Customer Reviews

Mama's Boy: 9The True Story of a Serial Killer and His Mother

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

I was the Assistant Prosecutor in New Jersey who handled the trial of Eric Napoletano for the murder of his wife, Myra Acevedo Napoletano. The success, including the conviction of and life sentence imposed on Eric Napoletano, was the result of uncommon cooperation among dedicated persons from various law enforcement agencies, including the F.B.I. in New York, New Jersey and New Mexico; Bear County, Delaware (where Myra's body was discovered); Clifton, New Jersey; New York City (at least 2 murders there); Pennsylvania (where the first body was dumped); and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office. The book tells the tale of the capture and trial of a deranged young man who cultivated relationships with women, then murdered them when the relationships soured. The trial was a career experience of a lifetime. I would be more than willing to communicate with anyone who is interested in the case.

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.

Eric Napoletano is a psychopath who killed his wives and girlfriends. He had a sick view of women in general. He had a tendency towards hysterics. This well written book will reel in true crime readers and people with backgrounds in mental health and human services.

Napoletano's mother Carolyn sounded revolting and had weird pathology as well. She met Eric's father in a bar and he was the result of a short lived affair. Carolyn's parenting style is questionable at best, unhealthy and bizarre at worst. Eric was indulged and treated more like her social peer than like her son. Even weirder was when she let her then teenage son move in with an openly gay man who was attracted to young boys. What was she thinking!

Eric had a history of emotional disturbance. He was in and out of the hospital and was sentenced for 2 years to Green Chimneys in Brewster New York. Green Chimneys has been called by survivors as an abuse center. Staff abuse of kids ran throughout Green Chimneys (I was there, but not when Eric was) most likely inflamed his cruel nature and twisted his pathology even further. Eric Lau, a killer who attended Green Chimneys in the 1990s murdered his neighbor, Jami Ehrlich on November 29, 2009. During his time at Green Chimneys, the state sentenced him to David Hall, a psychiatric hospital for boys at Green Chimneys. (The hospital is named after Dr. Samuel Ross' son, David, who died in 1990). Another rapist and a killer named Philip Zagarella was there, but a few years before Eric. You can read about them on the internet. Green Chimneys was the kind of place where cruelty ruled. In fact, Napoletano killed a woman named Myra, who was his wife at the time. Myra is the name of Dr. Samuel B. Ross Jr.'s wife. That sounds like a connection. Like Ross, Eric could not tolerate his lovers and his wives wanting to contact their families or do things on their own without being told what to do by him.

Carolyn tampered with evidence and interfered with jurors after Eric was arrested and then the trial. Neither Carolyn nor Eric ever took responsiblity for their actions. Both are very sick people and Eric will be in jail for life.

Mama's Boy is 1 of 3 books that PIENCIAK investigative reporter

& editor for the AP has written. I have read Deadly Masquerade and

plan on reading Murder 75 Birch.

Eric is the product of a dysfunctional love triangle. Eric, Carolyn-

his NPD mother and homosexual pedophile Uncle Al.

These 2 DESPICABLE people raised Eric. He became a SEXUAL

SADISTIC KILLER all by himself. Al and Carolyn would always help

him dispose of the bodies and give him alibis.

Eric choose very young black and Hispanic girls. He isolated them

from their friends and families to control their every move. When they

grew up and realized that this was not normal they tried to leave him.

If Eric loved you and you tried to leave he would KILL you. Eric learned

to kill in slaughter houses--pigs & cows. He killed his woman the same

way he killed the animals.

There is very little in the book about his mother, Al and his wives lives

before Eric. I would like to know more about each of them.

There is some very sloppy police work but one Clifton NJ detective

Nick Donato makes it his goal to put Eric away.

Eric laughs went he is sentenced in court.

See previous review. Anyone looking for information in this case may contact the prosecutor at wjpurdy@earthlink.net

I read this book and it does tell you what a evil & dishonest person his mother was but there is very little information about the women that were murdered. I just gave this book away shaking my head and wondering about the victims. I was looking for a lot more information that was not in this book, Eric was evil and a murderer but I did want to know more about these poor women he killed. I want to know about these woman. That information was not in the book. Ages, dates of birth etc. were not written about. I have read many true crime books and this one was one of the worst.

I thought this was written very well. I kept wanting to get the chance to read as much as possible, throughly enjoyed reading this book.

This dealer responed quickly and had my book shipped almost immediately. Book is in great condition.