Overview

The true crime cult classic that inspired an upcoming Netflix documentary series and companion podcast, The Ultimate Evil follows journalist Maury Terry's terrifying investigation into the true evil behind the Son of Sam murders. On August 10, 1977, the NYPD arrested David Berkowitz for the Son of Sam murders that had terrorized New York City for over a year. Berkowitz confessed to shooting sixteen people and killing six with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver, and the case was officially closed. Journalist Maury Terry was suspicious of Berkowitz's confession. Spurred by conflicting witness descriptions of the killer and by the Queens district attorney, who was convinced Berkowitz didn't act alone, Terry spent decades researching, gathering evidence, and interviewing those involved in the case. He released his initial findings in the original publication of The Ultimate Evil in 1987, in which he presented his theory that Berkowitz was a member of the Process Church of the Final Judgment, a cult responsible for the Son of Sam murders, as well as other ritual murders across the country. After Terry's death in 2015, documentary filmmaker Josh Zeman, documentary filmmaker of Cropsey, The Killing Season, and Murder Mountain, followed leads Terry left for him, which form the basis of his 2021 docuseries with Netflix and a companion podcast. Taken together with The Ultimate Evil, which includes a new introduction by Zeman, these works reveal the stunning intersections of power, wealth, privilege, and evil in America--from the Summer of Sam until today.

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9781665040679

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Reviews

A very well-written book that masterfully sets the scene...A true-crime classic that details one of the most notorious serial killings of all time, connecting the dots to a larger conspiracy. -- GeeksofDoom.com This book isn't just about Son of Sam...It's about an author who drove himself into the ground trying to make sense of some of the most brutal crimes in American history...I wasn't able to put this book down--and neither will you. -- Billy Jensen, author of Chase Darkness with Me

"A very well-written book that masterfully sets the scene...A true-crime classic that details one of the most notorious serial killings of all time, connecting the dots to a larger conspiracy. -- ""GeeksofDoom.com"" This book isn't just about Son of Sam...It's about an author who drove himself into the ground trying to make sense of some of the most brutal crimes in American history...I wasn't able to put this book down--and neither will you. -- ""Billy Jensen, author of Chase Darkness with Me"""

Author Information

Maury Terry (1946-2015) was an award-winning investigative reporter whose work was prominently featured in both television and print media. He wrote for the Gannett newspaper chain, Vanity Fair, Gear, and Penthouse, among others. He reported on and coproduced nearly a dozen national TV specials about the Son of Sam conspiracy. In 1993, and again in 1997, he conducted the first television interviews about the case with confessed killer David Berkowitz. His television work included exclusive national specials on the O. J. Simpson case, New York's Steinberg-Nussbaum investigation, and the Zodiac murders. He lectured extensively at law enforcement seminars across the United States. Keith Szarabajka has appeared in many films, including The Dark Knight, Missing, and A Perfect World, and on such television shows as The Equalizer, Angel, Cold Case, Golden Years, and Profit. Szarabajka has also appeared in several episodes of Selected Shorts for National Public Radio. He won the 2001 Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction for his reading of Tom Robbins's Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and has won several Earphones Awards. Joshua Zeman is the critically acclaimed director of Cropsey about the New York urban legend turned true crime story, the Killer Legends anthology series for NBC Universal, The Killing Season about the Long Island Serial Killer, and Magic Mountain about unsolved disapperances in Humboldt County, California. As a producer/coproducer, some of Zeman's past credits include The Station Agent, Mysterious Skin, The Hawk Is Dying, and Against the Current.

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