My newest book, 'The Long Shadow of Katy's Killer,' is now in stores
My newest book is now available.
I’ve just authored a sequel to my 2021 book “A Stranger Killed Katy.” This one focuses on the newest and often startling efforts by convicted killer Brian M. McCarthy to win parole for his 1986 murder of Clarkson University sophomore Katy Hawelka of Syracuse, New York. He continues to come up with new ways to try to persuade the parole board that his brutal beating and strangulation of Katy on the Potsdam campus was just a tragic accident.
"The Long Shadow of Katy’s Killer: Parole Hearings and Other Updates to ‘A Stranger Killed Katy’" from Chestnut Heights Publishing is available at Amazon.com and other online bookstores. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Long-Shadow-Katys.../dp/1732241694/
At first, I considered updating the first book as a revised, longer second edition. However, I quickly realized there was too much fresh material that didn’t fit into the initial book’s narrative structure, including some newly uncovered psychological evaluations and risk assessments dating back to 2009.
I think this latest book holds up on its own in critically examining the New York parole process, the prison system's questionable computerized risk assessments, McCarthy’s shifting narratives about the murder, and the relentless fight by Katy’s family to keep him behind bars. This sequel builds to an extremely long and dramatic 2023 parole hearing, where McCarthy’s manipulations collide with a board determined to uncover the truth.
Even if you’ve read the first book, I think you’ll find this one worthwhile, as I’ve tried to repeat only enough key details so that readers unfamiliar with the original can still follow the story.
In my many years in journalism, nothing I have written has been more important to me than telling Katy's story as accurately and fairly as possible. I thank Katy’s family for once again trusting me to share their story.
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