Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster cover art

John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster

By: Sam L. Amirante, Danny Broderick
Narrated by: Robin Bloodworth
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

No Handcuffs cover art
Freed to Kill cover art
Triumph of Justice cover art
Flesh Collectors cover art
Helter Skelter cover art
Without a Doubt cover art
A Criminal Defense cover art
Precious Victims cover art
Presumed Guilty cover art
Open and Shut cover art
The Stranger Beside Me cover art
Every Mother's Nightmare cover art
Conviction cover art
Exposed cover art
The Devil's Defender cover art
If I Did It cover art

Editor reviews

Judge Sam L. Amirante and Danny Broderick’s John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster is an unforgettable work, a rare chilling glance behind the scenes of a universally well-known story, that of notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Amirante and Broderick, Gacy’s public defender, have constructed a gripping work that not only reveals for the first time new facts about one of America’s most infamous killers, but grapples with great questions of humanity, including the question of what it means to deserve defense - even if your crimes are as great as Gacy’s. Actor Robin Bloodworth’s performance is emotionally powerful and well-paced, and he excels especially at emphasizing those new elements of Gacy’s story which make this audiobook a must-listen.

Summary

For the first time Gacy’s lawyer and confidant tells his chilling tale of how he defended an American serial killer.

“Sam, could you do me a favor?”

Thus begins a story that has now become part of America's true-crime hall of fame. It is a gory, grotesque tale befitting a Stephen King novel. It is also a David and Goliath saga - the story of a young lawyer fresh from the public defender's office whose first client in private practice turns out to be the worst serial killer in our nation's history. This is a gripping true crime narrative that reenacts the gruesome killings and the famous trial that shocked a nation.

©2012 Sam L. Amirante and Danny Broderick (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    440
  • 4 Stars
    148
  • 3 Stars
    46
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    20
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    426
  • 4 Stars
    114
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    11
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    384
  • 4 Stars
    120
  • 3 Stars
    47
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    21

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Horrible writing

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I thought this book was for me. I wanted to get some insight into what would cause a man to kill 33 teenagers. Instead I had to listen to the authors long winded essay for an English 101 course (make that English 98 course).

What was most disappointing about Sam L. Amirante and Danny Broderick ’s story?

They moved away from the story. There were more accounts about bar room brawls, the flowing black gown of the judge and his glistening glasses. I had to stop listening because I'm sure a sex scene by the author would emerge.

What character would you cut from John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster?

The author who interjects himself into horrible story and poorly tries to make himself the author of the century, rather than writing about one of Americas worst serial killer. I could care less that you were the one that drank only 1 beer on a night out, and that the reporter was asleep during the brawl. What in the heck does that have to do with John Wayne Gacy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Bizarre

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes. No. Yes. It's absurd.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

That the author is more insane than John Wayne Gacy. So self congratulatory it's unreal, similar anecdotes over and over, never stopping to remind you of their (attorneys') popularity and fame, their preparedness for the case, how they were always getting one over on other people. It reads like Alan Partidge had written it. I genuinely began to feel sorry for John Wayne Gacy.

Very little about the victims themselves and who they were. It's mostly about John Wayne Gacy, then pretty much the attorneys.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

A bit drawn out.

Do you think John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

The author's should never be allowed to write again.

Any additional comments?

I really don't recommend it as a piece of work but it's so odd that it's worth listening to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

First part - great. Second part - dull

Definitely a book of two halves. The first describing Gacy's lifestyle, crimes and capture is fascinating though clearly somewhat embellished in places (ie, he tells us what some of the victims were thinking!). The second half of the book concerns Gacy's trial and rather than focus on the detail of the case, there is far too much spiel about the various lawyers' personalities and the legal technicalities of the trial. It really falls down when the author repeatedly harps on about how the American Justice System is the best in the world, and even claims at one point it was only because it was so good Gacy was convicted. This, despite earlier detailing how Gacy at one point confessed his crimes to almost anyone who happened to be passing his cell!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

to much lawyer talk

lawyer talking as if he was innocent omg how cringe is that most lawyers think even the guilty by 1000 percent are innocent because they are a lawyer cringe

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Author's tone grated throughout

I was hoping for a lot more from this book. The author's tone grated on me throughout, particularly his gleeful recounting of horrendous behaviour towards one witnesses and fairly callous comments about others. Didn't really feel I got much insight.

The narrator is fine, but I didn't understand why his "narrating accent" and that of the same character speaking to others were different.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Author is irritatingly glib and self obsessed

Lost all respect for author when he takes pride in how he harassed and humiliated an innocent trans woman who was a friend of one of the killer' victims. Bizarrely narcissistic throughout. Disappointing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Only made it through the first 40 minutes

As others have already reviewed, it's a bit of a bizarre book with detailed 'insights' into what the victims were thinking in the moments up to their deaths. After listening to the excellent Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, I was hoping for a similar factual and sober account, but was disappointed with this semi-fictional dramatised nonsense.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing insight

I actually found myself feeling sorry for a mass Muderer, the crimes were henious, but I ask myself, in 2021 would he have recieved the death penalty, and i find myself saying no, we have a greater understanding of all types on mental illnesses, though In my opinion it does not excuse the crime, but perhaps explains it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting insight

Like most I have heard the name John Wayne Gacy but I never knew the story behind the name.
This was a very interesting insight to the mind of Gacy, the downfall and the trial.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

A grim but fascinating story with real insight into the crimes, the US legal system and Gacy himself.

The book lost some momentum towards the end but on the whole it was a great listen and very well narrated. Recommended to anyone interested in True Crime.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful