The Acid King
By (Author) Jesse P. Pollack
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
1st November 2018
United States
Young Adult
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Bullying, violence, abuse and pe
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Drugs and addiction
364.1523092
Paperback
480
Width 140mm, Height 210mm, Spine 28mm
367g
Real stories. Real teens. Real consequences.
A murder in a small Long Island town reveals the dark secrets lurking behind the seemingly peaceful faade in this latest installment of the Simon True series.
On June 19, 1984, seventeen-year-old Ricky Kasso murdered Gary Lauwers in what local police and the international press dubbed a Satanic Sacrifice.
The murder became the subject of several popular songs, and television specials addressed the issue of whether or not Americas teens were practicing Satanism. Even Congress got in on the act, debating Satanic symbolism in songs by performers like AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne. The country is in crisis! screamed the pundits. After all, it was the height of the Reagan era and Nancy Reagans just say no campaign was everywhere. But what this case revealed were bigger problems lurking at the heart of suburban America.
Ricky Kasso wasnt a bad kid, but he was lost. To feel better, he started smoking pot, moving on from that to PCP and LSD. He ended up living on the streets and thinking he had nothing to lose. Gary Lauwers went from being a victim of bullying to using drugs to fit in, and finally robberybut then he made the mistake of stealing from Ricky, and from that moment on, his fate was sealed.
A few months later, Gary went into the woods behind the park with Ricky and two other boys. Only three of them came out.
The subsequent police investigation and accompanying media circus turned the village upside down. It shattered the image of an idyllic small town, changed the way neighbors viewed each other, and recast the War on Drugs.
Jesse P. Pollackwas born and raised in the garden state of New Jersey, and has served as a contributing writer forWeird NJmagazine since 2001. His first book,Death on the Devils Teeth, coauthored with Mark Moran, was published in 2015 to critical acclaim. Also an accomplished musician, Pollacks soundtrack work has been heard onDriving Jersey, an Emmy-nominated PBS documentary series. He is married with two children, three dogs, and a couple of cats.