Mama's Boy: The True Story of a Serial Killer and His Mother [Paperback]

Richard T. Pienciak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

Updated for the paperback version, the story of serial murderer Eric Napoletano recounts how his mother, Carolyn, used blackmail, bullying, and a Ponzi scheme to help her killer son elude capture. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Combining a violent temper with a mania for control and revenge, Eric Napoletano was convicted of the murder of his second wife in 1993. He has not been charged with the earlier murders in his life?a 15-year-old girlfriend and his first mother-in-law. Eric's mother, a civilian employee of the New York Police Department, asserted his innocence and tried to help cover up his crimes. Theirs was a love-hate relationship. Eric never knew his father, and when Eric was 13, his mother allowed him to move in with an older man she barely knew?"Uncle" Al Jiovine, who was also involved in the attempted cover-up. By the author of Murder at 75 Birch (LJ 9/1/92), this account of a pathetic but dangerously dysfunctional trio will interest true crime buffs.?Gregor A. Preston, formerly with Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Pienciak (Deadly Masquerade) details the terrible and simultaneously pathetic story of a young man the FBI described as "a sexually sadistic serial killer" and the mother who protected him. Carolyn Napoletano is bossy, arrogant, and warped. Her son, Nick, appears weak and inept but harbors a deep rage against Carolyn and her treatment of him. His anger has exploded into at least three brutal murders, beginning with the 1984 killing of his girlfriend. Police suspected Nick immediately but couldn't gather sufficient proof. In 1991, Nick became the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, and it's at this point that police began to uncover how Carolyn had shielded Nick. An administrative assistant for the NYPD, she tampered with police memos, evidence, and witnesses related to Nick's murder investigations. In spite of substantial proof to the contrary, she still maintains her innocence. Thankfully, Nick--her creation--is now in prison. Brian McCombie --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451407482
• ISBN-13: 978-0451407481
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very Detailed in some areas, June 4, 2004

By 

Michelle Paz "Michelle Crowe-Paz" (Mahwah, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mama's Boy: The True Story of a Serial Killer and His Mother (Paperback)

This book got my attention from the beginning and seemed to move quickly. However, I feel that some information was dragged out (especially toward the end of the book - The Trial).
The researcher obviously put 100% effort into gathering information about Eric, but I wish that he would've obtained more details about Myra, Wanda, and the other women he was involved with. I do hope that law enforcement learns a lesson from this book in that things WILL slip through the cracks and people will get away with things they aren't supposed to if there is no commitment to organization, diligence, and details.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Researched True Crime Book, December 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mama's Boy: The True Story of a Serial Killer and His Mother (Paperback)

This is a good example of a writer who obviously spent an incredible amount of time researching his book. Not only does he give us an in-depth study of the murderer but his mama as well. I am fascinated by the background of criminals and Mr Pienciak provides a lot of detail in this area. He writes well and it is a true crime selection worth reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Professionally Written True Crime, October 10, 2007

By 

Dan Bogaty "Mr. Congeniality" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mama's Boy: The True Story of a Serial Killer and His Mother (Paperback)

In MAMA'S BOY, Richard T. Pienciak details the story of a serial murderer, Eric Napoletano who, while not unusual in his sociopathic arrogance, is somewhat unique in that he only killed his wives and girlfriends. Their transgressions which Napoletano found intolerable were such things as wanting to have contact with their families, to make their own decisions, and basically failing to be completely subservient to him. Rather than being a cool and intelligent sociopath, Eric is presented as an hysterical and out of control lunatic, who, while possessing a certain amount of craftiness, is not very smart. This description also defines his mother, Carolyn, an unusually nauseating woman with more than her share of creepy insanity. Eric's pathology is the direct result of Carolyn's style of "mothering" which was to spoil Eric, whom she treated as much like an adult equal as her son. In fact, mother and son seem to behave toward each other more like lovers than parent and child. There is however no indication in the book that Carolyn and Eric actually had a sexual relationship. That was reserved for "Uncle Al" Jiovine, a gay man attracted to adolescent boys with whom, astoundingly, Carolyn allowed Eric to live, at age 14, without ever having met him. While it is not explained in the book why Carolyn would do this to her son - maybe because there IS no explanation - she says she wasn't worried about Al because Eric needed a father figure and that she had heard from an acquaintance that Uncle Al was "OK."

MAMA'S BOY includes a highly successful device of, every 40 pages or so, presenting a chapter called "In Her Own Words" in which Pienciak allows Carolyn to comment directly on her life and the murders (in which she of course denies any involvement by Eric or herself)) and then presents, without commentary, her statements. What emerges is an awful person who hates everyone and who takes no responsibility for herself or her son, believing that everything that has happened to them is the result of some
master plot to bring them down. She has learned to be superficially clever in manipulating siuations so as to temporarily derail, for example, the investigations into Eric's murders, or her disciplinary hearings at work. And she has taught Eric well. As an adult he has become just like her, whiny, manipulative, and a liar.

Pienciak moves the story along expertly. His writing is crisp and professional and he doesn't feel the need to tell us what we are supposed to think about the main characters (although it would be hard to come to any conclusion other than that they were rotten people). He avoids the melodrama, grade-school similes, and repetitive filler used by untalented or lazy writers. And even the section on the trial is handled well and presents evidence which is often new to the story, thereby avoiding the always boring "now we quote the trial transcript verbatim" school of true crime writing.
Pienciak presents us with a lot of information about the personalities of the main players, which I believe makes or breaks true crime writing. My only quibble with this book is that I would have liked to see more information about Carolyn Napoletano's upbringing so the reader could better understand the shrew she became. But I'm sure she would not in any case have provided Pienciak with the names of any people from her past who would have talked about her honestly, and as I have noted, Pienciak's device of allowing Carolyn her own chapters gives the reader excellent insight into who she is now.

I have previously read and reviewed another book by Pienciak called DEADLY MASQUERADE. That one was very good. MAMA'S BOY is better, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to true crime lovers.