The Goldbergs Lived Across Town from the Jungers

As a long time resident of Belmont I was surprised to read the claim inside the front dust cover of this often inaccurate book, namely, "A murder occurred in the quiet suburb of Belmont, just a few blocks from the house of Sebastian Junger's family." In the final chapter of " A Death in Belmont", Junger states that his parents told him that "a nice old lady had been killed down the street." The author tells us that the Jungers lived at 21 Cedar Road, while the Goldbergs lived at 14 Scott Road. After checking mapquest I found that the two homes were located WELL OVER A MILE APART, separated by 17 cross streets and the busy commercial center of town, Leonard Street. The aerial image displays the many homes and stores in the area. The plot revolves around this false premise.

Grippping — and Deeply Personal — Story

I've read some of the more negative reviews of the book here on Amazon, and I have to say that I couldn't disagree with them more strongly. I think Junger has constructed a fascinating and gripping nonfiction "novel" (the heir apparent to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood) about a deeply personal family connection to a killer.

You have to HAND it to this author.

In the midst of a string of murders attributed to a single man known as the Boston Stranger, an elderly housewife in sleepy Belmont, Massachusetts is assaulted and brutally strangled to death. The murder occurs in her house around the corner from Sebastian Junger's boyhood home. Roy Smith, an itinerant black worker who was cleaning the murdered woman's home is quickly arrested, tried and convicted of the crime. Smith is sentenced to life without parole.