lakecake's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up after seeing an H.H.Holmes-themed episode of Supernatural. Well-researched, well-written, doesn't make you feel like a giant weirdo for reading about serial killers. :-)
donnakaye64's review against another edition
4.0
I love true crime books and this one held my interest. It led me down the path of not only the killer , but also the dedicated men who searched for the truth. It was interesting to read the steps taken by the police in a time before electronics. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about true crimes.
princesszinza's review against another edition
4.0
I became interested in H. H. Holmes by reading "Devil in the White City", his story being the most interesting part of that book. I then saw a well-done documentary on H. H. Holmes which featured the author of this book. This is a thoroughly researched account of a psychopathic serial killer whose sensational crimes enthralled turn-of-the-century America. Anyone interested in true crime should be fascinated with Schechter's book. I did wonder what happened to Holmes' wives and the children of his murdered assistant in the years after Holmes execution.
GoodReads Recommendation Experiment: If you want to really creep yourself out, add this book as your only "currently reading" selection on Goodreads and then go to your recommendations. The currently reading selections there are guaranteed to give you the mega-heebie-jeebies. My favorite grotesque cover was "Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murders" **shudder**. I'm so glad to be finished with this book so I won't be scared of my recommendation page anymore!!!
GoodReads Recommendation Experiment: If you want to really creep yourself out, add this book as your only "currently reading" selection on Goodreads and then go to your recommendations. The currently reading selections there are guaranteed to give you the mega-heebie-jeebies. My favorite grotesque cover was "Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murders" **shudder**. I'm so glad to be finished with this book so I won't be scared of my recommendation page anymore!!!
knitsandnovels's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Child abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
lizziea229's review against another edition
5.0
CW This book is definitely not for the faint-hearted. I love a bit of gore, and even this had moments I found difficult to get through.
Bloody loved this. Perfect balance of fact and dramatization. You get no sense that the author has hammed things up for effect, which often makes me cringe in true crime. I'm amazed at how relatable Schechter made 1890's America.. I felt completely immersed in the community.
There were moments I thought the author was 'sparing us' from gory details towards the beginning, or leaving gaps. Never fear, by the end it is all wrapped up perfectly.
I will endeavour to read the rest of Schechter's true crime series as this just transformed my understanding of the H. H. Holmes case. Brilliant.
Bloody loved this. Perfect balance of fact and dramatization. You get no sense that the author has hammed things up for effect, which often makes me cringe in true crime. I'm amazed at how relatable Schechter made 1890's America.. I felt completely immersed in the community.
There were moments I thought the author was 'sparing us' from gory details towards the beginning, or leaving gaps. Never fear, by the end it is all wrapped up perfectly.
I will endeavour to read the rest of Schechter's true crime series as this just transformed my understanding of the H. H. Holmes case. Brilliant.
ajnewsom's review against another edition
4.0
The story of America's first serial killer will be familiar to those who have read Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City". Although best known for his "Murder Castle" in Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair, author Harold Schechter delves deeper into the background and additional murders performed by Herman Webster Mudgett (aka H.H. Holmes) not only in Chicago but throughout the US during the 1880s up until his capture in 1894.
The author takes the reader from Holmes's early days growing up in New Hampshire, through his time building his elaborate "castle" in Chicago, to his schemes and the murders he deemed necessary to complete the money making ventures he put together. All of this culminates with his capture, sensational trials, and conviction of killing he co-conspirator.
At the end of his life, Holmes's admitted to killing 27 people, although many believe the number to be much greater.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the psyche of a true serial killer.
The author takes the reader from Holmes's early days growing up in New Hampshire, through his time building his elaborate "castle" in Chicago, to his schemes and the murders he deemed necessary to complete the money making ventures he put together. All of this culminates with his capture, sensational trials, and conviction of killing he co-conspirator.
At the end of his life, Holmes's admitted to killing 27 people, although many believe the number to be much greater.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the psyche of a true serial killer.
threerings's review against another edition
4.0
So after reading "The Devil in the White City" I wanted to know more about H.H. Holmes, the first American serial killer who no one remembers. I didn't know what to expect from a book called "Depraved", but it's actually very good. If you just want to know about Holmes, I recommend this book, over "The Devil in the White City." It has more detail, less invented scenes, less imposed pseudo-Freudian motivation, and great stuff particularly about the time after Holmes was arrested.
I don't really have any complaints, other than I want more detail about what happened inside Holmes' "Castle" but that's the fault of the historical record, not the author. I find Holmes so fascinating as such a fantastic example of a sociopath, in fact possibly the example people had in mind while defining a psychopath (later sociopath, later someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder.) In particular I find the glimpses at Holmes' thought process fascinating, through his own writings and his behavior when representing himself in court.
Of course, actually more interesting and useful than trying to understand Holmes is understanding how he got away with everything he did for so long. It's understanding the reactions of the people around him that is truly useful. To some extent, he wouldn't have been able to get away with as much today, since there is a lot more scrutiny paid to things like what someone's legal name is and how many women they are married to. Also what happens to people who mysteriously go missing. But I think the smaller one-on-one interactions in which people were inclined to trust Holmes because he was charming and confident are unchanged. Holmes was both a conman and a serial killer, which is particularly fascinating.
I don't really have any complaints, other than I want more detail about what happened inside Holmes' "Castle" but that's the fault of the historical record, not the author. I find Holmes so fascinating as such a fantastic example of a sociopath, in fact possibly the example people had in mind while defining a psychopath (later sociopath, later someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder.) In particular I find the glimpses at Holmes' thought process fascinating, through his own writings and his behavior when representing himself in court.
Of course, actually more interesting and useful than trying to understand Holmes is understanding how he got away with everything he did for so long. It's understanding the reactions of the people around him that is truly useful. To some extent, he wouldn't have been able to get away with as much today, since there is a lot more scrutiny paid to things like what someone's legal name is and how many women they are married to. Also what happens to people who mysteriously go missing. But I think the smaller one-on-one interactions in which people were inclined to trust Holmes because he was charming and confident are unchanged. Holmes was both a conman and a serial killer, which is particularly fascinating.