The Jeffrey Dahmer Story:An American Nightmare Book Review

The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a true crime novel written by Don Davis. It was published in 1991 just after Dahmer was captured. If you don't know, Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer, cannibal and necrophiliac He stalked the streets of Milwaukee for years and he slaughter seventeen men, most of them young and black.
This book takes you from his childhood until his capture by police in 1991.

The book begins with the tragic story of 14 year old Konerak Sinthasomphone who was picked up by Dahmer. He drugged the boy, but he woke up and ran away out of Dahmer's apartment. He ran into two women who called the cops. The cops came and Dahmer managed to convince them that it was just a tiff between two gay men. Konerak had handcuffs attached to him and the cops went into Dahmer's apartment, but decided that it was harmless and left the young boy to his fate. Dahmer murdered Konerak just after the cops left. This is the beginning of the novel and you can only imagine what the young man endured after the cops had left him alone with Dahmer.

Dahmer grew up in Wisconsin with his parents, Joyce and Lionel Dahmer. He was an unusual young man and he liked to kill animals(a hallmark of most serial murderers). He liked the cut them open and see what their insides were like.He killed cats and dogs and took them up to his room to examine their dead bodies. His parents divorced and his mother left the family home. Jeffrey found himself living with his dad and his new stepmother. He became an alcoholic at a young age and before his parents split up, they tried to get him help.
Dahmer was alone in the family home when he picked up his first victim, a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks. He invited him to his house where he killed him and dismembered his body. He dissolved the body in acid and crushed the bones and scattered them around the yard of his home. This began his killing career which would last until 1991.

Dahmer was caught for indecent exposure in front of children and he was sentenced to probation. He had to see a probation officer and talk about his life etc. He got a job in a chocolate factory and then he got his own apartment. He lured and killed many more young men there and he dismembered and disposed of them. Well, most of them. He kept parts of his victims in his apartment. He kept the skulls of some of his victims and painted them and kept them as ornaments. He took pictures of his victims before and after death.
His neighbours began to notice a horrible odour from his apartment for all of the dead body parts. Dahmer became more out of control as time went on. His last intended victim was a young man called Tracy Edwards. He was lured to Dahmer's flat and Dahmer began his murder ritual.  He was going to take nude photos of Edwards and then kill him but Edwards played for time and punched Dahmer in the face before running out of the flat. He flagged down two cops and told them what had happened. They went up to Dahmer's flat and what they found there was enough to arrest Dahmer.

Dahmer was convicted of 16 murders and he was sentences to 16 life sentences so he was never getting out of prison. He was murdered in prison by an inmate  in 1994. The book doesn't have this included as it was written before that happened. This book was interesting in parts and not so interesting in others. The author tends to ramble on about topics that were irrelevant but I still enjoyed it. If you like true crime novels, then you will enjoy this one!