Fans of Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter will feel right at home with the new book Helltown. This true crime book is written in narrative form and follows serial killer Tony Costa, who made his name as a violent killer. Hidden in plain side as an eloquent leader of the counter culture in Provincetown, Massachusetts. People thought he was fantastic, as he handed out hallucinogenic drugs by the handful to locals. At the same time, women began to disappear and Tony’s charisma and good looks made many people overlook him as a possible suspect. When he becomes a key suspect, local writers Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer both race to write about Costa and launch their own investigations.
I really wanted to fall headfirst into Helltown and read all the way through, but it just didn’t grab me the way books like I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. Casey Sherman is a solid writer, but this book feels like fiction instead of true crime and that’s just not my style. Still, folks who love the classic true crime narrative of the 70s and 80s will likely fall madly in love with this book.
Helltown is available July 12, 2022 from Sourcebooks.
