Buried Dreams: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer Inside

This is the absorbing and disturbing story of John Wayne Gacy, the suburban Chicago businessman sentenced to death in 1980 for the murders of 33 young boys, most of whose bodies were buried in the crawlspace under his home. Cahill, aided in his research by TV reporter Ewing, recreates Gacy's unhappy childhood with a violent father; his seemingly respectable life as a successful contractor and civic leader; and his five-year spree as a murderer who raped and tortured his victims. The book is told mainly from the vantage of the homosexual Gacy, a ""creature of lies, internal contradictions, misrepresentations, and false idealism,'' who claims utter confusion over the crimes. Jurors dismissed an insanity plea, finding Gacy complex, antisocial and rational. Cahill includes graphic accounts of torture and sexual acts. Major ad/promo; first serial to Us magazine; author tour. (March)