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1. Obviates: Predicate, Show Adult
Definitive edition of two long out-of-print works, with many previously unpublished images from the author's archive.
In Predicate (2005), Sotos re-examines Dunblane ten years after the massacre, dissecting Thomas Hamilton's motives and revealing the gay sub-culture of clandestine paedophilia which spawned this most reviled of all killers.
Show Adult (2007) investigates the experience of pornography. The book also analyzes the TV shows Supernanny and To Catch a Predator as publicly acceptable forms of child pornography.
In Predicate (2005), Sotos re-examines Dunblane ten years after the massacre, dissecting Thomas Hamilton's motives and revealing the gay sub-culture of clandestine paedophilia which spawned this most reviled of all killers.
Show Adult (2007) investigates the experience of pornography. The book also analyzes the TV shows Supernanny and To Catch a Predator as publicly acceptable forms of child pornography.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
532 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2023
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Peter Sotos
36 books225 followersPeter Sotos (born April 17, 1960) is a Chicago-born writer who has contributed an unprecedented examination of the peculiar motivations of sadistic sexual criminals. His works are often cited as conveying an uncanny understanding of myriad aspects of pornography. Most of his writings have focused on sexually violent pornography, particularly of that involving children. His writings are also considered by many to be social criticism often commenting on the hypocritical way media handles these issues.
In 1984, while attending The Art Institute of Chicago, Sotos began producing a self-published newsletter or "fanzine" named Pure, notable as the first zine dedicated to serial killer lore. Much of the text and pictures in Pure were photocopied images from major newspapers and other print media. Sotos also used a photocopy from a magazine of child pornography as the cover of issue#2 of Pure. In 1986 this cover led to his arrest and charges of obscenity and possession of child pornography. The charges of obscenity were dropped, but Sotos eventually pled guilty to the possession charge and received a suspended sentence. Sotos was the first person in the United States ever to be charged for owning child pornography.
Sotos' writings explore sadistic and pedophilic sexual impulses in their many, often hidden, guises. Often using first person narratives, his prose takes on the point of view of the sexual predator. Despite his early legal troubles, and the seemingly fatal stigma of falsely being labeled a pedophile, Sotos continues to garner support for his ideas and literary output.
He was until 2003 a seminal member of the industrial noise band Whitehouse.
In 1984, while attending The Art Institute of Chicago, Sotos began producing a self-published newsletter or "fanzine" named Pure, notable as the first zine dedicated to serial killer lore. Much of the text and pictures in Pure were photocopied images from major newspapers and other print media. Sotos also used a photocopy from a magazine of child pornography as the cover of issue#2 of Pure. In 1986 this cover led to his arrest and charges of obscenity and possession of child pornography. The charges of obscenity were dropped, but Sotos eventually pled guilty to the possession charge and received a suspended sentence. Sotos was the first person in the United States ever to be charged for owning child pornography.
Sotos' writings explore sadistic and pedophilic sexual impulses in their many, often hidden, guises. Often using first person narratives, his prose takes on the point of view of the sexual predator. Despite his early legal troubles, and the seemingly fatal stigma of falsely being labeled a pedophile, Sotos continues to garner support for his ideas and literary output.
He was until 2003 a seminal member of the industrial noise band Whitehouse.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 21, 2025
Putting aside the ethics of the whole edgelord sexualizing true crime approach for a second this was exhausting to read. And I don't necessarily mean emotionally, I was prepared for the subject matter (though googling the various cases wasn't fun). But it was such an unstructured meandering ramble, constantly going off on tangents and spending the VAST majority of the text on talking about having dirty gay hookups at dirty gay clubs. Which is like... fine but not what I picked this book up for and frequently without any obvious connections to the actual topic so it feels like the only purpose for these rambles is to shock you by juxtaposing explicit fetish content with the child murders which gets old really fast. I was genuinely interested in what Show Adult seemed to be about especially but there was very little of it in the actual text. Made all the more frustrating by the fact that every now and then he DOES hit on an incredibly salient, intelligent point I've never seen expressed this way, giving you a glimpse of what this book could be if it wasn't trying SO hard to be edgy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review