About this item
Absolute Madness tells the disturbing true story of Joseph Christopher, a white serial killer who targeted black males and struck fear into the residents of Buffalo and New York City in the 1980s. Dubbed both the .22-Caliber Killer and the Midtown Slasher, Christopher allegedly claimed eighteen victims during a savage four-month spree across the state. The investigation, aided by famed FBI profiler John Douglas, drew national attention and biting criticism from Jesse Jackson and other civil rights leaders. The killer, when at last he was unmasked, seemed an unlikely candidate to have held New York in a grip of terror. His capture was neither the end of the story nor the end of the racial strife, which flared anew during circuitous prosecutions and judicial rulings that prompted cries of a double standard in the justice system.
About the Author
Catherine Pelonero is the author of Kitty Genovese: A True Account of a Public Murder and its Private Consequences, a nonfiction book about the notorious 1964 murder case. Kitty Genovese made both the New York Times and Amazon bestseller lists, reaching #10 on the New York Times Best Sellers in Crime & Punishment and #1 on Amazon in biography & memoir, Kindle edition.
As a true crime author and commentator, Catherine has appeared on episodes of the Emmy-winning series A Crime to Remember on Investigation Discovery, It Takes a Killer, Fox Files, and Murderous Affairs. She is a contributing writer for CrimeFeed.
Her new book, Absolute Madness: A True Story of a Serial Killer, Race, and a City Divided, is a nonfiction account of Joseph Christopher, a white serial killer who preyed on black men in a crime spree across New York state. Absolute Madness is available November 7, 2017.
As a playwright, Catherine Pelonero's titles include Family Names and Awesome Ghosts of Ontario, both published by Samuel French, Inc. Other plays include Puppies with Papers, a finalist for the Heideman Award at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Another Effing Family Drama, which premiered at the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Festival and was chosen for Best of the Fringe.
Catherine Pelonero is originally from Buffalo, New York. She is a member of several professional writers organizations including the Actors Studio Playwrights & Directors Unit, Sisters in Crime, and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights (ALAP.) She lives in Los Angeles.
