"The horrifying tale of notorious American serial killer John Wayne Gacy, as told by daughter of one of the key witnesses. "
If you were to mention the name John Wayne Gacy to anyone in Chicago in the 1980s and 1990s, they would have shuddered.
He was known as the killer clown. The man who worked as a clown and was later convicted of killing 33 boys and young men. He buried most of them underneath his crawl space in his home near O’Hare International Airport. Everyone knew who he was. Everyone was horrified by his crimes.
John Wayne Gacy’s case is studied again in Courtney Lund O’Neil’s book, Postmortem: The Murderous Legacy of John Wayne Gacy. O’Neil has a unique perspective on the case, though. Her mother was one of the key witnesses in the case.
What follows is a true crime narrative non-fiction book, with two timelines—“Then,” which details the investigation, arrest and eventual conviction of Gacy—and “Now,” which follows O’Neil as she visits the Chicagoland area and interviews key people affiliated with the case, including her mother.
O’Neil’s mother, Kim, was working with Rob Piest, 15, at the neighbourhood chemist the night Gacy visited the store, ostensibly to measure the store for a possible refurbishment. Gacy told Piest he would hire him, but first he needed to speak to him outside. Piest was never seen again. Months later, rescuers recovered Piest’s body from a local river.
O’Neil offers a forensic examination into the case, which makes Postmortem, the perfect title. Well-written and compelling, fans of true crime would be riveted by this book.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
| Other Genres: |
In the vein of the bestselling I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, this compelling work of true crime explores the aftershocks of “Killer Clown” John Wayne Gacy’s crimes with a uniquely intimate slant, as the daughter of a key witness probes her mother’s personal experiences and the legacy of murder within a family, a community, and the American psyche.
On a December night in 1978, Courtney Lund O’Neil’s mother, teenaged Kim Byers, saw her friend Rob Piest alive for the last time. At the end of his shift at the pharmacy where they both worked, fifteen-year-old Rob went outside to speak to a contractor named John Wayne Gacy about a possible job.
That night Rob became Gacy’s final victim; his body was later found in the Des Plaines River. Kim’s testimony, along with a receipt belonging to her found in Gacy’s house, proving that Rob had been there, would be pivotal in convicting the serial killer who assaulted and killed over thirty young men and boys.
Though she grew up far from Des Plaines, Courtney has lived in the shadow of that nightmare, keenly aware of its impact on her mother. In search of deeper understanding and closure, Courtney and Kim travel back to Illinois.
Postmortem transforms their personal journey into a powerful exploration of the ever-widening ripples generated by Gacy’s crimes. From the 1970s to the present day, his shadow extends beyond the victims’ families and friends--it encompasses the Des Plaines neighborhood forever marked by his horrific murders, generations ofM the victims’ families and friends, those who helped arrest and convict him, fandom communities, and many others.
Layered and thought-provoking, Postmortem is a complex story of loss and violence, grief and guilt, and the legacy that remains long after a killer is caught.
Postmortem features in the following genres: Biographies & Autobiographies, True crime, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, True stories: general, True crime, True crime: serial killers and murderers
Postmortem is available in Paperback
Postmortem was written by Courtney Lund O'Neil and published by Mirror Books
£8.99
