The Kill Jar, by J. Reuben Appelman, chronicles the author's investigation into the unsolved Oakland County Child Killings (OCCK) . Four children were murdered in 1976 and 1977 in Detroit, and no killer was ever brought to justice. The author was six years old and living in the area at the time of the murders and himself escaped an abduction attempt. The book details the abduction and murders of the four victims, but this is much more than a tale of those crimes. While investigating the murders, Appelman uncovers what appears to be an organized ring of pedophiles engaged in providing children for sexual purposes under the guises of summer camps, retreats and "special outings." Some of the perpetrators were highly placed citizens, or members of the families of highly placed citizens, and some of these individuals appear to have been tied to the OCCKs. The author meticulously outlines what the police knew or should have known, what obvious evidence was overlooked and what incontrovertible facts appear to have been purposely buried or destroyed. The police investigations were poorly-performed and sloppy, but this was compounded by more deliberate actions that prevented a final solution. Most of the book focuses on the murder cases and the pedophile ring, but the author also goes into quite a bit of detail on his own childhood and how it affected his development into the adult he is today. In particular, it tells the disturbing story of what life was like for him, his two siblings and his mother under the control of his violent and abusive father. His conflicted feelings toward his father are evident in his sporadic personal contacts with the man when he is back in his hometown investigating these 40-year-old murders. In a true case of "the child is the father of the man", the author's adult life is confused, troubled by anger issues and at times he is approaching rock-bottom. He is often financially strapped and resorts to food stamps. He makes several attempts at re-igniting old romantic relationships and while these seem to be temporarily satisfying, none of them pan out. His research continues over the years. His attempts to maintain a relationship with his sister are not wholly successful, because she also was damaged by her childhood. The story jumps from time period to time period, and this is sometimes a little confusing, although once I got used to this writing technique, I was able to pretty easily estimate the time frames. There are multiple possible murderers and the background of each is meticulously researched and described, together their possible motives and links to the crimes and to each other. The author met with relatives of the victims, some of whom had their own strong opinions on possible perpetrators, and every detail of the crimes and the cast of characters is set forth. Throughout the book, the author's strong paternal instinct and love for his two children is obvious and this is another thread that winds its way through the book. By the end of the book, I still wasn't sure who the murderer was, although I had a strong suspicion. Also, happily, the author had apparently found a new soulmate and was fulfilling his role as a dad to his now teenage children. This book is a combination true crime story and autobiography. Mr. Appelman seamlessly blends these two genres to come up with a riveting tale of an old unsolved crime and of the man who was driven to try to solve it.

I was very disappointed in this book. While I understand the need for the author to insert himself into the story because he was almost abducted, he spends far too much time writing about himself (calling his ex-girlfriend, etc...) and not about the crime that he was suppose to write about. It reminded me of I'll be Gone in the Dark, where the author writes about her experience of the crimes and their impact on her, but in this case it fails. I would have liked to have read more about the crimes, the cases, the victims, the impacts these crimes had on the community and of course the hunt for the elusive killer.

Over about a year spanning 1976-1977, at least four children were killed in Detroit's Oakland County by a serial killer dubbed somewhat clunkily the Oakland County Child Killer, or OCCK. The case remains officially unsolved, but as J. Reuban Appelman lays out in this true crime narrative cum memoir, that's not for lack of information and plenty of suspects and unbelievable yet seemingly very real conspiracies.

The details of these murders are absolutely chilling. The children were abducted and held for varying periods of time before their bodies were dumped in public places. What I already knew of the case was the detail that one boy had been fed fried chicken after his mother had made a plea on TV to his abductor, trying to humanize the boy. She promised him his favorite meal of fried chicken when he came home. It adds an even more sad and sadistic element to an already terrible story.

But the case becomes fascinating when all of the details, excellently related here, come into play. There were multiple viable suspects, including one whose suicide is suspicious to the point of being impossible. Coverups, conspiracies, rich eccentrics, child pornography, a private island only for the perverted rich to abuse children - the truth that came out with this case sounds like it could only come from gritty crime fiction or a thriller where Morgan Freeman plays a grizzled but dedicated cop, ready to track down this sicko and stamp out these evils at any cost.

The more you dig, the more you see danger around every corner.

And yet, it's all too true. And frustratingly, despite so much information, there wasn't enough to prosecute a suspect, or else, that prosecution was purposely avoided. Even at the book's conclusion, I'm not sure.

All to say that what Appelman tells about the OCCK case is worthwhile - grim, chilling, well researched, leaving you with a lot to mull over about the case and its suspects. But those chapters alternate with his memoir storytelling, both of his family and childhood, his own inner darkness that he's trying to fight while his marriage crumbles and he tries to hold onto his kids, visits strippers and considers cheating on his wife, despite his rage about her cheating on him. Oh boy.

He grew up in Detroit around the same time period, and once as a child was followed, perhaps in an abduction attempt, by an older man; another time, as a teenager, he was groomed by a different older man but thankfully remained mostly unharmed, despite the mental trauma of what the man was trying to do.

He also suffered under an abusive father, one who seemingly continues to verbally and emotionally abuse and manipulate him into adulthood. At one point, after hinting, he files a FOIA about his father, further insinuating that he saw police stop him once and maybe he's also involved, despite no evidence for this and also never following up on what becomes of the FOIA. He had a great story in the OCCK, with almost too much information and too many leads to chase down, and yet so much page space is given to incomplete personal stories.

This memoir element divided the book for me. That's partially on me - I knew what I was getting into, it's very clear from the synopsis - but despite the author's methods of working his own story into the historical cold case, it didn't feel right or fitting. And the stories he chooses to tell are so sad and unpleasant - and I don't mean that in the same way that the OCCK story is sad and unpleasant. Despite the author's difficult childhood and the pain from various emotional traumas he's clearly held for a lifetime, he does not come across sympathetically. There were also some uncomfortably misogynistic lines - reducing a female police officer to a sex object through a photo, imagining how she would kiss and bite - the author, I guess. It's a completely inappropriate moment in the book.

He describes his obsession with sexuality in another passage, blaming it on sneaking his dad's pornography magazines as a boy: "They stuck with me as a way of seeing the world through sex-colored lenses." The kind of issues he describes - and I'm sorry to have to write it this way, because he sounds like he's been through some hurting in his life - but this belongs in a therapist's office, not worked out in the pages of a crime narrative and stories that belong to others.

It's really unfortunate that the book is structured as it is, because I found his crime writing to be engrossing and well done. His memoir writing just isn't either as strong or as compelling, it veers often into purple prose or confusing literary flourishes. As here, ostensibly writing about the "imperfection" of this case since it remains unsolved:

I would like a readership to find fault in perfection, should I threaten to deliver it, the story winding itself down on the streets of Detroit, my hooded figure bookending the tale, or with my hair in the wind riding a ferry through the frigid chop toward the Foxes; for it is only in the imperfections, the unknown aspects of the OCCK, that we are allowed to see the truth: that no serial murder case in the history of modern criminal justice has had so many leads, and for as long a duration, without a single arrest.

I still think it's worth reading for those chapters. I don't have much comparison, having only heard a bit of the OCCK story before, but just consider all the bizarre, mysterious elements wrapped up in this one case:

That planes go down over frigid waters, automobiles explode, suicides abound, blood is sprayed on dashboards in the parking lots of apartment complexes, lives are gassed in the suburban single-car garages of spring, birth certificates are burned and passports are faked, and composite after composite matching suspect after suspect and vehicle after vehicle matching imprint after testimony after composite alike can, without resolution, be overwhelming.

That's what makes this case so fascinating and what kept me reading when I was really disliking the memoir chapters. Just look at that laundry list of happenings. It's like everything from a formulaic thriller movie all rolled into one real life case.

Though the memoir story wasn't for me, the true crime reporting was excellently done and compelling.

Having grown up in Oakland County, Michigan I first became interested in these murders after reading about them in other books. I was very eager to read this book which promised the results of the author’s ten-year investigation of buried leads and police cover-ups of evidence, con-men, child porn rings, and high-level corruption. It certainly delivered on that and on being also part memoir, as the author J. Reuben Appelman also grew up in Michigan, in the Detroit area and was intimately familiar with the areas he discusses in the book. He still has family there and made efforts to reconnect with them as he did his work on the case.

This book has a ton of great information about the cases, about the suspects, and about new suspects never heard of and what’s happened in the intervening years. Appelman connects the dots and lets you decide based on some rather shocking details. This is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the Oakland County Child Murders case of 1976 and 1977 or true crime fans. An advance digital copy was provided by NetGalley and author J. Reuben Appelman for my unbiased review.

Gallery Books
Publication: Aug 14, 2018

I have been reading since I was 4 years old and there are very few books that I just couldn't finish. "The Godfather" was one of them and this is the other. The telling of the story is very disjointed and moves back an forth in time and between the actual story and the author's own personal experience. I could not follow the plot line through the maze of changes in time/view. I just can't finish this and forced myself to 36% read and honestly I have totally lost interest in continuing. Your mileage may vary.. I will not put this review on Amazon before the book comes out. #chapterchatterpub

The OCCK case under the title of "The Kill Jar" here is true crime at its worst (best). It somehow was a fast read but terrifying. It is a grim reminder that then and even still there are varying degrees of justice with always the hauntingly familiar victims.

What is the nature of our own obsessions? How might helping others be the impetus to possibly finding our own peace? These questions swirled around my head as I read about J. Reuben Appelman’s personal investigations into the Oakland County Child Killer case in his book The Kill Jar. The OCCK case is a series of at least four abductions and subsequent murders of children between 1976 and 1977 in and around the city of Detroit, Michigan. The serial killer has never been identified. Law enforcement agencies, families of the victims, and other interested parties have spent the past forty years trying to find the truth. And for Appelman, his search serves as a way to explore and possibly come to terms with his own unwieldy obstacles.

Even though many readers will be familiar with the crimes, I will purposely be vague in my review to ensure the reader has an unsullied view. I will say that there are tragic victims, a slew of suspects, possible cover ups, and links to great wealth and privilege. This is a dark tale full of the most horrible perversions, but there is hope and movement towards catharsis. Appelman explains his connection, and his method of telling the story. And it will up to the reader to decide where past and current bias may lay in thousands and thousands of pages of evidence, the interviews the author conducts, and his own interpretation of the various accounts.

Appelman’s own terse visions of violence are on full display in his writing. It can be shocking, but told with a degree of transparency and honesty that is chilling, yet necessary. The structure of the chapters can be choppy, and the timeline is hard to follow at times. From victim to personal to past to present, it seems to be told in the cyclical obsessive turns of the author. But these minor issues only serve to indicate how chaotic and unorganized the original investigation was and how Appelman’s life is during the course of his inquiry.

I think many will align this book with the recent popular true crime shows Serial, S Town, and Making of a Murderer. I don’t think they are wrong, but Appelman takes a much more personal and raw path in telling his story. His motivations whether altruistic or demon-driven are always on display as his own professed unbalance is juxtaposed with the corruption of the case. The Kill Jar is an addicting read, one that will have you Googling the case late at night to see the eyes of the suspects and to test your own theories.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery Books, Simon and Schuster, and J. Reuben Appelman for the advance copy for review.