This is the true story of a mass shooting that occurred in September 1949 in Camden, New Jersey. The story of the perpetrator, Howard Unruh, is told through the point of view of a 12-year-old neighbor, Raymond Haven, and his mother, Freda Unruh, with a few brief narratives from others (ie, a prosecutor and psychiatrist). It’s clear the book is written as a story with embellishments. I will say that the book seemed to drag on, though I can appreciate that it’s focus wasn’t on Unruh and his crimes, but on the people affected by it. How Freda struggled with loving her son and feeling guilty for his crimes. How Raymond struggled with the kinship he felt for Unruh and what that said about him. It also looked more into the psychological motives for Unruh’s murder spree and how he processed his actions. 
I chose this book for a reading challenge and it seemed interesting enough as I’m a true crime aficionado and even have a degree in criminology. I think embellishing the story is fine when the author makes an effort to remind readers throughout that it’s embellished. However, I prefer an unembellished story when it comes to true events, it puts readers into the story and makes it more relatable and less of a reciting of facts, but it can cause some issues with reliability. 
Overall, I think the book was great, it had its moments and I loved the epilogue, but it’s probably at least 50 pages too long.