Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge
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Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81  ·  rating details  ·  370 ratings  ·  44 reviews

Bobby Kent was a bully—a steroid-pumped 20-year-old who dominated his peers in their comfortable, middle-class Ft. Lauderdale beach community through psychological, physical and sexual abuse. But on a summer night in 1993, Bobby was lured to the edge of the Florida everglades with a promise of sex and drugs. . .and was never seen alive again. The tormentor had become the v

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Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Published February 1st 1998 by Avon (first published 1997)
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True Crime
81st out of 190 books — 196 voters


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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 588)
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Emmy
Emmy rated it 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
David
David rated it 1 of 5 stars
From time to time I enjoy a true crime story and I have to admit I read this one rather quickly..

Bully is the story of Buddy and Marty. The two are best friends, but Buddy dominates Marty fiercely. He hits him, teases him, and tortures him. That is, until Marty meets and starts dating Lisa. Lisa, fed up with her man being the target of Buddy's temper and wild mood swings, instigates an evil plot to murder Buddy. Before it is over she enlists seven teens (most of who do not even...more
Tracy
Tracy rated it 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Susan Kelley
Susan Kelley rated it 3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: true crime fanatics
Recommended to Susan by: Yahoo ReadNSwap Group
This is a book about disturbed people - deeply disturbed. The worst part is that this book is a true-crime book. These people really exist, adme they really did the horrible things that the author describes. Seven kids ranging in age from 15-20 brutally murdered a friend of theirs because he was a bully. He was no ordinary bully - he was sick. He forced people to do sexual things, he beats and ridicules people.

Even worse than the amoral behavior of these kids is the way the pa...more
Mark R. Rinker
Fast-paced and very detailed, "Bully" is quite an impressive book, a nonfiction novel about some kids between the ages of seventeen and nineteen who decide to kill one of their friends, a nasty son of a bitch named Bobby Kent.

Bobby's been humiliating, beating, and otherwise terrorizing his best friend, Marty Puccio, since they were little kids, and when he starts getting on the wrong side of Marty's girlfriend and some of her friends, the kids decide to kill him.

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Tenderfoot
Garbage! This should be listed under "fiction" because that is exactly what most of the book is. Sure Bobby Kent was murdered by the kids he bullied and they were caught and are now serving time. However, I doubt very much that that this tragic story went down the way the author described. Don't waist your time. Believe it or not, the movie was way better and I can't stand pederast filmmaker Larry Clark either but it was.
Kevin L.
During the initial pages of reading this book, I had determined that I was going to through it out after finishing. It is a disturbing read of a true life disturbing group of young people who had no regard for life, themselves or others. The book did become easier to ingest, but it was truly sad to see in writing what humans are capable of.

P.S. I will be forwarding the book to my sister and then throwing it in the trash. (per her request)
Alex
Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars
It was a true story about a group of kids who murdered one of their 'friends' and left him to die before being caught the very next day. It was disturbing to say the least, but it was the kind of book I couldn't put down because, even though it was slow at times, I knew it would heat up. By nature, the story is gripping. The writing wasn't fantastic, though.
Jen
Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars
As my first true crime book, I think I made a pretty awesome choice. I read this book in less than 24 hours. I could not put it down. I've read it about 8 times and I've had 3 or 4 copies of it. It's written really well and easy to follow. Anyone who has interest in true crime should definitely pick this up.
Tracy Snyder
This is a great, well-written book about a tragic true story. What a DUMB bunch of kids these happened to be. The whole entire fiasco was like a comedy of errors, which makes it even more unfortunate that someoen lost his life in the process, though the guy was truly a jack-ass.
Corey
Corey rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: true-crime
When this book was written this wasn't as a big deal as it is today... But having known the brother of a kid that whacked his bully, this book hit home... A must read for parents of a child bullying or being bullied. It will help with the tell-tale signs of what may come...
Georgeann
Read this book years ago and still get the chills thinking about it. It's hard to put down and the true crime story it covers is very disturbing. I wouldn't re-read it in a thousand years, but it definitely made an impact on me.
Dewayne
Read this book after seeing the movie several years ago. The true story told in the book/movie was unbelievably tragic, but this book was not an interesting read. The writing was awkward, lacking a flow, leaving me frustrated.
Nicole Dellomo
Absolutely love this book & the movie. The book is exactly like the movie. The only difference is there's a little more detail in the book, which is expected, but the movie was great & followed the book perfectly.
Robf
great book extremely to the point and grafic seen the movie. they bring a tear to my eye everytime. I know them all personally and 1 of them for a very long time. I wish this never happened...
Jojo
Jojo rated it 5 of 5 stars
Incredibly well written and thoroughly detailed. I could not put this book down. It is one of the most heinous crimes I've read about, and was chillingly cold and calculating. Higly recommended.
R to the -izzo
I read this one after I saw the independent movie. Basically it is a true story about kids at a high school that end up beating their friend/bully to death and then leaving him on a Florida beach for crabs to devour. Great flick and great book. I gotta say that you could probably watch the independent and get the majority of the story. The only thing you would miss is the back story for each person (who was on the honor roll and who was on probation) as well as what happens when they finally...more
Amanda.w
Really couldn't put the book down. it was very well written. I'm not sure how I feel about the tragic event that happened to Bobby. It breaks my heart, regardless.
Stephanie
I really enjoyed this book, it also was made into a movie. It really is scary how young kids can do such terrible things. The victim can often be the culprit. This book will have you thinking long after it's over.
Shanna
Shanna rated it 4 of 5 stars
This book was such an easy read. The fact that it happened and is just so absurd what these kids do make it simple to breeze through. The author's way of describing what goes on and what they may have said fits completely. Way better than the movie. The pictures inside the book also show the damage to the one that was murdered and descriptions. It also includes the mug shots of all the kids involved. Although at the end when it says what they ended up being charged with was inaccurate. The one k...more
Kendal
Kendal rated it 4 of 5 stars
This is a good book but knowing it was written based on true events is disconcerting.
Badmuthagoose
Pretty good. I know the author from his columns for both the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Observer and he's a fantastic muckraker. Aren't many of those left. He told this story in a compelling way, without falling into the pitfalls of too many details or too much melodrama.
Lilo1 Gurule
Lilo1 Gurule rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: everyone
Recommended to Lilo1 by: The movie
Dis book was just crazy it goes 2
show what ppl can do when pushed 2 far!!
Roberta
Very interesting story of how cruel high school can be!
Stephen
You're really going to ponder that one question. Does anyone deserve to die?
Amber Cable
sickeningly disturbing
Eliza
Eliza rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: teen
Disturbing to say the least - and WTF is up with the parents?!
Andy
Andy rated it 4 of 5 stars
Over-the-top tale of adolescent social dynamics, alienation, and, of course, murder. How this tale transpires follows the pattern of many of these sleazy tales of teen group murder: it involves a surreal kind of peer pressure and groupthink, and, naturally, at least a few goofballs who seem to just hitch a ride on the crazy train as it comes by. For an even more extreme take on this genre, try "Cruel Sacrifice" by Aphrodite Jones (yes, that's her name).
Noel Wheeler
I love a great true crime story.
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Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge (Hardcover)

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