By Grand Rapids Public Library

The irony of being stalked by an remorseless killer is never far from Carlo’s mind, as he writes his last book,  which is the one we are reading. Diagnosed with ALS in 2005, he became even more driven to finish his projects before his “deadline”, and the result is that we are able to learn a little about life from a courageous man.

A true-crime writer for nearly 30 years, Carlo specialized in contract and serial killers. In this memoir he explains how his life intersected and diverged with Mafia figures at an early age. An inappropriate sexual relationship with a young female teacher led to the revelation that he was dyslexic. She helped him to read and it changed his life so much that he realized he wanted to be a writer. Later, he would  be drawn to subjects growing out of his early life in Brooklyn. Events, good and bad, shaped his journey, including a chilling series of encounters with a pedophile that almost ended his life.

Carlo ultimately saw his mission in unearthing and exposing the root and branch of the sociopathic personality, to understand them and  to warn others. The juxtaposition of the relentless disease process of ALS, and the “monsters” of Carlo’s acquaintance is thought provoking. Because who is not fascinated by evil? As long as humanity has struggled to understand it’s secrets, so it eludes us.