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Bad Boy: The True Story of Kenneth Allen McDuff, the Most Notorious Serial Killer in Texas History
 
 
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Bad Boy: The True Story of Kenneth Allen McDuff, the Most Notorious Serial Killer in Texas History [Mass Market Paperback]

Gary M. Lavergne (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)


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Book Description

October 3, 2006
A juvenile delinquent and bully as a child, Kenneth Allen McDuff was a notorious criminal by the age of 19. In August 1966, while on parole for burglary, he raped, tortured, and murdered three teenagers in an abandoned field far from his hometown of Rosebud, a peaceful Central Texas hamlet. He was tried, convicted, and condemned to death. Had his sentence not been commuted to life, that would have been the end of Kenneth Allen McDuff. But in 1989, only weeks after the twenty-third anniversary of his crimes, the bad boy from Rosebud walked out of prison a free man.

McDuff took pleasure in outwitting the system, and his bloodlust was an impulse he had no intention of controlling. After decomposed corpses of more and more women were discovered, the worst nightmares of the authorities came true. But times were different. It took 32 years to bring his brutal and heartless crime spree to a fitting end. Texas had never seen such incredible brutality--and has never been the same since.


Editorial Reviews

Review

"Impeccably researched, compellingly detailed...this is classic crime reporting."--Dan Rather

"May make even the most hardened true-crime fans sweat."--Booklist

From the Back Cover

"Killing a woman is like killing a chicken; they both squawk."
A juvenile delinquent and bully as a child, Kenneth Allen McDuff was a notorious criminal by the age of 19. In August 1966, while on parole for burglary, he raped, tortured, and murdered three teenagers in an abandoned field far from his hometown of Rosebud, a peaceful Central Texas hamlet. He was tried, convicted, and condemned to death. Had his sentence not been commuted to life, that would have been the end of Kenneth Allen McDuff. But in 1989, only weeks after the twenty-third anniversary of his crimes, the bad boy from Rosebud walked out of prison a free man.
 
"I'm going to give them time to get off my back and then I'm going to show them the real McDuff."
McDuff took pleasure in outwitting the system, and his bloodlust was an impulse he had no intention of controlling. After decomposed corpses of more and more women were discovered, the worse nightmares of the authorities came true. But times were different. It took 32 years to bring his brutal and heartless crime spree to a fitting end. Texas had never seen such incredible brutality-and has never been the same since.
 
"MAY MAKE EVEN THE MOST HARDENED TRUE-CRIME FANS SWEAT."
-Booklist
 
WITH 8 PAGES OF HARROWING PHOTOGRAPHS

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime (October 3, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312981252
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312981259
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gary M. Lavergne was born in the small Southwestern Louisiana Cajun community of Church Point where he attended a parochial elementary and a public high school. He was the son of a policeman and a cafeteria worker in the elementary school Gary attended. In all of his messages and presentations, Gary draws from his unique, rich Cajun background.

Gary earned a B.A. in Social Studies Education (1976) and a M.Ed. (1981) in Secondary School Teaching from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In 1988, he earned an Education Specialist degree (Ed.S.) in Educational Administration and Supervision from McNeese University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Today, Gary is the Director of Admissions Research and Policy Analysis in the Office of Admissions at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of numerous Admissions Research reports for the University of Texas. In March of 2001 he gained international attention with his New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled "Is This the End of the SAT?"

Gary has been published in regional, national, and international scholarly journals. His award-winning book, A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders, has received rave reviews from best selling authors and many of the nation's largest and most respected dailies and trade magazines. On August 1, 2006, the Austin American Statesman called Sniper the definitive account of the Texas Tower Tragedy.

Gary's second book, The Bad Boy from Rosebud was released in July of 1999. Dan Rather of CBS News called it "classic crime reporting." The paperback version of Bad Boy from Rosebud was released by St Martin's Press in November 2001. It is still available and is entitled Bad Boy.

Gary was also a featured author for Southern Scribe and the 1997, 1999, and 2003 Texas Book Festivals. He was also chosen to moderate sessions for the 2004 and 2009 festivals.

His third book is entitled Worse Than Death, and is the story of the largest mass murder in the history of Dallas, Texas.

Just recently Gary announced that his third book will be entitled Before Brown and will be an account of the events surrounding the dramatic 1950 civil rights case Sweatt v Painter. Pamela Colloff of Texas Monthly said that the manuscript was "Vivid, absorbing, and gracefully written... Gary Lavergne's gifts as a storyteller bring Sweatt's journey, and the context of his struggle, alive. With a novelist's eye for character and detail, Lavergne gives us an intimate portrait of Sweatt... Before Brown is both a monumental work and a great read. Sweatt's story is one that every American should know."

Gary Lavergne is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and has appeared on DATELINE NBC, the Today Show, the History Channel, Biography, American Justice, and The Discovery Channel.

 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
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1 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Evil, August 3, 2005
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This review is from: Bad Boy: The True Story of Kenneth Allen McDuff, the Most Notorious Serial Killer in Texas History (Mass Market Paperback)
Having read one of Lavergne's other books (Sniper in the Tower), I was anxious to read some of his other work. Lavergne treats true crime with a factual and straight forward approach to storytelling. As with his previous book, I was impressed with this one.

Kenneth Allen McDuff should not be a known killer. After being convicted of murder in 1966, McDuff should have been locked away from public view forever. Yet despite being place in death row, a flaw in the parole system allowed him to walk out of prison in 1989. This allowed a man with a mean disposition an opportunity to kill again. And he did kill at least three other women. With his new lease on freedom, he did not just kill his victims. He brutally tortured them. The story is made more complex by a dominating mother, a drug and alcohol addiction, inept accomplices, as well as an insatiable appetite for rough sex.

McDuff's murders should have ended in 1966. This makes the demise of his victims that much more unnecessary. Laverge proves to be a top notch true crime writer again in "Bad Boy". I am anxious to read his other work.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful argument against parole, December 5, 2001
This review is from: Bad Boy: The True Story of Kenneth Allen McDuff, the Most Notorious Serial Killer in Texas History (Mass Market Paperback)
"Bad Boy" is a compelling case against the idea anyone who commits a violent crime should ever be given a second chance. There are probably people who would be an excellent example of someone given a second chance turning their life around and becoming a positive member of society: Kenneth Allen McDuff was not that person. Every time he was given an opportunity (& it's amazing how many he got) he committed more heinous crimes. Lavergne convincingly suggests McDuff is one of the primary political reasons Texas got really tough on criminals & greatly expanded its prison system. Strengths of the book, which is well above-average true crime but no "In Cold Blood" or "The Executioner's Song," include the portrayal of McDuff's parents, that it documents sources & includes an index, & some well-chosen quotes from other sources, especially one about sociopathy: "Antisocial personality disorder is the current name for what in the past has been known as sociopathy, psychopathy, moral insanity, or in pre-psychiatric days, evil." Why do publishers continue to undermine the genre with tabloid tactics like, "With 8 pages of harrowing photographs" when, in fact, there isn't a photo in the book that could be described as even mildly disturbing? Other than that quibble, this is solid true crime with an above-average research effort behind it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars books, May 12, 2007
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Marian T. Cleary (Holbrook, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bad Boy: The True Story of Kenneth Allen McDuff, the Most Notorious Serial Killer in Texas History (Mass Market Paperback)
Disturbing. I'd watched a documentary about the "broomstick killer" and was curious about what made him tick. The book reveals what was behind the creep's actions. And that was really nothing, just a vicious, vacant man devoid of any pity or feelings. Written in a factual, chilling manner. Me thinks I learned a bit too much about this mad man.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
olson Home on South First Street, the palatial "Rosebud Castle," the Reichert House on Second Street and several others nestled in quiet neighborhoods among mature, magnificent trees. Rosebud was "a town of good people working together for the betterment of their community" extolled the Chamber of Commerce. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
offense report, voluntary statement, wrecker service, terroristic threat
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Roy Dale, Kenneth Allen, Hank Worley, Quik Pak, Colleen Reed, Austin Police Department, Tim Steglich, United States, Big Mac, Bill Johnston, Falls County, Broomstick Murders, Travis County, County District Attorney, Don Martin, Melissa Northrup, Kansas City, Sabine Hall, Brenda Thompson, John Moriarty, Louise Sullivan, Waco Police Department, Gary Jackson, Charlie Butts, Chuck Meyer
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