Friday, July 15, 2022

7.15.2022 - Helltown

 Helltown by Casey Sherman

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for gifting me a digital ARC of this true crime book by Casey Sherman - 4 stars.

In the late 1960s, in Provincetown, MA, a killer is on the loose and women are disappearing.  Charismatic Tony Costa seems to allude suspicion but is eventually the leading suspect.  Tony has a group of followers, in young women who call him Sire and believe in witchcraft.  Add to this that authors Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut are living in Provincetown and are rivals, both somewhat obsessed with Tony's story.  

I love true crime (no matter what that may say about me!) and thought this book told the story of Tony Costa well.  But it definitely blurred the lines between fact and fiction.  Plus it was very long and I'm not sure how much the story of the famous authors really added to the narrative and may cause people to lose interest, especially in the beginning when everything is coming together.  But it kept me intrigued and wanting to read to the end, despite the very graphic descriptions of the crimes.  

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