Born to Lose: Stanley B. Hoss & the Crime Spree That Gripped a Nation (True Crime History)

I'm not a big fan of true crime stories. Sure, I read In Cold Blood and Helter Skelter, both of them shocking and horrifying, but in each case, the perps did one crime. One. After the grisly details, the rest was follow-up. But in Born to Lose, Hoss -- sounds like a bad nickname in a spaghetti western -- goes on to rape, and kidnap, and kill, over and over until you have to ask, What twisted genes, what kind of diabolical evil spawned a man like this?From the brief Prologue to the last page of the Epilogue, Hollock has you -- and he never loosens his grip. Though the story of Stanley B. Hoss, Jr. evolved over forty years ago, Hollock tells it with a sense of immediacy so real, it almost makes us feel as if the guy is still out there, creepy, unpredictable, someone to warn our children about.The cast of characters in this drama is huge, but never overwhelming. As we meet them, we are told just enough about each player to understand his (or her) role, without distracting details. The action unfolds, the story moves on, the pace never slows.Hollock doesn't make the tempting mistake of trying to analyze Hoss's behavior. His motives are unknown, unknowable. He's not a sadist, not a sexual predator, not in it for money or drugs. No childhood abuse, no early trauma, no record of abnormality surfaces. Hoss is an anomaly, the personification of depravity all the more terrifying because it is irrational, inexplicable.Rarely does one see this degree of research and documentation in a true crime account. There are source citations by chapter, a bibliography that includes a multitude of personal interviews by the author, and a 14-page index. I've seen grad school textbooks with less documentation. The amount of work that went into compiling this account of a criminal madman is staggering. Truly, this is an epic publication that was years in the making. Yet it reads like a fictional suspense thriller...and a riveting argument for the death penalty. Well done!

I drive past Western Penitentiary every now and then, and also did in the early 70's. I think I did it 30 years ago to make sure that the place was quiet, that Stanley Hoss was really gone. I'm not sure that I don't do it now for the same reason. How could a man who has been dead for more than 25 years, who I never met, knew no one who had the least association with him, have such a lingering hold over me?Mr. Hollock captured a very complex person and a complex case and got it right. Stanley Hoss was so inexplicably evil that every died-in-the-wool anti-death penalty liberal I knew (in other words,all my friends) wanted to execute him; I was at the head of the line.The book is well written and researched. It captures the characters involved and the flavor of that time so well that I could see the lawyers having dinner at the Common Plea. I remembered being in my early 20's and looking all directions before walking to my parked car, checking the back seat to make sure no one was hiding in it, then unlocking it, diving in and locking all the doors. Who could be sure that Stanley Hoss was still behind bars?What sticks with me as I just finished the book is the author's treatment of the victims of this man. There were many of them, many did not get the support they needed, and their stories are told with the respect due to them.Maybe I think this is an extraordinary story because l lived through it. But I suspect that anyone who reads the book will also find it to be extraordinary.

This is the best of true crime. If you didn’t know better you’d think you were reading a riveting suspense thriller, an encompassing drama. Born to Lose is one of the most meticulous, well researched, and accurate literary works I’ve had the pleasure to read. This story has many victims; some survived – barely – others did not. Author Jim Hollock completely draws the reader in. And you’re in for the duration. While the author provides thorough background to the events and characters, and treats the victims with compassion and dignity, I will emphasize here Stanley Hoss’s final murder … one nearly inexplicable to this day. As a former Captain with the Allegheny Bureau of Corrections, I personally know of what is surely the most horrific slaying of a corrections officer in the annals of the Pennsylvania prison system. Mr. Hollock was able to bring to life this incident (still vividly recalled after all these years) and ably describe just how treacherous some of these prisoners can be. Jim Hollock’s career was at Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh, Pa. While this real life experience helped with the in-depth knowledge contained in Born To Lose, it was the author’s gift to tell the tale in words that did the rest. It’s almost like you’re watching what’s happening … and feel the dread of what’s about to happen. I highly recommend this book to any venue, college, university, book club, or anyone for that matter, to learn about how the committed criminal Stanley Hoss left a never healing scar in Western Pennsylvania, and to truly understand a very dark time in corrections.Al DeAmicis (Captain, ret.)Allegheny County Bureau of Corrections