Bad Boy: The Murderous Life of Kenneth Allen McDuff

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Summary: A powerful argument against parole
Review: "Bad Boy" is a compelling case against the idea anyone who commits a violent crime should ever be given a second chance. There are probably people who would be an excellent example of someone given a second chance turning their life around and becoming a positive member of society: Kenneth Allen McDuff was not that person. Every time he was given an opportunity (& it's amazing how many he got) he committed more heinous crimes. Lavergne convincingly suggests McDuff is one of the primary political reasons Texas got really tough on criminals & greatly expanded its prison system. Strengths of the book, which is well above-average true crime but no "In Cold Blood" or "The Executioner's Song," include the portrayal of McDuff's parents, that it documents sources & includes an index, & some well-chosen quotes from other sources, especially one about sociopathy: "Antisocial personality disorder is the current name for what in the past has been known as sociopathy, psychopathy, moral insanity, or in pre-psychiatric days, evil." Why do publishers continue to undermine the genre with tabloid tactics like, "With 8 pages of harrowing photographs" when, in fact, there isn't a photo in the book that could be described as even mildly disturbing? Other than that quibble, this is solid true crime with an above-average research effort behind it.

Rating:
Summary: It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your Parole Officer is??
Review: Every bit as good as Sniper in the Tower, Gary Lavergne gives us another read we can't put down. The story's not pretty but the research is excellent. (...) I was thrilled to see it out in MM. All true crime readers should get this one.

Rating:
Summary: Another great one by Gary Lavergne
Review: Every bit as good as Sniper in the Tower, Gary Lavergne gives us another read we can't put down. The story's not pretty but the research is excellent. (...) I was thrilled to see it out in MM. All true crime readers should get this one.

Rating:
Summary: It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your Parole Officer is??
Review: This amazing and horrific story could only be TRUE.
No fiction writer could possibly convince their publisher of the logic of the storyline that a convicted murderer would be released again and again into the population to run rampant on drugs, go unsupervised and undetected on parole, and commit the atrocities described in this book. This story is a valuable study in the nature/nurture contribution to the serial killer personality.

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: Very detailed and well written book about this sick individual.