I often gravitate to Historical Fiction, in my writing as well as in my reading and infotainment choices.

This book contains the aftermath and graphic gore of a killer's rage, a recounting of a monster living and hunting amongst the residents of Provincetown Massachusettes. in the late 1960s.

I appreciate this author's effort to pull in relevant atmospheric details, high-profile people, and big events of the time.

There are some extremely disturbing descriptions in this book I wish were not a stark reflection of real events and that I could shake loose from my memory. A ghastly horror I wish no community would ever have to face.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of Helltown for my unbiased evaluation. 3 stars

Expected release date: July 12, 2022

Dnf @ 8%

This book was incredibly graphic and I couldn’t read about it. I also didn’t care at all about the chapters with the writers. I’m sure it would have connected but it felt out of place.

Helltown by Casey Sherman is a superb read with a well-drawn plot and vivid characters. A read well worth the time.

This book just wasn't for me. As a lover of truce crime, this book felt far too fictionalized. The author took a lot of liberties when it came to speculating how the killer and victims felt. Therefore, this read much more like fiction than non-fiction. What I enjoy about true crime are the facts and details and less the feelings, so this did not work for me.

Frankly, I also did not care about the dueling authors that were so heavily focused on. I could have lived without any of their narratives.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks for allowing me to review this advanced reader's copy.

I really tried with this one because Costa's victims deserve to have their stories told. But the alternating chapters with Vonnegut/Mailer were not necessary in my opinion, though then I suppose the book would have been much shorter. I skimmed those chapters because I did not find them interesting or valuable to the real story. I also find it difficult to believe massive re-created conversations and don't believe they belong in a non-fiction text unless the original conversation was recorded word-for-word. A few lines of dialogue, sure. But long conversation? Nope. The book is marketed as non-fiction, then it should BE non-fiction. I was incredibly disappointed in this book, it was a jumbled mess, and I could not finish it despite several attempts.

Tony Costa was a serial killer who achieved notoriety for committing serial murders in and around the Massachusetts town of Truro in 1969 during the time of the murders by Manson's The Family. Costa's crimes gained international attention when district attorney Edmund Dinis claimed "The hearts of each girl had been removed from the bodies and were not in the graves…Each body was cut into as many parts as there are joints." Dinis also claimed that there were teeth marks found on the bodies. These claims produced a stream of national and international media outlets into local Provincetown, Massachusetts. Dinis' role is detailed here as well as his prosecution of the Chappaquiddick incident involving Senator Ted Kennedy. Dinis brings in Chappaquiddick. Linda Kasabian's New England roots helps bring in The Manson Family and this is just some of the ornamentation on the tale. Rival writers Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. both wrote about this case. Mailer used it as a germ for Tough Guys Don't Dance and Vonnegut's reportage is anthologized in Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons. We get much more so that effectively biographies of both authors are interwoven in the book of over five hundred pages. The author also brings in imagined dialog between the killer and his alter ego. I started getting suspicious about this trio of witchy followers "Sadie, Thumper, and Strawberry Blonde". With a forthcoming account of the fictionalization here that I would rather have read in an Introduction, an Author’s Note in the backmatter admits that

Helltown is a work of fact told with elements of fiction storytelling. ...Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. were both obsessed with this case, although I recreated their dialogue and reimagined some scenarios with Costa’s so-called disciples. I have used my skills and decades of experience as a journalist and true crime writer to enter an area that Mailer had once mastered —new journalism. I was also inspired to break free from the shackles of strict reportage by the great thriller novelist James Patterson...

New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non-fiction using extensive imagery, reporters interpolate subjective language within facts and is exemplified by Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, Terry Southern, Gay Talese, and others. Personally, I don't think Sherman makes the grade. Indeed others do creative nonfiction true crime better from the killer's perspective IMHO, such as Ryan Green.

Ignoring the embellishments and focusing on the detailing of the crimes, this is I am sure the best and most detailed account one can find and based on thorough research:

...I also gained access to Costa’s unpublished manuscript, “Resurrection,” in which he described the murders as they happened while blaming them on his alter ego.

I did my own research (Google) and found this article which is a nice outline of the crimes as state trooper Edgar "Tom" Gunnery recalls participating in the investigation.

A riveting portrayal of a true crime committed in the 1960s in Cape Cod. The story combines facts of the murders and current happening of the times to immerse the reader - you are actually there. If you are a fan of true crime then this is the book for you.

DNF - abandoned at 20%

Although I appreciated the Cape Cod history of the late 1960s and all the cultural references of the time, I just couldn’t get past the brutality of this serial killer. I particularly enjoyed the rivalry between Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut. But the chapters about Joe Costa and his murder sprees actually made me rather sick to my stomach. I decided to stop reading at 20% because it just wasn’t worth torturing myself anymore.

This book was great, the characters were well developed. The plot was interesting. Highly recommend it.

Very interesting book. Love the history of Tony Costa and the look into the mind of a serial killer and psychopath. 4 stars because at times the book fell flat and failed to hold my attention, but at other times it was exciting and riveting. Overall, I really enjoyed this book

What a trip! I really enjoyed how this true crime case was told and went through the entire narrative from.m beginning to the sentencing and sentence itself. Getting to see what might have been going on in Costa’s mind helped the understanding of the motive as well and the mental issues that he went through. While that doesn’t excuse his actions, it gives understanding of why.

Absolutely fun read and one I’ll recommend for a long time! A book that was recommended and lived up to the hype!

"Helltown," by Casey Sherman is a true crime story about serial killer Tony (Antone) Costa, who killed numerous young women in Cape Cod in the late 1960s. Weaving in and out of the telling of the dual personality mindset of the killer are iconic historic events, such as the deaths of Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy; the VietNam war, and the highly competitive writers Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut in a constant war of the minds. It's a very interesting format, and a story which is both compelling and brutal. A reader who enjoys an engrossing true crime story may be somewhat confused by the many side stories, but I found it enjoyable and would recommend.

Somehow I had never heard of Tony Costa and how he terrorized Cape Cod in the sixties, killing at least five women. Those facts are true, but the author has added fictional narratives to tell this story. I am not sure what disturbed me more. The evil that lived inside this killer or the charming face he showed to the world.
It took me a bit to get invested in this story, but once it grabbed me, it was such a twisted tale. There is quite a bit devoted to Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer, authors who lived on the Cape during this period. I don't want to say too much about them, but the lengths they went to profit professionally from this depraved killer had me shaking my head, a lot. Did I enjoy it? To a certain extent and I am not saying that these authors were anywhere near as bad as the killer, but, wow, just wow, what people won't do for a story. If you enjoy true crime or are interested in knowing more about these authors, Helltown is quite a book.

HELLTOWN by Casey Sherman tells the story of serial killer Tony Costa as he rampaged across Cape Cod in the late 60’s.

This book is being marketed as nonfiction and true crime, yet, in the author’s note, Sherman concludes that he took fictional liberties in the telling of this story…Imagine reading an entire (wild & lengthy) book to then hit that statement…

HELLTOWN also jumped around from one person to another (seemingly unrelated) person and their story, and it just became convoluted and unnecessary, with the pieces barely clicking together by the end.

This one was a slog to get through, and I’m not even sure who I’d recommend it to by the end of it (there are also better books already written on Tony Costa if you want an actual nonfiction recounting).

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review - unfortunately, it ended up not being the book for me.

Publication Date: July 12, 2022

Murder and witches and drama! What more could a great book need?
This is a true crime book that reads like a novel. A very interesting novel.
Tony Costa got his start in crime before Charles Manson, but the Tate/LaBianca murders took over the news and not many people paid attention to Costa. Maybe that's what made this book so interesting, because I had never heard any of it before.
But not only do we get a fantastic true crime story, we also get a peek into the lives and rivalry of Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer, both who wrote about Costa during the trial. Two authors I've very familiar with and enjoyed the 'behind-the-scenes' look into their lives.

Cut to me waiting for the miniseries adaptation. I can't imagine how many more nonfiction books I would read if they were all this absorbing; the writing really transports you and has all the best traits of a standard crime thriller. The "characters" stand out and the general sense of foreboding is *chefs kiss*. Highly recommend!

To me the writing style of this book came across as rather sexist. The women were always described by their physical appearance only, as if looks are all that matter where women are concerned. It felt so dated and offensive. Additionally, the story jumped around between the main theme and seemingly unrelated subplots and it felt like a chore to read, rather than entertaining. It's not a book I would purchase and I probably wouldn't read any of this author's other work, either.

What a great book was very interesting how they figured out the Murders. Tony COS TA was the one who was doing all this crazy stuff in Providence town in the sixties. It was interesting how 2 riders also lived on the Cape Kurt monican and Norman Miller. You also had a wife premarried at 14 because He got her pregnant. I also like how the books were tying and other stuff which was also going on in the sixties. And how he killed 4 women but the 2 they were mostly concerned about where Patricia and Mary Ann. The other woman were called considered Towns. He also visited a woman in New York and he also killed her too. It was interesting how the book described how these women were killed and how they were foun And the dunes of TUR OL. Tony also had a bunch of girls who'd always hang around with them and do drugs. It was also very interesting how they mentioned The incident Martha vineyar I Ted Kennedy. The district attorney was very interesting as well Seemed always running into trouble. And the reason this was bought to attention because of the families in Providence Rhode Island wanted to know what happened to their daughters. The court case was also very interesting you'll find them You're interesting. I can see how this was going on because we're always a very crazy time then Sixties. You also find out These women were killed The book it was pretty disturbing. They also tied in the murders with Charlie manson. This is all related to drugs like LSD And how society was changing at the time. The book title called helltown was really interesting as well because it described how the tourist could come up there but they really didn't realize there was a very bad drug Send. They also mention that It was also in this book as well Including witches. Very well written book I like how everything was tied in together

Helltown is a true crime novel about the serial killer, Antone “Tony” Costa who terrorized Cape Town in 1969.
Costa brutally murdered four women. This is well written but very slow moving the first four to five chapters. The story does become more interesting and moves pretty quickly.. There was the subplot or 'other' story which focused on Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer. They seem to go back and forth and give their perspective of the Costa's trial. This was a little confusing and honestly felt like a second book within a book. This book is perfect for those readers who enjoy true crime (in detail) and are not afraid of blood and gore.