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  • The Ultimate Evil

  • The Search for the Sons of Sam
  • By: Maury Terry
  • Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
  • Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (159 ratings)

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The Ultimate Evil

By: Maury Terry
Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
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Summary

The true-crime cult classic that inspired an upcoming Netflix documentary series and companion podcast, The Ultimate Evil follows journalist Maury Terry’s terrifying investigation into the true evil behind the Son of Sam murders.

On August 10, 1977, the NYPD arrested David Berkowitz for the Son of Sam murders that had terrorized New York City for over a year. Berkowitz confessed to shooting 16 people and killing six with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver, and the case was officially closed.

Journalist Maury Terry was suspicious of Berkowitz’s confession. Spurred by conflicting witness descriptions of the killer and by the Queens District Attorney, who was convinced Berkowitz didn’t act alone, Terry spent decades researching, gathering evidence, and interviewing those involved in the case. He released his initial findings in the original publication of The Ultimate Evil in 1987, in which he presented his theory that Berkowitz was a member of the Process Church of the Final Judgment, a cult responsible for the Son of Sam murders as well as other ritual murders across the country. After Terry’s death in 2015, documentary filmmaker Josh Zeman (Cropsey, The Killing Season, Murder Mountain) followed leads Terry left for him, which form the basis of his upcoming docuseries with Netflix and a companion podcast. Taken together with The Ultimate Evil, which includes a new introduction by Zeman, these works reveal the stunning intersections of power, wealth, privilege, and evil in America - from the Summer of Sam until today.

©1987 Maury Terry. Introduction © 2021 by Joshua Zeman (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing
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What listeners say about The Ultimate Evil

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fact driven True Crime investigation

Enjoyed this after watching the Netflix documentary. so much info and detail. tells story of one journalists willingness and commitment to uncover the truth. only lose one star for the bad Aussie accents!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great book

A very long but detailed and nteresting listen. Defintly recommend. . . . .

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Heck of a story, but it's all too ludicrous!

Terry has put in a heck of a lot of work, unfortunately for him a lot of his conspiracy theories have since been proven empty. He's a great story teller though, and you have to give it to his investigators, allies, and informants put in plenty of legwork though, and you've got to give credit for that. Voice actor was great though!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Son’s of Sam … ?

What a strange book ! The author has raised some very good questions about the single killer theory in the son of Sam slayings however he then throws all that away by allowing himself to be played by Berkowitz and others and has a tendency to see things that ain’t there, sometimes in his letters you can plainly see that he ( Berkowitz ) is gathering information on satanic cults and regurgitating it only days later .very strange that Terry or his editor didn’t pick up on this

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

eye opening

just listen to it .
a truly eye opening inside to a massive wep of death and depravity.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!!

Well written, well preformed. Maury was really on to something big. A must for true crime buffs.

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

Way too long

The first half of the book was interesting and a good listen. The rest of the book I really struggled with. it became a long, long, long list of names and connections, which was very boring. it's a shane, because the story is fascinating but I lost the will to live by the end. Without a notebook or a diagram it was almost impossible to keep track of everyone in the story Andi stopped caring about 8 hours before the end. I kept at it, hoping it would improve but for me, it didn't.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great investigative work

A famous case , great story , well researched and compiled by Maury Terry and great accompanying documentary on Netflix.
Narrated well ,one if my all time favourite.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A must read. In depth look at true evil

Listened to this after watching the Netflix documentary. Thoroughly researched and an in depth look into the Sons of Sam conspiracy. The Netflix documentary did not do this story justice and I feel maligned the late Maury Terry. This book puts the record straight and reveals Maury Terry as a diligent thorough investigative journalist who gave so much to give voice to the truth. Well worth a read.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very Good Narrative Journalism

As thorough and compelling as HelterSkelter. Nuanced enough to re-listen without boredom. Although in later chapters there's so many names that it gets quite confusing. There's only a couple of editing slips in an otherwise excellent reading. I did slow the playback in the later chapters so I could process the glut of information!

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1 person found this helpful