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Mama's Boy: The True Story of a Serial Killer and His Mother
Updated for the paperback version, the story of serial murderer Eric Napoletano recounts how his mother, Carolyn, used blackmail, bullying, and a Ponzi scheme to help her killer son elude capture. Reprint.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 16, 2017
3.5 stars
The ubiquitous story of how the justice system fails
This story is multi-jurisdictional: Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, and not one could get their shit together. It took fifteen years before this sociopath was finally prosecuted for a murder.
This more interesting subplot involves his mother, Carolyn. She worked at One Police Plaza. She had access to all confidential documents produced by the NYPD as part of her security clearance. Both she and her murderous son, Eric, were auxiliary officers. They had a thorough understanding of police procedures and loathed the justice system-yes, the system that signed their paychecks. The relationship between these two was dysfunctional to say the least. She did not spend one day in the courtroom in support of her son. But her son still took a guilty plea to protect her.
I could have read twice as much as what this book included. The book was published in 1996, so that may be why there is little psychological inference. I wanted even more detail than what the author gave me, and he strove to supply much. The justice system failed three women and their families along with two little boys who lost their mother, thought to have happened in front of them. This was a heinous, inexcusable series of crimes.
The ubiquitous story of how the justice system fails
This story is multi-jurisdictional: Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, and not one could get their shit together. It took fifteen years before this sociopath was finally prosecuted for a murder.
This more interesting subplot involves his mother, Carolyn. She worked at One Police Plaza. She had access to all confidential documents produced by the NYPD as part of her security clearance. Both she and her murderous son, Eric, were auxiliary officers. They had a thorough understanding of police procedures and loathed the justice system-yes, the system that signed their paychecks. The relationship between these two was dysfunctional to say the least. She did not spend one day in the courtroom in support of her son. But her son still took a guilty plea to protect her.
I could have read twice as much as what this book included. The book was published in 1996, so that may be why there is little psychological inference. I wanted even more detail than what the author gave me, and he strove to supply much. The justice system failed three women and their families along with two little boys who lost their mother, thought to have happened in front of them. This was a heinous, inexcusable series of crimes.
January 14, 2012
I have 12 books waiting to be reviewed from the past two months so I'm beginning to forget little things I wanted to say while reading. Luckily for me I made some notes with this one so I can go from there.
I *think* I've read Pienciak before, maybe once, but I can't remember and it didn't occur to me to look at his page.
This is another t.c. story that will twist your stomach and mind. One thought kept rolling through my head while reading this and that was this - 'Why are women, so many different women, from all different kinds of backgrounds, so needy that they'll lower their standards and date whatever trash comes along?' Why is that? I know a number of women right now - and have my whole life - who would have been thrilled with this chump loser. I'd rather be alone. Why aren't there more like that? (Not too often I feel I can say 'be more like meeee!' lol)
Okay, so this is one of those twisted mother-son stories. Why are they always mother-son? I don't think I've read or heard of any father-daughter or mother-daughter. It's always mother-son.
There was a lot that bothered me big-time about this case. That this murderers mother could keep her job IN A POLICE PRECINCT after so much happened is horrific. It's horrific. She should have been fired many times, including after one of the reports of a girl her loser son murdered was never entered into the system. How can you do that and keep your job once it's found out? Who can justify that? Beyond justifying that - she was even PROMOTED.
These people were/are all wanna-be's. Simply put. They wanted to be mafia. They were sorely lacking however, all of them. And it's apparent throughout the book that they each wanted to be different and/or more than they were, including that cross-eyed freak of an 'uncle' that the mother let play around with her son. I can't imagine going through life hating myself so.
One time after this monster (he doesn't even deserved to be called by his birth name) went through a lot of trouble to disguise himself and "get gone" the charges for false imprisonment, torture, sexual abuse and VOP were dismissed. So, naturally he dyed his hair back to it's real color and moved home and found the next victim.
The subject of the monsters mother having incriminating info on the higher ups at the station comes up at least once. It ran through my mind also. It seems to be the only real reason why she would have kept her job and got a better position when there was so much suspicion about her at work. Besides her bragging about "having access to anything" she wants within the computers there was a memo put out saying a number of important things, one of which was that 'extreme care be exercised in the transmittal of this report." The monster was excluded from his NYPD Police Academy class yet his mother was promoted to senior administrative assistant to the chief of OCCB. That's the Organized Crime Control Bureau. How many lives could have been/were affected or put on the line just from her having that position. Apparently the police didn't realize and/or care that a lot of the lives would have been the police.
It's not too often I come across a t.c. (or any other book really) that mentions Delaware, which is where I live and where I've grown up. The ones that do are always in a different category in my head. And this one did.
Besides dumping his second wife about ten minutes away from where I live now, he was known to have been at the Wrangle Hill Auto Auction (VERY close to where his wife's body was later found) and again, about 10 minutes from where I live now.
For a time when I was younger, with a boyfriend, I lived on Wrangle Hill Rd. This was long after this loser had come and gone but it's a very strange feeling to say the least. It definitely brings 'this can happen anywhere' to the forefront of your mind.
Another thing that bothered me that I really want to mention is the NY Times getting one of the victims information wrong in their article. I don't have an in depth note on this so I'm going from memory but if I recall the newspaper did an article on several missing young women. At least one, the woman featured I'm mentioning, was featured with missing info and wrong info.
How any newspaper, especially one as large as this, can do such a thing is beyond me. Some might say it was because the victim was Latina. I don't know. I'd say it's more likely that whoever wrote the article just didn't care about any woman. :(
I *think* I've read Pienciak before, maybe once, but I can't remember and it didn't occur to me to look at his page.
This is another t.c. story that will twist your stomach and mind. One thought kept rolling through my head while reading this and that was this - 'Why are women, so many different women, from all different kinds of backgrounds, so needy that they'll lower their standards and date whatever trash comes along?' Why is that? I know a number of women right now - and have my whole life - who would have been thrilled with this chump loser. I'd rather be alone. Why aren't there more like that? (Not too often I feel I can say 'be more like meeee!' lol)
Okay, so this is one of those twisted mother-son stories. Why are they always mother-son? I don't think I've read or heard of any father-daughter or mother-daughter. It's always mother-son.
There was a lot that bothered me big-time about this case. That this murderers mother could keep her job IN A POLICE PRECINCT after so much happened is horrific. It's horrific. She should have been fired many times, including after one of the reports of a girl her loser son murdered was never entered into the system. How can you do that and keep your job once it's found out? Who can justify that? Beyond justifying that - she was even PROMOTED.
These people were/are all wanna-be's. Simply put. They wanted to be mafia. They were sorely lacking however, all of them. And it's apparent throughout the book that they each wanted to be different and/or more than they were, including that cross-eyed freak of an 'uncle' that the mother let play around with her son. I can't imagine going through life hating myself so.
One time after this monster (he doesn't even deserved to be called by his birth name) went through a lot of trouble to disguise himself and "get gone" the charges for false imprisonment, torture, sexual abuse and VOP were dismissed. So, naturally he dyed his hair back to it's real color and moved home and found the next victim.
The subject of the monsters mother having incriminating info on the higher ups at the station comes up at least once. It ran through my mind also. It seems to be the only real reason why she would have kept her job and got a better position when there was so much suspicion about her at work. Besides her bragging about "having access to anything" she wants within the computers there was a memo put out saying a number of important things, one of which was that 'extreme care be exercised in the transmittal of this report." The monster was excluded from his NYPD Police Academy class yet his mother was promoted to senior administrative assistant to the chief of OCCB. That's the Organized Crime Control Bureau. How many lives could have been/were affected or put on the line just from her having that position. Apparently the police didn't realize and/or care that a lot of the lives would have been the police.
It's not too often I come across a t.c. (or any other book really) that mentions Delaware, which is where I live and where I've grown up. The ones that do are always in a different category in my head. And this one did.
Besides dumping his second wife about ten minutes away from where I live now, he was known to have been at the Wrangle Hill Auto Auction (VERY close to where his wife's body was later found) and again, about 10 minutes from where I live now.
For a time when I was younger, with a boyfriend, I lived on Wrangle Hill Rd. This was long after this loser had come and gone but it's a very strange feeling to say the least. It definitely brings 'this can happen anywhere' to the forefront of your mind.
Another thing that bothered me that I really want to mention is the NY Times getting one of the victims information wrong in their article. I don't have an in depth note on this so I'm going from memory but if I recall the newspaper did an article on several missing young women. At least one, the woman featured I'm mentioning, was featured with missing info and wrong info.
How any newspaper, especially one as large as this, can do such a thing is beyond me. Some might say it was because the victim was Latina. I don't know. I'd say it's more likely that whoever wrote the article just didn't care about any woman. :(
November 22, 2011
Well this was an interesting read. You just can't trust anyone can you? These people worked for the police department and they got away with this behavior for so long. The mother is still free. The sickening thing about this. Maybe this guy would have been "normal" if he had not been raised by such sick people. A mother who would willing give him to a man who she had to have known would abuse him. I also think she herself had to have sexually abused him. It's a really sick world we live in when these type relationships are just overlooked. I don't have much more than this to say about this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2023
I 'd say 3.5 stars on this one. I'm not sure if that's just because the subject matter wasn't that thrilling to me, or if the writer just didn't make it seem that thrilling to me. At times I was really invested in what was happening, and others I found myself almost bored and skimming paragraphs.
A manipulating, twisted family dynamic. An inept police department. Police and FBI detectives that refuse to give up. Families that fight for justice. Two small children caught in the middle.
Eric Napoletano isn't what I would typically classify as a serial killer, but I suppose he fits all the technical requirements. To me, he's just a deranged, entitled little man-boy with a severe, unchecked anger problem; with a mother who for some reason gets away with way too much, especially considering the job she has, and an uncle/father-figure guy who is just as bad.
A manipulating, twisted family dynamic. An inept police department. Police and FBI detectives that refuse to give up. Families that fight for justice. Two small children caught in the middle.
Eric Napoletano isn't what I would typically classify as a serial killer, but I suppose he fits all the technical requirements. To me, he's just a deranged, entitled little man-boy with a severe, unchecked anger problem; with a mother who for some reason gets away with way too much, especially considering the job she has, and an uncle/father-figure guy who is just as bad.
August 11, 2020
Well this is one twisted true-crime story. It's about a mom, her son, and a pseudo-father figure, all of whom have a very strange relationship with each other. The son is the killer in this book but the mother and father both play important roles in the crimes as well. There are themes of domestic violence and psychiatric disorders running through this book as well.
This is not your usual true-crime fare for the reasons listed above. The tension in here is fairly slow and I nearly gave up on this book. There was a lot of writing/ pages devoted to one phone call between characters which indicated whether someone was alive or dead at that time and frankly that got rather boring, repetitious, and confusing after a while. I was ready to not hear about that phone call ever again. The ending was rather amazing, not for the writing or for what happened, but rather for what didn't happen.
This is not your usual true-crime fare for the reasons listed above. The tension in here is fairly slow and I nearly gave up on this book. There was a lot of writing/ pages devoted to one phone call between characters which indicated whether someone was alive or dead at that time and frankly that got rather boring, repetitious, and confusing after a while. I was ready to not hear about that phone call ever again. The ending was rather amazing, not for the writing or for what happened, but rather for what didn't happen.
December 25, 2017
I forgot our serial killer's name and no one else put it in their review either, that's how forgettable he is. No really, he is your basic wanna-be, controlling, loser abuser manipulator. What makes his story noteworthy is how his momma has his back and covers for him every inch of the way. What makes the story interesting is how multiple police jurisdictions couldn't solve the murders and stop whatizname. Some of it was his mother's intervention, some of it was political based, and some of it was just lack of trying. Good read for any true crime fan, a little repetitious.
March 13, 2021
Besides making the NYPD look like total idiots, this book is also written in a style that makes a story about a serial killer rather boring. The author seems to feel he needs to inform us of every little detail during this journey without using his skill to tell us a story. Too bad, this book could of been a good read.
February 2, 2021
I had shelved this book for a while, not intending to finish it. But I did pick it back up again, and I thought the second part was much more interesting, and flowed better. Fairly well written, and well-researched.
June 29, 2017
A really well-written book about a really scary "family". The ability to kill without remorse just makes me shake my head. This was the first book of his I've read, it will not be the last.
December 24, 2017
Well written, well researched. I felt like I was there.
August 30, 2013
This story was shocking and so frustrating to read... not because it wasn't written well but because of the things this animal and his sick mother got away with for so long. They seemed to laugh in the face of the authorities investigating each murder and the accusations against them. It's shocking that his mother was able to keep her job at the police department even after she had been caught doing things that were illegal and unethical. It's mind boggling. Also mind boggling is the mother's assertion that there was no sexual relationship between Eric and "uncle Al"...the man she gave her son to when he was a child. What kind of mother hands her child over to an adult they don't know and doesn't question their motives? Eric and his mother(I use the term very loosely) were both selfish,narcissistic,sociopathic personalities. They thought they could get away with anything and for a while they really did. I found the book dragged a bit towards the end.. too much court detail which I find tedious but overall this was a good read and I would recommend it to lovers of tc.
October 1, 2010
This book is about a serial killer and his closely attached mother. Its a book that makes you think and wonder at the same time, drag you in to see what happens next.
so far in the book Eric's wife Myra is depressed and Eric is being controling over her. Myra wanted to move to Puerto Rico and Eric most likely would have let her but Myra wanted to take the kids with her but Eric wanted to keep the two boys. the next day Myra is already missing. I think that just like with Eric's former girlfriend Maralyin,Myra has been murdered by Eric because he can't stand being denyed and rejected. Im still wondering if Eric's mother Carolyn knows about the murders or is she as unsure as the police?
so far in the book Eric's wife Myra is depressed and Eric is being controling over her. Myra wanted to move to Puerto Rico and Eric most likely would have let her but Myra wanted to take the kids with her but Eric wanted to keep the two boys. the next day Myra is already missing. I think that just like with Eric's former girlfriend Maralyin,Myra has been murdered by Eric because he can't stand being denyed and rejected. Im still wondering if Eric's mother Carolyn knows about the murders or is she as unsure as the police?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2010
Too much court room detail, not enough human interest...not recommended
Want to read
January 28, 2012Got this one today (1-27-12) at the 2nd-hand store for $0.50.
January 17, 2016
This one didn't really hold my attention, and I didn't even finish it.
November 3, 2016
Very odd how some people kept their jobs.
September 8, 2010
This was an entertaining true crime book
December 7, 2014
It was on of those that I can say I read, but won't read it again
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews