Gone Boy A Father's Search for the Truth in His Son's Murder

On December 14, 1992, Gregory Gibsonrs"s eighteen-year-old son Galen was murdered, shot in the doorway of his college library by a fellow student gone berserk. The killer was jailed for life, but for Gibson the tragedy was still unfolding. The morning of the shooting, he learned, college officials had intercepted but not stopped a box of ammunition addressed to the murderer. They were also anonymously warned of the intended killing but failed to call the police. After years of frustrated attempts to find peace, Gibson woke one morning to a terrible vision of his own rage and helplessness. He knew he had to do something before he destroyed himself, and he resolved to discover and document the forces that led to Galenrs"s death. Gone Boyfollows Gibson as he visits the gun seller, as well as detectives, lawyers, psychiatrists, politicians, and college bureaucrats- a cast of characters as vivid as those in a Raymond Chandler mystery. Hailed by theNew York Timesand others for its evocative style and courage in confronting guns, violence, and manhood in America today, this wrenching memoir speaks in the voice of a man struggling to turn grief and rage into acceptance and understanding.

Gregory Gibson is a writer and an antiquarian book dealer. He and his wife live in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Cork City, Ireland.