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If you are interested in true crime, you can’t miss the book by Jason Moss “The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer“. The book was first published in 1999, and though more than 20 years passed since, it still intrigues the true crime fans.

Jason Moss was quite a successful attorney and writer, the Last Victim being his only book, but much discussed; however he ended his life shooting himself in the head when he was still young (31). In this book, Jason described his high-school experience of communication with various serial killers. He grew up a very independent youth aimed at success in every field he participated in. But everything he took up, ceased to interest him quite soon. Sports, stamp collecting and other hobbies did not satisfy him; he managed to be the best and leave before being beaten by someone else. I can say he was after thrill and victory; that trait possibly united him with serial killers he strived to contact later. At some stage, he became aware of his apprehension towards death, torture, horrible details and either trying to win over himself, or moved by other impulses, Jason wanted to go into the criminal field as a FBI profiler. The best form of preparation he found was “befriending” serial killers and establishing a stable contact with them.

The serial killers he mostly mentions in this book were Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Ramirez; there were others given less attention, but the primary one with whom Jason developed “the relation” was John Wayne Gacy. His tactics was to find and study as much info as he could about the person, then write to him a convincing letter which would “lure” the person out making him answer; if possible, extract some drawings, photos or autographs which he could later sell or produce as a proof of his communication. Studying his “objects” as exotic insects, he delved into dark territories like murder, Satanism, rape, homo sex (which can be provoking and kind of unpleasant for a non-interested straight person), to prepare an image of “a perfect victim” or “associate” which would interest and satisfy the specific serial killer. I do not know why he chose John Wayne Gacy as his primary “target” – may be, because Gacy was the first person whom Jason had a lengthy correspondence with; or Gacy chose Jason in the first place; but getting replies from the serial killers definitely boosted Jason’s courage and self-respect.

I read a lot of reviews on Jason Moss’ book and there is much criticism about it which mostly deals with the following: the travel detailed in the book is not to the serial killers’ minds, but Jason’s (I agree with it), or that Jason decorated the truth or blatantly lied about some details (I cannot check that). For me, the book was very interesting even if not 100% true – I am well aware that it was not written by Gacy, Manson or Ramirez. I made my own conclusions about it. Primarily, I think that Jason Moss was the person who really could manipulate people, and first persons to live under the manipulation were his parents (I can hardly imagine parents which are OK with the son or daughter under legal age, writing and meeting a serial killer). Second, I find Nietzsche’s phrase “If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you” very accurate. Not that serial killers drove Jason Moss to suicide – they at large and beyond the bars are quite different people. But delving into such dark topics requires caution; Jason was too bold to bother much with it. Third, the truth is always “out there” – I cannot really rely on Jason Moss’ book as a source of info on the serial killers. Obsession of incarcerated men with sex is widely known; except that, I did not find any unknown details about murders or new conclusions which would help us identify the potential serial killers. For me, the book is an interesting read mostly due to the exotic topic and Jason’s unique experience, and it’s a warning for true crime fans not to go too far and keep their obsession in check.