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| Final Truth: The Autobiography of Mass Murderer/Serial Killer Donald 'Pee Wee' Gaskins | 
 enlarge | Authors: Donald H. Gaskins, Wilton Earle
Publisher: Adept
Category: Book
Buy Used: £29.95
Used (5) from £29.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 394346
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 230
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0963242202
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1523092
EAN: 9780963242204
Publication Date: May 1992
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Hardback in dustjacket. An unread copy with slight dent to front cover caused in storage. Quick dispatch from UK
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Horrifc, but a page turner. September 12, 2006
Like most of the other reviewers, I heard about this book and sought it out, paying a lot of money to get it, as it is not available in bookshops here. Was it worth it? Yes, I won't go into details of Mr Gaskins story as other people have covered this, but I found his life story fascinating.
You sometimes feel sorry for him, his childhood was brutal, but then you read he redirected this violence onto to others and your sympathy disappears.
I consider myself fairly hardened to brutality, but there were a couple of paragraphs in this book that disturbed even myself.
This is not an easy read, and not for the screamish, but I enjoyed it immensely, and could'nt put it down.
Is he telling the truth about all of the murders?? Well, with no DNA in the 70's and living in the Southern States of America, I guess we will never know for sure...
Well worth the money.
 SHOCKING BUT NOT BELEIVABLE April 11, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
THIS BOOK WAS RECOMMENDED TO ME, AND I WENT TO LOTS OF TROUBLE AND EXPENSE TO GET IT.......NOT WORTH IT, YES IT HAS THE SHOCK VALUE IF THATS ALL YOUR LOOKING FOR, I WAS LOOKING FOR A INSIGHT INTO THE MAN HIMSELF, AND I'M AFRAID I JUST DIDN'T BELIEVE ALOT OF THE BOOK, IF THINGS WENT EXACTLY AS GASKINS SAYS THERE IS NO WAY HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH THE KILLINGS FOR SO LONG...LOTS OF PEOPLE JUST WENT MISSING FROM THE NEIBOURHOODS TIME AND TIME AGAIN OBVIOUS TO ALL HIS FRIENDS THAT THEY WERE KNOWN TO GASKINS BUT IT SEEMS NOT MANY QUESTIONS WERE ASKED, I'M SORRY THIS BOOK IS JUST NOT BELIEVEABLE...
A fantastists tale? March 15, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an interesting book and gives a reasonally good insight into Gaskins mindset. However I cannot help but think a lot of it is made up fantasy to lend strength to his desire to be infamous. Gaskins himself complains in his book that he must be one of the least known serial killers in the USA and that he deserved to be more famous than he was. Therefore what better way to become infamous than to strive to become known as one of the most evil killers in the USA? Conveniently he cannot remember the majority of the 80 or so 'coastal murders' (unknown victims) he committed, as he states they were of little or no importance in his day to day living and very few of the victims of these murders have ever been found to support his claims. He only describes two or three of his murders in any great detail, although this is a relief as the ones he does describe (most notably his pleasure at the anal and vaginal rape he carries out of a screaming two year old child) are pretty sickening. Other murders he called his 'serious murders' (people he knew) were mostly done to stop him being found out for crimes he had committed i.e. theft or drugs. These murders were carried out without any sadistic overtones, mostly he killed these victims by a shot to the head and did not sexually assault their bodies. This coupled with the fact that he claims he carried out over 100 murders without providing any real proof, does tend to make you question the validity of his claims of killing purely for pleasure. There is however, no denying that Gaskins was a sociopath showing absolutely no remorse for any of his victims. He was abused physically as a child and both sexually and physically as a young adult which did not help him grow into a well rounded person! I got the impression that he was not particularly intelligent, although Gaskins holds himself and his intellect in very high regard suggesting that he was too clever to be caught for any of his murders. I feel that the fact that the majority of his crimes (if they ever happened) were undiscovered, were more likely to be down to the reason that they were committed in back of beyond places, that had little chance of someone coming across him whilst in the act, rather than his cleverness in concealing the scene of his crimes. I have read quite a few books about serial killers and I did not find this book particularly disturbing although it is unpsetting to read how some of the victims died. I would recommend this book, but have found other books (Brian Masters book about the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is very good) to be much more informative with better insights into what makes a serial killer 'tick' than this one.
A True Insight May 19, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I came across this book by accident when researching monsterous acts for a presentation I was doing at Uni. To my dismay it was only available in America, once reading the reviews I was desperate to get my hands on it. I am an avid reader of all things to do with serial killers and crime mysterys so this was deffinilty a treat. Amazon eventaully made it available in the UK and I ordered it immediatly. I couldn't put this book down, it is written in the way that Gaskins told the story and you get a true picture and can imagine it through his eyes. I was expecting it to be more horrific (after reading all the other reviews!) and I suppose to the light hearted it would be (my friend read a particulary gruesome paragraph and was horrified and felt sick for the rest of the day!) A must read for all you horror freaks out there!!
 Are killers made or born? March 13, 2002
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Having read this book, I came away thinking that whilst Gaskins suffered a horrendous adolescence (if we are to take him at his word - always a dubious business) the seed of sadism was already planted long before this. Witness the scene in which he became sexually aroused by the sight of a cobra killing a rat at a carnival. He was 4 years of age. Now whilst this shouldn't automatically put him into the 'destined to be a serial killer' bracket, it does give the reader a glimpse of the inner workings of Gaskins' mind. The rape of one of his friends' sister was merely the first instalment in what quickly became a life of depravity. Those passages in which he describes the torture and mutilation of abject strangers are quite chilling. The reader is left in no doubt as to the fact that sex quickly became secondary to the infliction of pain. The chapter in which he describes the rape and murder of a 2-year-old child is quite shocking with Gaskins plummeting hitherto unseen depths. Yet perhaps the most disturbing thing of all is the manner in which Gaskins rationalises his actions. Citing something resembling an epiphany, Pee Wee comes to the realisation that only through murder can he rid himself of the 'bothersomeness' which periodically afflicts him. What follows is a litany of killings breathtaking in their number and sickening in their nature. Butchering others in the name of self-preservation also features heavily - numerous people are killed in order to ensure his liberty from the law (Gaskins was involved in numerous criminal activites in addition to murder, ranging from arson to auto theft to gun-running). Gaskins boasts at the end of the book that he had a 'special mind' which gave him dispensation to kill. Whilst the word 'special' obviously jars with the reader, it captures the moral vacuum which surrounds his person. For one comes away from the book feeling that Gaskins hadn't so much as suppressed his conscience as taken full advantage of the utter abscence of one.
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