Confidant is the specific word this audiobook's synopsis uses for Sam L. Amirante's relationship to John Wayne Gacy, not simply defense attorney, and that distinction matters for how this true crime account differs from the genre's usual outsider perspective. Amirante was, by his own account, on the inside of one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history from the very first phone call, which the synopsis renders as a single line: "Sam, could you do me a favor?"
An Unenviable and Thankless Task, Says Raven
Amirante was a young lawyer fresh out of the public defender's office when that favor turned into representing his very first private client, who happened to become, in the synopsis's own words, "the worst serial killer in our nation's history." The framing leans directly into that improbability, calling the setup "a David and Goliath saga" and comparing the material to "a Stephen King novel" in its gore and strangeness, while still insisting on its own basis in documented fact rather than embellishment. The synopsis calls the resulting narrative "gripping," a word that gets used constantly across true crime marketing generally, but the specific hook here, a defense lawyer narrating his own unwitting entanglement with a case this large, is a genuinely less common angle for the genre to work from.
Raven's review supplies the specific scope the marketing copy mostly gestures around: Gacy murdered a minimum of thirty-three young men between 1972 and 1978, burying most of them beneath his own house in Norwood Park Township, Chicago, and dumping others in a nearby river once he ran out of space beneath the house itself. That level of detail, arriving through a reader's own account rather than the synopsis, gives a much more concrete sense of what "gruesome killings" actually means here. Raven's own title for the review, "An Unenviable and Thankless Task," borrows language that could just as easily describe Amirante's position as Gacy's crimes, a small piece of framing that lines up with the book's own defense-side angle.
Every Defendant Is Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Robin Bloodworth carries the full runtime solo, over fourteen hours combining legal memoir with true crime, a pairing that asks for both a lawyer's procedural precision and a storyteller's sense of pacing through genuinely disturbing material. Kristin Ames's review makes the strongest case for why this particular angle matters: most true crime, in that review's words, is "formulaic and predictable," told from the prosecution's point of view with guilt assumed early, while this book instead reminds listeners "every defendant is innocent until proven guilty" and that even history's most reviled clients are entitled to a competent defense.
This framing is not just a legal technicality dressed up as a theme. Kristin Ames describes the book as designed not to earn sympathy for Gacy but to illustrate how the justice system is supposed to function regardless of how guilty a client eventually turns out to be, and Lily's shorter review backs up the basic craft underneath that argument, calling it simply "good read... keeps you interested" despite the heaviness of the material. Ian's review, even while raising other complaints, agrees on the core premise, describing the book as telling "Gacy's story from his lawyer's perspective" in a way that clearly registers as the book's defining feature across nearly every review on file.
Geography spreads wider across these five write-ups than most comparably sized listings show. Kristin Ames, Ian, and Raven all post from the United States, but Zoe reviews from the United Kingdom and Lily from Canada, giving this particular title an international spread of reactions that a lot of comparable true crime titles do not show in their review columns.
The Judge's Eyewear Gets Its Own Paragraph
Ian's four-star review raises a specific pacing concern worth knowing before committing to the full runtime: "roughly a fifth of this book is padding," in Ian's estimate, pointing specifically to a moment at the start of the trial where the narrative pauses to describe the courtroom itself in extended detail, down to the workmanship of the pews, the size of the windows, and the judge's eyewear. Whether that level of scene-setting reads as texture or delay will likely depend on individual taste for slower true crime writing. Ian's overall verdict still lands on the positive side, closer to "mostly a good read" than a real warning away from the book, so the padding reads as a real but survivable flaw rather than a dealbreaker in that specific account.
Reviewers also do not all land on the same emotional register toward Gacy himself. Zoe's account is considerably harsher than Kristin Ames's justice-system framing, describing Gacy as someone who "played a good game" and "took these men for the fools that they were," a blunter, less analytical read on the same material. That range, from Kristin Ames's procedural sympathy for the defense process to Zoe's outright contempt for Gacy specifically, suggests the book leaves room for more than one reaction to the same facts.
Bloodworth Delivers a Genuinely Different Entry Point
True crime listeners specifically interested in the legal mechanics of an infamous case, rather than just the crimes themselves, are the clearest audience, especially anyone drawn to Kristin Ames's point about defense work being underrepresented in the genre. Listeners who appreciate a firsthand, insider account over a journalistic outsider's reconstruction should also find real value in Amirante's direct access to the case, and the international spread of reviewers, across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, at least suggests the appeal travels beyond a single country's true crime audience.
Listeners allergic to slower, detail-heavy true crime should weigh Ian's padding comment before committing fourteen hours, and given the subject matter, this is obviously not a pick for listeners sensitive to detailed accounts of violence against young men. Readers already comfortable with the genre otherwise will likely find the defense-side angle a genuinely different entry point than most Gacy-related media provides.
- Voice: Robin Bloodworth narrates alone across fourteen-plus hours, balancing legal procedure with genuinely disturbing true crime detail.
- Big ideas: Defense-side true crime, justice system principles, an infamous serial killer case
- Atmosphere: Grim and procedural
- Worth it?: A genuinely distinct angle on a well-known case, though the trial-scene padding one reviewer flags is worth knowing about upfront.
Common Questions
Are the reviews on this true crime audiobook sympathetic to John Wayne Gacy?
No, though they arrive at that lack of sympathy differently. Kristin Ames frames the book as an argument for due process in general rather than sympathy for Gacy specifically, while Zoe's review is far blunter, describing Gacy as someone who played the people around him for fools. Neither reading treats Gacy himself as a sympathetic figure.
Does this audiobook focus more on the crimes themselves or on the legal defense process?
The legal defense process gets the primary focus, judging from both the official description and the reviews. Amirante is described as Gacy's lawyer and confidant, and Kristin Ames's review specifically praises the book for illustrating how the justice system is supposed to function, rather than dwelling purely on crime-scene detail for its own sake.
Is this audiobook likely to feel padded or slow in places, according to reviewers?
One reviewer thinks so. Ian estimates that roughly a fifth of the book is padding, pointing to an extended description of the courtroom itself, down to the pews and windows, as a specific example. Ian's overall opinion stays positive despite that complaint, calling it mostly a good read rather than recommending against it.
Where do the reviews for this audiobook come from?
Three countries are represented across this title's five written reviews. Three reviewers write from the United States, one from the United Kingdom, and one from Canada, giving this particular title a wider international spread than many comparable true crime audiobooks show in their review columns.
