of the events that were Gacy's twisted reality, it fails to dig deep below the surface to explore what made him tick. Moreover, it fails to probe Gacy's past as it glosses over his childhood years and spends the majority of the pages reciting murder after murder scene.
The back cover tells us that The Man Who Killed Boys recreates the drama of Gacy's trial... the book spends less precious few pages talking about the actual trial, while it consumes many a page discussing Gacy's jail conditions and other items related to his confinement.
If you want to read a story, this is probably an acceptable choice. But if you're seeking an explanation for or insight into what powers a monster like Gacy, keep moving as you wont find it here.
Not that bad 
2003-06-24 - While not as good as Buried Dreams or Killer Clown,which go into much greater detail about the entire story,this book had some details that I had not known when I read the other books many years ago. A lot of info on gacys neighbors,friends and mostly,some of his victims stories that were not as well publicized as the other unfortunate kids.
Only touches the surface.
2000-03-08 - Linedecker's description of the events as they were portrayed in the media is accurate and complete. Trouble is, it appears he simply went to all the old newspaper articles to cull the information he needed. He also managed to go through police reports. But this books is scant on first person interviews. All the quotes in the book appear to have been taken from newspapers. The book follows an easy narrative, one that is logical and continues to move forward. I agree with another reviewer's comment that the narrative at times is homophobic. But that's not surprising from a book originally published in 1980. While this book is lacking in content, it should not be ignored by those who are interested in Gacy. It at least provides a perspective of how the horrific events of the murders were revealed, as well as the typical nonchalance police exhibit when confronted with missing teen reports.
one of the worst of the genre 
1999-12-28 - Having read between 60-100 true crime books, including three onGacy, I feel qualified to critque this. The book simply skims thesurface in a shameful tabloid manner. The two other Gacy books, Buried Dreams & Killer Clown, were far superior in quality and mass. Gacy was a despicable human being, but even he deserved a better biography than this. This book doesn't offer much more than a few good photos. If it's information you are seeking, then I recommend Buried Dreams by Tim Cahill w/ Russ Ewing. Gacy wasn't a very interesting man to begin with, you could see through him like cellophane. He was sadistic, childish, and ignorant. I corresponded with him for a while and I would not only suggest skipping this book, but I would also recommend finding a better subject to read about. Try Randy Kraft, Jeffrey Dahmer, Dennis Nilsen or Gary Gilmore. Now Ian Brady, there's a sick mind worth exploring!
