Terror Town

I received this book free from Booksirens for a fair and honest review.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love true crime. I have been fascinated with the genre since I was a young teen, starting with Ted Bundy.

This is one true crime story I had not heard of. The town of Joliet, Illinois is gripped with fear one summer in 1983 by a crazed serial killer. The killings are random, no one knows who will be next. The body count keeps rising and there seems no end in sight. 

Three months before the spree began, a man named Milton Johnson was released from prison after serving just 13 years for the brutal rape and torture of a young girl. He was released on good behavior and the prison didn't inform his home town, Joliet, of his release. You have to remember this was the mid-80s. There was no sex offender registry and the parole system was not what it is today. 

The author was a child when these murders occurred but even he was not unaffected by these events. Terror town is a well written book with fast pacing. There were a few chapters I felt could have been left out as I felt they just rehashed things that had already been discussed but overall, the book is very good. 

Milton Johnson was sentenced to death, but unfortunately his sentence was commuted to life without parole after a governor got rid of the death penalty. The last chapter of the book discusses the fact that several elderly inmates convicted of horrible crimes were let go when they were deemed "too old" to be incarcerated anymore. Should age be a factor in release? I do not believe so. No matter the age, if someone wants to commit a crime, they will. And it is my belief that someone who could inflict this kind of damage, not only on the town but the people as well, is not able to rehabilitated. 

Thank you to Booksirens for this book. I will definitely be checking out more from this author.