Last Call - BookWyrm

hardcover, 272 pages

Published March 9, 2021 by Celadon Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-22435-4

(2 reviews)

The gripping true story, told here for the first time, of the Last Call Killer and the gay community of New York City that he preyed upon.

The Townhouse Bar, midtown, July 1992: The piano player seems to know every song ever written, the crowd belts out the lyrics to their favorites, and a man standing nearby is drinking a Scotch and water. The man strikes the piano player as forgettable.

He looks bland and inconspicuous. Not at all what you think a serial killer looks like. But that’s what he is, and tonight, he has his sights set on a gray haired man. He will not be his first victim.

Nor will he be his last.

The Last Call Killer preyed upon gay men in New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s and had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers. Yet because of the sexuality of …

The gripping true story, told here for the first time, of the Last Call Killer and the gay community of New York City that he preyed upon.

The Townhouse Bar, midtown, July 1992: The piano player seems to know every song ever written, the crowd belts out the lyrics to their favorites, and a man standing nearby is drinking a Scotch and water. The man strikes the piano player as forgettable.

He looks bland and inconspicuous. Not at all what you think a serial killer looks like. But that’s what he is, and tonight, he has his sights set on a gray haired man. He will not be his first victim.

Nor will he be his last.

The Last Call Killer preyed upon gay men in New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s and had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers. Yet because of the sexuality of his victims, the skyhigh murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten.

This gripping true-crime narrative tells the story of the Last Call Killer and the decades-long chase to find him. And at the same time, it paints a portrait of his victims and a vibrant community navigating threat and resilience.

3 editions

AnneOminous reviewed Last Call by Elon Green

Review of 'Last Call' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This book seemed to become a victim of its own exhaustive and extensive research. Getting to know more about the murdered men was a great approach, but ultimately, for me, bogged the book down so much. For example, one worked in typesetting, so we got several paragraphs discussing typesetting trends of the time. I don't want to gloss over the hisotrical importance of a book that has conveyed an important topic so thoroughly, but in my opinion this book was primarily about what it was like for closeted, professional gay men of the 70s and 80s, with a subplot about some murders. And I don't really get the subtitle; we know the guys went to bars to be themselves and pick up on other guys, but there is not really much love or lust in this book.

Kevin Smokler

rated it

April 1, 2021