Today’s post is on The Wilderness of Ruin: A Tale of
Madness, Fire, and the Hunt for America's Youngest Serial Killer by Roseanne
Montillo. It is 308 pages long and is published by William Morrow. The cover is
a picture of Boston after the great fire in 1872. The intended reader is who is
interested in historical true crime. There is mild foul language, talk of
sexuality, and descriptions of violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- In 1871, young children were
disappearing from Boston’s working-class neighborhoods. The few who returned
told desperate tales of being taken to the woods and tortured by a boy not much
older than themselves. The police were skeptical—these children were from poor
families, so their testimony was easily discounted. And after the Great Boston
Fire of 1872 reduced much of downtown to rubble, the city had more pressing
concerns. Finally, when the police apprehended Jesse Pomeroy for the crimes,
he, like any twelve-year-old, was sent off to reform school. Little thought was
given to the danger he might pose to society, despite victims’ chilling reports
of this affectless Boy Torturer.
Sixteen months later, Jesse was released in the care of his mother, and within months a ten-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy went missing, their mutilated bodies later discovered by police. This set off a frantic hunt for Pomeroy, who was now proclaimed America’s youngest serial killer. When he was captured and brought to trial, his case transfixed the nation, and two public figures—Herman Melville and Oliver Wendell Holmes—each probed the depths of Pomeroy’s character in a search for the meaning behind his madness.
Roseanne Montillo takes us inside those harrowing years, as a city reeling from great disaster reckoned with the moral quandaries posed by Pomeroy’s spree.
Sixteen months later, Jesse was released in the care of his mother, and within months a ten-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy went missing, their mutilated bodies later discovered by police. This set off a frantic hunt for Pomeroy, who was now proclaimed America’s youngest serial killer. When he was captured and brought to trial, his case transfixed the nation, and two public figures—Herman Melville and Oliver Wendell Holmes—each probed the depths of Pomeroy’s character in a search for the meaning behind his madness.
Roseanne Montillo takes us inside those harrowing years, as a city reeling from great disaster reckoned with the moral quandaries posed by Pomeroy’s spree.
Review- This is a true crime book with an eye to the history
in general. The story of history of Boston, of serial killers, of mental
illness, of famous authors, and of true crime. Montillo wanted to give the reader a
good overall insight into the world of Pomeroy, she wants us to understand how
he would have been seen in his time without all the armchair detectives who
have watched way too much Forensic Files, like myself, and know more about the psychology
of serial killers than the best detectives in his day. The narrative is told in
parts with some chapters about Pomeroy and his family, with chapters about the
detectives, the city of Boston and the people who were studying killers and mental illness at that time.
Montillo does excellent research and I had no trouble seeing the world that
Pomeroy lived in. At times the other details can be overwhelming and loses the
focus of the story, which is murder, but then she will bring it back. If you
are interested in historical true crime then you should really enjoy this book.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for
my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
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