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The Ultimate Evil
On August 10, 1977, the NYPD arrested David Berkowitz for the "Son of Sam" murders that had terrorized New York City for more than 13 months. Berkowitz confessed to being a lone murderer—one who had carried out eight senseless shooting with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver. The case was officially closed.
Journalist Maury Terry was suspicious of Berkowitz's confession, convinced as he gathered corroborating evidence throughout the years, that Berkowitz did not act alone. In this investigative story, first published in 1987, Terry details the chilling events, proving that Berkowitz was an affiliate of—and triggerman for—a Satanic cult known as the Process Church of the Final Judgment, a far-reaching organization that is connected to other ritual slayings across the country. Updated with Berkowitz's recent confirmations from his prison cell, Terry untangles the web of information and shocking extent of the Process Church's activities. Includes black-and-white photographs.
Journalist Maury Terry was suspicious of Berkowitz's confession, convinced as he gathered corroborating evidence throughout the years, that Berkowitz did not act alone. In this investigative story, first published in 1987, Terry details the chilling events, proving that Berkowitz was an affiliate of—and triggerman for—a Satanic cult known as the Process Church of the Final Judgment, a far-reaching organization that is connected to other ritual slayings across the country. Updated with Berkowitz's recent confirmations from his prison cell, Terry untangles the web of information and shocking extent of the Process Church's activities. Includes black-and-white photographs.
642 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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December 16, 2008
Generally, the people who discuss this book are either conspiracy nuts who believe the government is spying on them through their cereal or something equally crazy, fundamentalist Christians who are eager to prove that Satan is out to get everyone or professional skeptics who have an axe to grind against the former two and a desire to look very smart and very clever on top of it.
I had read this book back in my high school days, but only remembered some bits and pieces from it (crazy death cults and serial killers are two subjects I'm very interested in).
What surprised me is that, despite the ensuing years of seeing the above three groups fighting over this book, Terry's book is actually very lucid and down-to-earth for the most part.
While his knowledge of 'the occult' is lacking (he's one of those people who doesn't really grok that there are plenty of benign groups out there that use Tarot cards and like Crowley and the OTO, despite the fact that there are also a bunch of weirdos and cranks) his study of the Son of Sam case is, in my opinion, a perfect example of the ineptness of the police department at digging deeper than just surface level (something that has happened time and again, including within this book, repeatedly). The public was terrorized by the ".44 Caliber Killer," and once they caught Berkowitz (who admitted to being the ".44 Caliber Killer"/"Son of Sam," that was enough for them. As long as they had someone to blame it on - and as long as the streets were quiet again - they didn't really care if it went any deeper (although to be fair, many cops DID... but the brass tended to squelch them).
Admittedly, Berkowitz was behind the at least a couple of the killings. Neither Berkowitz nor Terry try to deny that - it would be foolish. However, the fact remains that the various composite images made by witnesses and surviving victims are radically different was ignored. The reports of weird cars in neighbourhoods shortly before the murders was ignored. The witness of a woman who saw Berkwotiz wandering around and driving around shortly before another shooting - thereby requiring that Berkowitz be "The Flash" in order to wander around, drive around AND get back in time to fire shots at the victim was ignored. Even the fact that the various letters from "The Son of Sam" obviously didn't come from the same person was ignored.
Terry draws a line from Berkowitz to alleged friends of his named the Carrs who were involved in some sort of cult (and were murdered shortly after the Son of Sam murders) all the way to places as far-flung as North Dakota, Los Angeles and Houston - as well as Long Island, New York.
While ordinarily, people react negatively to so-called "conspiracy theories," the men who flew the planes into the WTC were part of both a "cult" and members of a "conspiracy." "Conspiracy theory" has been degraded to simply being a buzzword, associated with people who believe that UFOs killed JFK and similar stuff, despite the fact that any theory that links three or more people together, is quite frankly, a "conspiracy theory."
Despite the bad rap the book gets from the skeptics - and the embracing of it by crazy fundies and crazy tin-foil hatters alike - Terry doesn't really focus hugely on so-called cults. While he refers to some (such as the notorious Process, the so-called Chingons, a cult centered around Yonkers, etc.) the book is more about dope than the Devil and if any cult is truly involved, it would appear to involve Scientology moreso than Satan.
Drug deals gone bad, kinky homosexual murders, crazy cults, porn-and-dope addicted vaudeville producers, music celebrities and low-level pushers are all caught up in the net that Terry uncovers.
While it's tempting to write this off as, yes, a conspiracy theory, the fact remains that it is entirely possible that groups with stations across the country are involved in drug-smuggling and dealing and Terry suggests motives behind the Tate-Labianca murders that make far more sense than the "Beatles told me to do it" theory of Vincent Bugliosi (to be fair, Bugliosi was stressed for time and had to get a conviction on Manson - he had plenty of other theories, some of which support Terry's, but the police's refusal to look beneath the surface of a crazy story - like Burkowitz's dog - hindered much of it).
If nothing else, it's an intriguing thought. I, for one, based on personal research I've done on cults in So Cal, tend to think Terry is on to something - whether his entire hypothesis is true or false - but even if just some of it is true, a whole lot of sickos need to be headed to jail... although most of them are probably long since murdered anyway.
A lot of the book is speculative - while Terry is right to protect his sources, often his 'sources' are the only ones with any worthwhile info. It is entirely possible that they were mistaken, or lying, or any number of things, although Terry does regularly verify their claims against information that he, as an investigator, tracks down.
My biggest qualm with this book is that it was written in the mid 80s and some of the figures - such as "Manson II," aka Willie Metzner - are now safely behind bars. Unfortunately, I don't know if there is a newly updated version of this book or not. Considering everything involved, I think there should either be a sequel or a very updated version to trace what's been going on since the book finished. Internet research has shown that some people, such as John Kogut, were exonerated through DNA evidence, although of course the book, written at the time he was confessing to a rape and murder of a teenage girl, doesn't talk about this at all.
I had read this book back in my high school days, but only remembered some bits and pieces from it (crazy death cults and serial killers are two subjects I'm very interested in).
What surprised me is that, despite the ensuing years of seeing the above three groups fighting over this book, Terry's book is actually very lucid and down-to-earth for the most part.
While his knowledge of 'the occult' is lacking (he's one of those people who doesn't really grok that there are plenty of benign groups out there that use Tarot cards and like Crowley and the OTO, despite the fact that there are also a bunch of weirdos and cranks) his study of the Son of Sam case is, in my opinion, a perfect example of the ineptness of the police department at digging deeper than just surface level (something that has happened time and again, including within this book, repeatedly). The public was terrorized by the ".44 Caliber Killer," and once they caught Berkowitz (who admitted to being the ".44 Caliber Killer"/"Son of Sam," that was enough for them. As long as they had someone to blame it on - and as long as the streets were quiet again - they didn't really care if it went any deeper (although to be fair, many cops DID... but the brass tended to squelch them).
Admittedly, Berkowitz was behind the at least a couple of the killings. Neither Berkowitz nor Terry try to deny that - it would be foolish. However, the fact remains that the various composite images made by witnesses and surviving victims are radically different was ignored. The reports of weird cars in neighbourhoods shortly before the murders was ignored. The witness of a woman who saw Berkwotiz wandering around and driving around shortly before another shooting - thereby requiring that Berkowitz be "The Flash" in order to wander around, drive around AND get back in time to fire shots at the victim was ignored. Even the fact that the various letters from "The Son of Sam" obviously didn't come from the same person was ignored.
Terry draws a line from Berkowitz to alleged friends of his named the Carrs who were involved in some sort of cult (and were murdered shortly after the Son of Sam murders) all the way to places as far-flung as North Dakota, Los Angeles and Houston - as well as Long Island, New York.
While ordinarily, people react negatively to so-called "conspiracy theories," the men who flew the planes into the WTC were part of both a "cult" and members of a "conspiracy." "Conspiracy theory" has been degraded to simply being a buzzword, associated with people who believe that UFOs killed JFK and similar stuff, despite the fact that any theory that links three or more people together, is quite frankly, a "conspiracy theory."
Despite the bad rap the book gets from the skeptics - and the embracing of it by crazy fundies and crazy tin-foil hatters alike - Terry doesn't really focus hugely on so-called cults. While he refers to some (such as the notorious Process, the so-called Chingons, a cult centered around Yonkers, etc.) the book is more about dope than the Devil and if any cult is truly involved, it would appear to involve Scientology moreso than Satan.
Drug deals gone bad, kinky homosexual murders, crazy cults, porn-and-dope addicted vaudeville producers, music celebrities and low-level pushers are all caught up in the net that Terry uncovers.
While it's tempting to write this off as, yes, a conspiracy theory, the fact remains that it is entirely possible that groups with stations across the country are involved in drug-smuggling and dealing and Terry suggests motives behind the Tate-Labianca murders that make far more sense than the "Beatles told me to do it" theory of Vincent Bugliosi (to be fair, Bugliosi was stressed for time and had to get a conviction on Manson - he had plenty of other theories, some of which support Terry's, but the police's refusal to look beneath the surface of a crazy story - like Burkowitz's dog - hindered much of it).
If nothing else, it's an intriguing thought. I, for one, based on personal research I've done on cults in So Cal, tend to think Terry is on to something - whether his entire hypothesis is true or false - but even if just some of it is true, a whole lot of sickos need to be headed to jail... although most of them are probably long since murdered anyway.
A lot of the book is speculative - while Terry is right to protect his sources, often his 'sources' are the only ones with any worthwhile info. It is entirely possible that they were mistaken, or lying, or any number of things, although Terry does regularly verify their claims against information that he, as an investigator, tracks down.
My biggest qualm with this book is that it was written in the mid 80s and some of the figures - such as "Manson II," aka Willie Metzner - are now safely behind bars. Unfortunately, I don't know if there is a newly updated version of this book or not. Considering everything involved, I think there should either be a sequel or a very updated version to trace what's been going on since the book finished. Internet research has shown that some people, such as John Kogut, were exonerated through DNA evidence, although of course the book, written at the time he was confessing to a rape and murder of a teenage girl, doesn't talk about this at all.
September 25, 2012
Oh the good old days before DNA and real good forensics, where one Fire Island obsessed NY reporter could toil away on a single story for decades. Where a good juicy serial killer could make the career of a plucky young journalist.
When Terry is not "recreating" conversations between himself and police, himself and District Attorneys, or himself and other newspaper men, he is retyping prison letters from inside snitches.
See, here is the thing about this: Berkowitz did it. Alone. Because he is a paranoid schizophrenic. Probably tormented by his neighbors, the Carrs. The Carrs where bad dudes, one was an active cocaine addict and the other former drug addict turned Scientologist. To a paranoid like Berkowitz, these two guys were into Satanism and all sorts of other depravity. And what was the most depraved thing back in the 1970s? Homosexual bondage sex. Mix all that together with a barking dog and you have the platform for quite a delusional system.
I am sure the Carrs fucked with "Berkie." Teased and harassed him, since he was a loner creep with obvious mental problems. I am, also, convinced that Berkowitz knew them well enough to create his delusions.
The fact that both Carrs met with particularly messy ends, is not surprising either- being low level criminals and dullard thugs.
Terry gets great traction from the Carrs "suspicious" deaths. But really, a dug addict who is trying to break into selling drugs getting killed is not really the stuff of Satanic Conspiracies. More like the plot of a cheap tv show.
The fact that Terry gets more traction from the letters, articles, and other highlighted books that Berkowitz mails around the country to various DAs is a bit naive. I mean, letter writing and strange mail was one of Berkowitz's Son Of Sam calling cards. The fact he continued after arrest seems to prove his culpability more than anything else. Furthermore, the sending of articles and other texts to law enforcement continued to support Berkowitz's paranoid delusions, showing others all the evidence that connects the scrambled world view of his mind.
Terry uses Berkowitz's interviews as more proof. I found the interviews to be entirely made up of leading questions and Berkowitz playing a terribly obvious game of GO FISH. His refusal to answer reads as ignorance and entertainment on his behalf, not scared hints.
To even address the informant letters from Vinny is to admit that a prisoner who has a reporter on the hook, someone who will actively visit him, who will actively write him back, is a prisoner with a lot of power. They are bored beyond words, so this sort of entertainment is invaluable. In addition, anything Vinny overheard, any crime, he could simply feed to Terry and attribute it to Berkowitz. Which I think happened a lot.
Poor Maury Terry. I am sure he misses the disco nights on Fire Island as well as the timely fascination of the Son of Sam case.
When Terry is not "recreating" conversations between himself and police, himself and District Attorneys, or himself and other newspaper men, he is retyping prison letters from inside snitches.
See, here is the thing about this: Berkowitz did it. Alone. Because he is a paranoid schizophrenic. Probably tormented by his neighbors, the Carrs. The Carrs where bad dudes, one was an active cocaine addict and the other former drug addict turned Scientologist. To a paranoid like Berkowitz, these two guys were into Satanism and all sorts of other depravity. And what was the most depraved thing back in the 1970s? Homosexual bondage sex. Mix all that together with a barking dog and you have the platform for quite a delusional system.
I am sure the Carrs fucked with "Berkie." Teased and harassed him, since he was a loner creep with obvious mental problems. I am, also, convinced that Berkowitz knew them well enough to create his delusions.
The fact that both Carrs met with particularly messy ends, is not surprising either- being low level criminals and dullard thugs.
Terry gets great traction from the Carrs "suspicious" deaths. But really, a dug addict who is trying to break into selling drugs getting killed is not really the stuff of Satanic Conspiracies. More like the plot of a cheap tv show.
The fact that Terry gets more traction from the letters, articles, and other highlighted books that Berkowitz mails around the country to various DAs is a bit naive. I mean, letter writing and strange mail was one of Berkowitz's Son Of Sam calling cards. The fact he continued after arrest seems to prove his culpability more than anything else. Furthermore, the sending of articles and other texts to law enforcement continued to support Berkowitz's paranoid delusions, showing others all the evidence that connects the scrambled world view of his mind.
Terry uses Berkowitz's interviews as more proof. I found the interviews to be entirely made up of leading questions and Berkowitz playing a terribly obvious game of GO FISH. His refusal to answer reads as ignorance and entertainment on his behalf, not scared hints.
To even address the informant letters from Vinny is to admit that a prisoner who has a reporter on the hook, someone who will actively visit him, who will actively write him back, is a prisoner with a lot of power. They are bored beyond words, so this sort of entertainment is invaluable. In addition, anything Vinny overheard, any crime, he could simply feed to Terry and attribute it to Berkowitz. Which I think happened a lot.
Poor Maury Terry. I am sure he misses the disco nights on Fire Island as well as the timely fascination of the Son of Sam case.
June 2, 2021
What happens when true crime meets conspiracy theory? An 800-page brick of actual crimes tied very loosely together in the most unconvincing ways.
I couldn’t put it down.
The Ultimate Evil, published in 1987, makes a valiant (and ridiculous) effort to prove the existence of a Satanic network of killers that includes David Berkowitz (alias Son of Sam), and ties his actions back to the Manson family.
Author Maury Terry uses his own (hopefully steel-trap) memory to recreate his conversations (What!? No tape recorder?) along with Berkowitz’s writings and drawings to piece together his theory.
It’s a fascinating read, even though numerous times I laughed out loud at the absurdity of it all. This should be picked up by Netflix or Hulu as a series. It’s entertaining as hell, and I don’t believe a word of it.
—-
Note (May, 2021): My prediction came true two years later! Of course Netflix created a docuseries based on this book.
I couldn’t put it down.
The Ultimate Evil, published in 1987, makes a valiant (and ridiculous) effort to prove the existence of a Satanic network of killers that includes David Berkowitz (alias Son of Sam), and ties his actions back to the Manson family.
Author Maury Terry uses his own (hopefully steel-trap) memory to recreate his conversations (What!? No tape recorder?) along with Berkowitz’s writings and drawings to piece together his theory.
It’s a fascinating read, even though numerous times I laughed out loud at the absurdity of it all. This should be picked up by Netflix or Hulu as a series. It’s entertaining as hell, and I don’t believe a word of it.
—-
Note (May, 2021): My prediction came true two years later! Of course Netflix created a docuseries based on this book.
July 13, 2022
Okay so, I love conspiracies and I have nothing against the theories in this book, I was just bored while reading. Or rather listening.
The introduction made this seem like it was going to be great, shocking, super duper interesting etc etc, and it was at the start. But as it went on I began to lose interest and right now I don't feel like continuing it. Maybe at some point in the future I'll give it another chance.
The introduction made this seem like it was going to be great, shocking, super duper interesting etc etc, and it was at the start. But as it went on I began to lose interest and right now I don't feel like continuing it. Maybe at some point in the future I'll give it another chance.
January 19, 2022
This big brick of a book has me feeling a bit conflicted. For the first half I was super into it and absolutely fascinated, it’s the first time I’ve read anything about David Berkowitz and the search for the Son of Sam. Or rather SonS of Sam according to this book. It’s a crazy and wildly interesting story to learn about no matter the conspiracies. Then the second half came along and Berkowitz disappeared and it became one long rambling conspiracy theory. From there on it became hard to follow and confusing and just plain boring if I’m being honest. I’m all for conspiracy theories but when it becomes theories about theories about conspiracy theories then I start to lose interest a bit. I’d say it’s still worth a read just for the first half but brace yourself for a long ass second half.
December 20, 2020
True crime books are not for the faint of heart. When reading about a fictional murder or murderer, you always have in your mind ‘this isn’t real’ and usually crime fiction ends when the murderer is caught. So not always with true crime. In most true crime books, you can find detailed descriptions of how people were murdered.
In The Ultimate Evil we find a lot of such descriptions. But not only that, we find – if we do choose to believe in it – a whole theory about serial killers. Maury Terry, journalist, wrote this book originally in 1987 but it’s reprinted now with an introduction from Joshua Zeman. Joshua Zeman is a producer and director with several titles on his name that deal with urban legends and conspiracies. He calls The Ultimate Evil one of the most terrifying books he’s ever read.
Because it’s a rather hefty volume, plus I noticed that there are lots of controversies surrounding this book, I’m not going into details here. My idea of an interesting true crime book is more along the lines of the ones written by Ann Rule. Those who read her books will know what I mean.
It was an interesting experience to read The Ultimate Evil, made more interesting by all the different stories around the book and the author.
Thanks to Edelweiss for this review copy.
In The Ultimate Evil we find a lot of such descriptions. But not only that, we find – if we do choose to believe in it – a whole theory about serial killers. Maury Terry, journalist, wrote this book originally in 1987 but it’s reprinted now with an introduction from Joshua Zeman. Joshua Zeman is a producer and director with several titles on his name that deal with urban legends and conspiracies. He calls The Ultimate Evil one of the most terrifying books he’s ever read.
Because it’s a rather hefty volume, plus I noticed that there are lots of controversies surrounding this book, I’m not going into details here. My idea of an interesting true crime book is more along the lines of the ones written by Ann Rule. Those who read her books will know what I mean.
It was an interesting experience to read The Ultimate Evil, made more interesting by all the different stories around the book and the author.
Thanks to Edelweiss for this review copy.
June 12, 2021
Am I rating this book on whether I enjoyed it or whether I believed it?
Maybe it's strange to say that I didn't believe all of Terry's claims, but I thoroughly enjoyed and was unaccountably, even out-of-proportion unsettled by this book at times. I love fictional works by obsessive, frenetic authors and found this incredibly immersive, even if it is flawed. Terry wonderfully illustrates the time, place and mood of the era as he recounts his own journey with his lifelong obsession.
Do I believe everything Terry sets out to prove? Absolutely not. Of course there was a lot of hippy-dippy hocus-pocus horseshit going on in the 70's and occult murders do happen. I could not help but recall that this book was published in 1987 at the height of the Satanic Panic, the same year the McMartin preschool trial started. And yet, far more of this book is sensible and grounded than you might expect. Terry is incredibly meticulous, serious, had an encyclopedic knowledge and doesn't sensationalize. I think he fully believed what what he put in this book, I just believe he saw many connections which were tenuous or false.
And this book overflows with weird details and downright frightening coincidences, especially the seemingly unending series of mysterious deaths of people who had connections with Berkowitz. Even something only mentioned in passing like the shocking murders of Robert and Mary Hirschmann are very strange, or that other couple who had their blood drained...wait, what? You start to ask yourself -- does the official "demon dog" story really make a lot of sense to begin with? I have no doubt the police and the entire city were desperate to dust their hands off and move on.
Some of the interviews with Berkowitz didn't impress me as much as they did Terry. He sees a guy admitting to being part in a conspiracy, I see a guy being evasive who likes attention, so he plays mind games and gives a few tantalizing hints to his interrogators. But he does seem to know about things he shouldn't. The shocking murder of Arlis Perry in a Stanford University in 1974 is perhaps the most significant.
Speaking of which, Perry's murder was solved through DNA evidence in 2018, a few years after Terry died. Church security guard Steve Crawford was the killer and he committed suicide as the police closed in on him. In my reading of the book Terry seems to have discounted Crawford as the killer, but following Crawford's suicide this book was found in his possession. That's been pointed out, but I did a little digging of my own and also found that Terry also implied in the book that Perry's murderer was from Los Angeles, which I discovered Crawford apparently was. Some creepy coincidences indeed. I tend to believe it was a crime of opportunity and Crawford attempted to divert attention away from himself through desecration of the body. But still...
It was when Terry started stretching his theory to encompass a vast conspiracy that included the Manson murders that my "suspension of disbelief" really snapped. Everyone seems to want a grand theory for what went wrong in the 70's. And given the hysteria over Satanism and cults at the time we know people can start to make false connections or hear things on heavy metal albums which don't exist. I also thought Terry does this with Berkowitz's letters. That said, Terry's chapter on the Manson murders (despite his reaching) is full of fascinating details about celebrities and seedy drug connections which were largely covered up.
Sometimes there's too much minutiae, reporter politics and intrigue -- this district attorney, that reporter, this article, that detective. Lordamighty. This is already an incredibly complex web of connections, without all of that stuff, so I felt there's some sections that could use some abridgement. Terry also throws a lot of theories around which aren't fully explored. It's implied that some of the Son of Sam murders were committed to distract from other crimes. That's an interesting idea, but I didn't feel it was resolved.
I had a casual interest in this book years before it was made into a Netflix docuseries, but I was so skeptical and intimidated by its nearly 250,000 word length that I listened to the audiobook, the my first audiobook in years, and that was a great idea. I think Terry's obsessive, intense narration is suited to an audiobook.
I believe Terry stared into the abyss too long, and it stared back. That said, I watched the Netflix series after listening to the audiobook and, I felt that there was a lot left out and it doesn't entirely do justice to everything Terry claims and connects, even if I disagree with a lot of it. But that's the nature of compressing a 25 hour audiobook into a 4 hour docu-series.
Maybe it's strange to say that I didn't believe all of Terry's claims, but I thoroughly enjoyed and was unaccountably, even out-of-proportion unsettled by this book at times. I love fictional works by obsessive, frenetic authors and found this incredibly immersive, even if it is flawed. Terry wonderfully illustrates the time, place and mood of the era as he recounts his own journey with his lifelong obsession.
Do I believe everything Terry sets out to prove? Absolutely not. Of course there was a lot of hippy-dippy hocus-pocus horseshit going on in the 70's and occult murders do happen. I could not help but recall that this book was published in 1987 at the height of the Satanic Panic, the same year the McMartin preschool trial started. And yet, far more of this book is sensible and grounded than you might expect. Terry is incredibly meticulous, serious, had an encyclopedic knowledge and doesn't sensationalize. I think he fully believed what what he put in this book, I just believe he saw many connections which were tenuous or false.
And this book overflows with weird details and downright frightening coincidences, especially the seemingly unending series of mysterious deaths of people who had connections with Berkowitz. Even something only mentioned in passing like the shocking murders of Robert and Mary Hirschmann are very strange, or that other couple who had their blood drained...wait, what? You start to ask yourself -- does the official "demon dog" story really make a lot of sense to begin with? I have no doubt the police and the entire city were desperate to dust their hands off and move on.
Some of the interviews with Berkowitz didn't impress me as much as they did Terry. He sees a guy admitting to being part in a conspiracy, I see a guy being evasive who likes attention, so he plays mind games and gives a few tantalizing hints to his interrogators. But he does seem to know about things he shouldn't. The shocking murder of Arlis Perry in a Stanford University in 1974 is perhaps the most significant.
Speaking of which, Perry's murder was solved through DNA evidence in 2018, a few years after Terry died. Church security guard Steve Crawford was the killer and he committed suicide as the police closed in on him. In my reading of the book Terry seems to have discounted Crawford as the killer, but following Crawford's suicide this book was found in his possession. That's been pointed out, but I did a little digging of my own and also found that Terry also implied in the book that Perry's murderer was from Los Angeles, which I discovered Crawford apparently was. Some creepy coincidences indeed. I tend to believe it was a crime of opportunity and Crawford attempted to divert attention away from himself through desecration of the body. But still...
It was when Terry started stretching his theory to encompass a vast conspiracy that included the Manson murders that my "suspension of disbelief" really snapped. Everyone seems to want a grand theory for what went wrong in the 70's. And given the hysteria over Satanism and cults at the time we know people can start to make false connections or hear things on heavy metal albums which don't exist. I also thought Terry does this with Berkowitz's letters. That said, Terry's chapter on the Manson murders (despite his reaching) is full of fascinating details about celebrities and seedy drug connections which were largely covered up.
Sometimes there's too much minutiae, reporter politics and intrigue -- this district attorney, that reporter, this article, that detective. Lordamighty. This is already an incredibly complex web of connections, without all of that stuff, so I felt there's some sections that could use some abridgement. Terry also throws a lot of theories around which aren't fully explored. It's implied that some of the Son of Sam murders were committed to distract from other crimes. That's an interesting idea, but I didn't feel it was resolved.
I had a casual interest in this book years before it was made into a Netflix docuseries, but I was so skeptical and intimidated by its nearly 250,000 word length that I listened to the audiobook, the my first audiobook in years, and that was a great idea. I think Terry's obsessive, intense narration is suited to an audiobook.
I believe Terry stared into the abyss too long, and it stared back. That said, I watched the Netflix series after listening to the audiobook and, I felt that there was a lot left out and it doesn't entirely do justice to everything Terry claims and connects, even if I disagree with a lot of it. But that's the nature of compressing a 25 hour audiobook into a 4 hour docu-series.
May 9, 2021
This book started out spectacularly, with the atrocious ritual murder of Arlis Perry, but after that it went haring off in so many directions -- trying to make the murder into a tiny detail in a massive conspiratorial tapestry -- that I totally lost interest and couldn't finish it. I wish I still had my copy because they're selling for a king's ransom now, but don't ask me to try to read it again.
July 29, 2021
Interesting book speculating whether there were more killers than Berkowitz. A girl in my class got shot & I remember that year well. I remember the place he talks about in Yonkers-- we used to party around there in high school. I think he took it all a step too far, but I believe he has a case that the two brothers might have had some involvement. I use Son of Sam in the background in my Will Kane series, starting with New York Minute.
May 5, 2011
Best Book EVAHH!
June 23, 2016
This is very creepy to read when you are alone. I thought this was an excellent investigative book into the multiple killings in New York City in the late 70's by the "44 Cabiber Killer" or the "Son of Sam" killer (s). Too much evidence suggests that this was in no way a one man job. Even the cops investigating this case at the time always thought it was more than one killer. Every crime scene had a different description of the shooter/shooters. The only reason this was all pinned on David Berkowitz is convenience, the common theme in the American “Justice System”. People were going to lose their jobs over this case. The city was losing its mind with fear. How could all of the NYPD and FBI not be able to locate the killer? There was more than one killer. Check the evidence. Great book and there is more than enough reasonable doubt and just flat out ignored evidence to re-open this case.
December 2, 2010
I've loaned this one out a few times, and never seem to get it back. One of great cult books of all time. (The dog didn't do it.) And Berkowitz probably only did some of it. Read it and see. The book drips purple prose, which no doubt turns off some, and gives skeptics ammunition to shout down Terry's theories. And yet, I wouldn't want it written any other way. Terry raises some points that are hard to ignore. The main one being that there were others involved with the killings.
January 3, 2008
One of the most underrated books of our time, "The Ultimate Evil" is a "can't turn these GD pages fast enough" romp through the most convoluted murder mystery of our time. Was the Son of Sam merely a cover up for one of the most devious Satanic cults in the world? After reading Maury's long, really long, tale, I'd say "maybe?"
June 22, 2023
If you believe the contents of this book, please read on:
I am a Nigerian prince in exile with access to over 5 billion dollars, and I desperately need someone to help me transfer it to a foreign country. If you can help, please get in touch with your bank details, thanks.
"Thou shalt not multiply entities without necessity" - Ockham
I am a Nigerian prince in exile with access to over 5 billion dollars, and I desperately need someone to help me transfer it to a foreign country. If you can help, please get in touch with your bank details, thanks.
"Thou shalt not multiply entities without necessity" - Ockham
January 26, 2008
Compulsive read, very scary implications. Brilliant!
One of my favorite book, read it many times over!
One of my favorite book, read it many times over!
October 31, 2020
Interesting and entertaining but at least some of what is put out and theorized here is likely bullshit. People just love their spooky stories by the campfire.
Read
August 14, 2023I picked up The Ultimate Evil as it was often mentioned in the context of the Son of Sam murders. Maury Terry presents the alternative theory of multiple shooters in the Son of Sam murders, coupled with a Satanic cult and connecting it all the way to California and Charles Manson.
The book is written in a compelling way and should have been a novel, since the vast majority of it is fiction (as far as I understand the police investigation). Even if we overlook the blatant fabrication of facts and stories about the crime scenes and murders in New York, the book takes a nosedive in credibility as it goes into California. There's simply nothing to connect these two different murder sprees, no matter how much Terry tries to do it. The Arliss Perry case, that made such a chilling opening to the novel, was resolved and it was proven via DNA who was the perpetrator of such a crime. Don't get me started on Manson 2...
However, despite all the plot holes and inconsistencies, Terry spins a good yarn. This book should have been reworked as a novel; that way I could have given it a rating.
The book is written in a compelling way and should have been a novel, since the vast majority of it is fiction (as far as I understand the police investigation). Even if we overlook the blatant fabrication of facts and stories about the crime scenes and murders in New York, the book takes a nosedive in credibility as it goes into California. There's simply nothing to connect these two different murder sprees, no matter how much Terry tries to do it. The Arliss Perry case, that made such a chilling opening to the novel, was resolved and it was proven via DNA who was the perpetrator of such a crime. Don't get me started on Manson 2...
However, despite all the plot holes and inconsistencies, Terry spins a good yarn. This book should have been reworked as a novel; that way I could have given it a rating.
October 2, 2024
"I AM A MONSTER. I AM THE "SON OF SAM." I AM A LITTLE "BRAT."
Stopping at 25%. Just not the right time to read something like this. Will revisit at another time.
Stopping at 25%. Just not the right time to read something like this. Will revisit at another time.
April 27, 2021
Originally published in 1987, but recently updated to coincide with the new Netflix docuseries. Prior to this, I knew zero details of Son of Sam. Did Berkowitz act alone? I usually steer clear of serial killer stories because my brain is weird, but there may have been a cult involved, and y’all know how I find them sociologically fascinating. Journalist Maury Terry sells the deadly satanic cult conspiracy hard. I’m not sure what to think!
July 28, 2012
This was actually a little better than I expected. The author makes a pretty good case that Berkowitz was not the sole killer involved with the "Son of Sam" killings, and that he had connections to people who were possibly involved in all manner of shadiness, primarily drug dealing. I'm willing to buy that, and I'm willing to buy that Berkowitz put in some effort to appear crazier than he actually was prior to getting caught.
Other stuff, I'm less willing to run with. Terry tries to link anything and everything to the Son of Sam killings, eventually weaving together a vast Satanic conspiracy that encompasses the murder of Arlis Perry at Stanford, a number of other occult-flavored murders in the NYC area, and, incredibly, the Manson murders. I am certain that if the Matamoros murders had occurred before this book was published, he would have tied them in, as well.
Terry often comes off as entirely too credulous, too willing to accept things at face value, and too willing to interpret the evidence to fit his theories. He sees a lot of things as enormously significant and as evidence for cult activity, such as Satanic and Nazi-themed graffiti in parks and pentagrams in magic marker near crime scenes. He seems to forget that whenever teenage ne'er-do-wells congregate, you will find swastikas, pentagrams, and the names of heavy metal groups, and this does not necessarily indicate the presence of an organized cult. He also seems to view any occult/pagan/New Age group as at least potentially Satanic, which gets a bit tiresome after a while. Pretty soon things get heavily into urban legend territory: snuff films, child pornography rings, virgin sacrifices, etc.
From a "how seriously should I take this guy" perspective, I should probably also note that if the transcripts of the interviews Terry and his associates conducted with Berkowitz are accurate, they are at times very leading and allow Berkowitz to make non-committal responses that could be interpreted as supporting Terry's theories. Terry also claims to have found and removed evidence from a crime scene, which confused and dismayed me.
Overall, I can't really say this is worth reading, exactly. It's interesting, but it's very long-winded and many of the conclusions are questionable. Still, I did find it rather fascinating.
Other stuff, I'm less willing to run with. Terry tries to link anything and everything to the Son of Sam killings, eventually weaving together a vast Satanic conspiracy that encompasses the murder of Arlis Perry at Stanford, a number of other occult-flavored murders in the NYC area, and, incredibly, the Manson murders. I am certain that if the Matamoros murders had occurred before this book was published, he would have tied them in, as well.
Terry often comes off as entirely too credulous, too willing to accept things at face value, and too willing to interpret the evidence to fit his theories. He sees a lot of things as enormously significant and as evidence for cult activity, such as Satanic and Nazi-themed graffiti in parks and pentagrams in magic marker near crime scenes. He seems to forget that whenever teenage ne'er-do-wells congregate, you will find swastikas, pentagrams, and the names of heavy metal groups, and this does not necessarily indicate the presence of an organized cult. He also seems to view any occult/pagan/New Age group as at least potentially Satanic, which gets a bit tiresome after a while. Pretty soon things get heavily into urban legend territory: snuff films, child pornography rings, virgin sacrifices, etc.
From a "how seriously should I take this guy" perspective, I should probably also note that if the transcripts of the interviews Terry and his associates conducted with Berkowitz are accurate, they are at times very leading and allow Berkowitz to make non-committal responses that could be interpreted as supporting Terry's theories. Terry also claims to have found and removed evidence from a crime scene, which confused and dismayed me.
Overall, I can't really say this is worth reading, exactly. It's interesting, but it's very long-winded and many of the conclusions are questionable. Still, I did find it rather fascinating.
October 17, 2018
This is a local interest book in the town I moved to, Minot, North Dakota. The author is convinced that the Son of Sam had accomplices that were all part of a Satanic cult. One of those accomplices supposedly was murdered or committed suicide here in Minot.
It's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure the author's proof adds up to much considering this was written at the height of the "satanic panic" of the 1980's. They also recently used DNA to solve one of the murders the Minot accomplice was supposed to have committed and it turned out not to be him.
This is also a really long book and a lot of it is about bickering police departments and journalists and I'm afraid I lost interest before it got to the Charles Manson stuff.
It's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure the author's proof adds up to much considering this was written at the height of the "satanic panic" of the 1980's. They also recently used DNA to solve one of the murders the Minot accomplice was supposed to have committed and it turned out not to be him.
This is also a really long book and a lot of it is about bickering police departments and journalists and I'm afraid I lost interest before it got to the Charles Manson stuff.
March 8, 2023
This book is entirely too long for the actual material it covers. Terry ends every chapter with some tantalizing hint of the growing conspiracy and then takes ten pages to even get to the next "break" in the case. I will say the book gets more and more unbelievable as it goes on and by the end of it it is clear that Terry has completely gone off the deep end. He frequently says that anonymous reports have been corroborated but never says how and by whom. I do believe that the Son of Sam killings were done by more one than one man but this cross-country satanic cult killing is just completely ridiculous.
my biggest issue is that most of Terry's theories have been disproved when it was revealed in 2018 that the Stanford church murder was done by the church security guard, a man with no ties to a satanic cult. my copy of this book was re-released with the Netflix docu-series yet there is no mention in the introduction or the epilogue of the solving of the church murder with DNA evidence. It kinda is just tricking its reader. Also, Terry trusts Berkowitz too much and too fast and I get the feeling he was led on the whole time because Berkowitz was bored.
Overall the beginning was good and informative but it just descended into ramblings that the author wasn't properly connecting back to the Son of Sam's case. By the time he got to the Manson killings, I had completely checked out. I cannot believe this book was as popular as it was.
my biggest issue is that most of Terry's theories have been disproved when it was revealed in 2018 that the Stanford church murder was done by the church security guard, a man with no ties to a satanic cult. my copy of this book was re-released with the Netflix docu-series yet there is no mention in the introduction or the epilogue of the solving of the church murder with DNA evidence. It kinda is just tricking its reader. Also, Terry trusts Berkowitz too much and too fast and I get the feeling he was led on the whole time because Berkowitz was bored.
Overall the beginning was good and informative but it just descended into ramblings that the author wasn't properly connecting back to the Son of Sam's case. By the time he got to the Manson killings, I had completely checked out. I cannot believe this book was as popular as it was.
April 18, 2009
Terry offers an interesting and novel look on the Son Of Sam killings that terrorized America. He delivers the notion that Berkowitz did not in fact act alone, rather, he was merely a scapegoat to divert the attention away from what was apparently 'really going on'. Terry's theory is that a nation wide Satanic cult, with connections in the highest and widest places is responsible. He even goes on to identify the cult as an apparent off shoot of the Process church. Connections are then swiftly made to involve many other murderous crimes, including the Tate-La Bianca murders. It could indeed be true that there is a conspiracy involved in the Son Of Sam killings, but Terry's outrageous reasoning and step-by-step fact making doesn't prove a thing. Here is an example of how he finds the hidden meaning in a letter sent by Berkowitz to a journalist:
(1) The letter contains the phrase "keep 'em digging".
(2) 'em' backwards is 'me'
(3) 'keep' backwards is 'peek'
(4) 'peek' could be translated as 'look for'
(5) 'digging' in the UK can mean 'home' (often shortened to 'digs')
(6) So putting it together it becomes 'look for me home'
(7) Therefore it contains a description of how to get to Berkowitz's home address.
It seems like the book is one of those cases where if you put enough time, effort and energy into searching for any possible clues, a thousand can be fabricated. But even more than that, Terry seems to even create evidence which he later announces is 'fact'. What a hero!
I have to admit that I did enjoy the book and I feel that it did open up many questions on the whole Son Of Sam murders. Terry has given a very in-depth and commendable insight into the life and crimes of Berkowitz, but the book does seem to then wander off into the realms of fantasy with Terry's wild accusations. This at first comes across as quite comical, but then after a couple of hundred pages dedicated to Terry's bizarre logic, it starts to get annoying and tedious.
I'd still recommend this book to anyone who is at all interested in the Son Of Sam killings, but (and this is a big but), I would seriously recommend that you don't take all of Terry's findings and reasoning as fact.
(1) The letter contains the phrase "keep 'em digging".
(2) 'em' backwards is 'me'
(3) 'keep' backwards is 'peek'
(4) 'peek' could be translated as 'look for'
(5) 'digging' in the UK can mean 'home' (often shortened to 'digs')
(6) So putting it together it becomes 'look for me home'
(7) Therefore it contains a description of how to get to Berkowitz's home address.
It seems like the book is one of those cases where if you put enough time, effort and energy into searching for any possible clues, a thousand can be fabricated. But even more than that, Terry seems to even create evidence which he later announces is 'fact'. What a hero!
I have to admit that I did enjoy the book and I feel that it did open up many questions on the whole Son Of Sam murders. Terry has given a very in-depth and commendable insight into the life and crimes of Berkowitz, but the book does seem to then wander off into the realms of fantasy with Terry's wild accusations. This at first comes across as quite comical, but then after a couple of hundred pages dedicated to Terry's bizarre logic, it starts to get annoying and tedious.
I'd still recommend this book to anyone who is at all interested in the Son Of Sam killings, but (and this is a big but), I would seriously recommend that you don't take all of Terry's findings and reasoning as fact.
December 26, 2013
Classic piece of sensationalist trash that falls under the category of 'Satanic Panic'literature, an hysterical craze that swept most of the US and other Western countries in the late 1980s that was based on the premise that a vast network of Satanic cults had infiltrated all levels of modern society.
Poorly researched, full of factual errors, ludicrous speculation not to mention outright lies, slander and hearsay.
It's hard to tell whether Maury Terry genuinely believed the crap he churned out for this book or whether he was just milking it for all it was worth - Satanic conspiracies were a big money earner back then.
As for Berkowitz, I am guessing that he was so desperate for contact and validation from the outside world that he just played along with the whole thing, he doesn't come across as an especially bright person, hardly what one would expect from a supposed Satanic cult hit-man.
I guess it is good for a few cheap laughs, but even then the laughter falls flat when you consider how many lives were ruined by crusading hysterics looking for non-existent Satanic conspiracies.
Poorly researched, full of factual errors, ludicrous speculation not to mention outright lies, slander and hearsay.
It's hard to tell whether Maury Terry genuinely believed the crap he churned out for this book or whether he was just milking it for all it was worth - Satanic conspiracies were a big money earner back then.
As for Berkowitz, I am guessing that he was so desperate for contact and validation from the outside world that he just played along with the whole thing, he doesn't come across as an especially bright person, hardly what one would expect from a supposed Satanic cult hit-man.
I guess it is good for a few cheap laughs, but even then the laughter falls flat when you consider how many lives were ruined by crusading hysterics looking for non-existent Satanic conspiracies.
September 10, 2021
I was in Junior High in Long Island when the .44 caliber killings took place. Everyone was freaking out. When David Berkowitz was caught and confessed to every shooting, we thought it was all over. Boy, were we wrong!
"The Ultimate Evil" was originally published in 1987 and I completely missed it. Now, with this updated edition, I am paying attention. Maury Terry doesn't just speculate that the killing spree was a national conspiracy of sex and drug addled devil worshippers, he provides proof. So much proof that the police were forced to re-open the case and trade information with other investigators across America. It became quickly apparent that Berkowitz was only a minor player in a chain of depravity that stretched back to Charles Manson and included a number of Hollywood and society big shots. As of this printing, parts of the investigation are still ongoing.
Definitely an eye-opener. Lesson: stay far away from cults of all kinds.
"The Ultimate Evil" was originally published in 1987 and I completely missed it. Now, with this updated edition, I am paying attention. Maury Terry doesn't just speculate that the killing spree was a national conspiracy of sex and drug addled devil worshippers, he provides proof. So much proof that the police were forced to re-open the case and trade information with other investigators across America. It became quickly apparent that Berkowitz was only a minor player in a chain of depravity that stretched back to Charles Manson and included a number of Hollywood and society big shots. As of this printing, parts of the investigation are still ongoing.
Definitely an eye-opener. Lesson: stay far away from cults of all kinds.
August 22, 2012
Scary book on several levels, and is very clearly on the money by and large. Great research. I even checked out the Carrs' home and surrounding area on Google Earth when re-reading this recently; quite a cocktail.
Strangely, a minor point of detail towards the end slightly undermined some of the other research: the star symbol used by the rock band Rush is not a pentagram and has no satanic connotations whatsoever. Lazy heavy metal / devil worship cliche that was given significance where there was none. Admittedly the devil worshippers may not have realised that, but Rush fans are too smart for this malarkey!
Jeez, went on about that a bit. Very good book, great research.
Strangely, a minor point of detail towards the end slightly undermined some of the other research: the star symbol used by the rock band Rush is not a pentagram and has no satanic connotations whatsoever. Lazy heavy metal / devil worship cliche that was given significance where there was none. Admittedly the devil worshippers may not have realised that, but Rush fans are too smart for this malarkey!
Jeez, went on about that a bit. Very good book, great research.
January 4, 2011
An absolutely fascinating story and in-depth review of the Son of Sam murders. Maury Terry takes this to the deepest level of the cultish underground of New York, ultimately indicting the Process Church of the Final Judgment. I've come across some contradictory information regarding Terry's conclusions, especially an interview with Timothy Wyllie who found Terry's work laughable, but no one has taken the time to carefully deconstruct the events in a similar matter and prove Terry otherwise. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Serial Killers, True Crime, and even the Occult.
May 10, 2018
This book. Guys. I.
Listen: 100 pages of this does a great job of explaining the Son of Sam/.44 Killer crimes. Terry also does a good job in using witness accounts to suggest that it may not have been as simple as David Berkowitz Did It All.
But there comes a point where he starts to go full Sunday New York Times Crossword, reading clues on clues within some of the SoS letters that just don't pass any sort of razor, Occam or otherwise.
He gets lost in his own forest.
Also, this book did not at all need to be 600+ pages. I found it a monotonous chore to get through.
Listen: 100 pages of this does a great job of explaining the Son of Sam/.44 Killer crimes. Terry also does a good job in using witness accounts to suggest that it may not have been as simple as David Berkowitz Did It All.
But there comes a point where he starts to go full Sunday New York Times Crossword, reading clues on clues within some of the SoS letters that just don't pass any sort of razor, Occam or otherwise.
He gets lost in his own forest.
Also, this book did not at all need to be 600+ pages. I found it a monotonous chore to get through.
September 26, 2021
When consumed again I am removing a star, mainly because I'm SO much more cynical than I was back in the 80s . The whole "satanic cult" thing is a a hard sell for 2021 me. However this is still a good read when considering the time period and the excellent investigative reporting that went into it
October 28, 2010
Fascinating theory on the Son of Sam murders! Maury Terry really seems to have done his research and raises some interesting questions.
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