This book is about evil in all its ugly flamboyance.  It is also a stark reminder that no one can truly claim to be a "good person" if - when tested, when confronted with the ultimate choice between right and wrong - they set off on a path of self-serving, malevolent destruction.

Damaged though he clearly was by childhood trauma, Winston Moseley CHOSE to inflict pain and suffering on the innocent.  In the end, he could not evade the consequences of his carefully planned, deliberately constructed mayhem.  Nevertheless, the fact that he is still alive, and the brave souls who apprehended and prosecuted him have almost all left this world, is a cruel twist of fate.

Similarly, the witnesses of Kew Gardens CHOSE to look the other way while one of their own was brutally erased from their midst.  They were afraid???  So was Catherine Genovese - and she was alone with a monster.  Their fear did not dissuade them from lying repeatedly to law enforcement, the media and themselves.  They willingly aided and abetted a perpetrator because alerting the police was inconvenient.  For SHAME.

This thoroughly-researched and well-reasoned book is a must read for anyone who believes that callous indifference is excusable because someone might have lived an exemplary life prior to a fateful choice.  Obstruction of justice is NEVER excusable.  Despise Winston Moseley for his crimes, yes indeed!  But don't ignore the "upstanding citizens" who made that nightmare possible.  To do so is to put a further nail in Catherine Genovese's coffin.