The Road Out of Hell: Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murders

I have never read a book like this in my life. When I finished, I wanted to crawl into a ball and sob but also wanted to throw up at the thought of everything that little boy had to suffer. I'm still shaken up by the book that my stomach is still churning several hours after finishing, but I wanted to write this review while my feelings were so raw.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what the Wineville murders were. My knowledge of them unfolded only as I kept turning the page. My horror at Sanford's story increased from page to page, and yet I kept reading. I wanted to make sure that he survived, to find out how he was found, and to make sure that devil incarnate burned in hell for what he did to those boys. The need to make sure Sanford was show more okay kept me reading long after I knew I should have stopped. I don't do horror stories, and this was that much more horrific because it is a true one.

Flacco does a tremendous job of presenting the story from Sanford's point of view. Visceral and haunting don't even begin to cover the adjectives to describe the book, while the emotions that run through the reader as Sanford struggles to assuage his guilt at the experiences his uncle forces him to have run the gamut from denial to horror and back again. The first-person narrative makes the story that much more powerful. Thankfully, just at the point where the reader cannot possibly take any more evil, Flacco transfers to a third-person narrative and describes Sanford's rescue and recovery. Such a hellish book ends on a note of hope that someone so abused that he feels guilty about what he was forced to do can lead a life of normalcy and become a well-beloved model citizen. Sanford's redemption proves that there is still good in the world even after the reader questions this very idea in the beginning.

I received this book as part of the BBAW giveaway from Sterling Publishing. I am glad I read it but I can't help but feel that I lost just a bit of my naivete at learning the full story of what went on in Wineville, California in the 1920s. It is a story that is going to haunt my dreams for a long time to come. show less

This is much more the story of Sanford Clark than it is the story of the Wineville murders - not only is it told almost entirely from Sanford's point of view, it's written in a novelistic style, full of (presumably) invented dialogue and all. Not usually my favorite treatment of true crime, but this was handled well enough that I finished it anyway.

I read this book quite some time ago so I don't remember if the writing or the story-telling was truly five-star-worthy, but the heroes were. One hero was young Sanford Clark who lived to tell the story. The other hero was the man who rescued him and, really, saved him, Loyal Kelley, the assistant district attorney for Los Angeles who prosecuted the case against Clark's uncle. Kelley determined that Clark was by no means any kind of willing participant in the crimes, and had him committed to a unique local facility which helped Clark recover from the depredations of his uncle.

This is well worth reading simply because, for once, all the good guys win.

I’ve always been a fan of true crime. I don’t review much of it, though, because there’s simply not much to say (in my opinion). I’ll try to find something to say, though. This story is the back-drop to the Angelina Jolie movie Changeling. It is believed that Gordon Stewart Northcott murdered or was somehow connected to the murder of Walter Collins, the child that is the focus of the movie Changeling.

The Changeling connection has little to do with why I read this book. I found the story behind the movie to be interesting, and so when Amazon.com recommended this book to me, I jumped on the chance to read it.

Sanford Clark’s story, as told by Anthony Flacco and Jerry Clark, was heartbreaking. Clark was raped repeatedly by Gordon show more Stewart Northcott. He was worked like a slave on Northcott’s property, and he was forced to bare witness to the countless and senseless murders of young boys at Northcott’s hands.

Clark’s tale was gripping and fascinating. Anthony Flacco and Jerry Clark did a commendable job of telling this horrific story with accuracy and compassion.

If you are a fan of true crime, I definitely recommend this book. show less

An Unexpected good read!

I had this book on my kindle and it just said The Road out of Hell. I did notice that people who had read it liked it but that was all I knew.

So I did not know it was about the Wineville Murders. I consider myself quite knowledgeable about true crime books but I had not heard about this crime.
(To be honest I still have to check google to find out more. I of course did google but only searched the images, to worried I would lean the outcome.)

Anyway so I did not know where this book was going. Back in the days I could "enjoy" a good abuse story but over the last few years I cannot read those books anymore. It must have been the writing that made me keep reading because if I read a book and the abuse takes too long show more and I can't stand it anymore, I quit.


So glad I did not quit because it was such a good read. Now I must warn you do not read this book before you go to sleep because that was what I did and my heart started to race and my eyes were like an owl.


Let me tell you, I could not stop reading and I think it was about 02.am that I finished reading.

Now I am off to google. 4.5 stars show less

Extremely disturbing yet also very inspirational.

Acquired at 2010 SIWCon