Happy Sunday friends, it’s the end of January and I just can’t believe we are one month into 2021 already! I’m super excited to end January with a review of this fantastic ARC of Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green. I cannot truly express how excited I was when this book showed up in my mail! Firstly, I absolutely LOVE surprise book mail (especially when it comes from Celadon), and secondly one of my 2021 reading resolutions was to read more Non-Fiction and True Crime. So it was actually quite convenient when Last Call arrived. I was immediately drawn in by the cover and back cover blurb, as the Last Call Killer was a serial killer I was not familiar with.
As described by Celadon, “Last Call brings to light the little-known history of the Last Call Killer and the gay men he preyed upon in New York City throughout the ’80s and ’90s. This thorough investigation is beautifully told as a heartfelt elegy toward the men and their lives. You’ll find Last Call is both a gripping true crime book and a human interest story about the men whose deaths were buried by the system that failed them during a time of skyhigh murder rates and the AIDS epidemic.”
My Review –
This was a very interesting blend of the history of the treatment and prejudice of the gay community in NYC throughout the years and how it played into the murders committed by the Last Call Killer and the investigation that took years before Richard Rogers was finally sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. It was a little slow at first, as Elon built the stage for the reader to understand why the first murder weren’t taken so seriously. As the pieces of the puzzle came together I just couldn’t stop reading! I loved the addition of the forensic science, very intriguing! Between the history of prejudice and the AIDS epidemic, the victims lives and the investigation details, I felt that Elon Green did beautifully with his elegy to the lives of the men targeted by the Last Call Killer. This was a very well executed narrative on the tragedy committed by the hands of the Last Call killer and how after years he was finally brought to justice.
I hope you enjoyed my review of Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green, and if this interests your reading palate you will be able to get it in stores or online in March 2021!
Stay tuned for my upcoming reviews in February. I’ll be trying to keep with the theme of romance, in some way or another, in honor of February and Valentine’s Day. I’m really not one to celebrate this holiday, but with everything that’s been going in the past year I felt that we needed more love in our lives. Y’all know I love to read, so I’m sharing that with you. 🙂
Positive Vibes & Happy Reading!
booksnbites 