I read this book because the author of “Devil in a White City” said he took inspiration from it for his scenes with Holmes the serial killer during the Chicago World’s Fair. Maybe I’m not deep enough (and definitely not sensitive enough, damn you TV) but I though the book was pretty slow and kind of boring.
It follows the two killers leading up to and after a horrible murder of a very peaceful family of four and the law as they are trying to solve the case after the murders are discovered. The reader has it all connected (its really not as complex as you think/hope/expect the whole time its being built up) and the characters are kind of annoying. It was an interesting look at truly heartless people who can kill in cold blood (with no true motive) and then eat a hamburger after but it didn’t shake me the way I think it was supposed to. Their cold blood didn’t run my blood cold.
I did just find out that it was based on actual murder and all the characters were real. Apparently Capote and Harper Lee went to the town after the murderers were caught, conducted hundreds of interviews with the towns people and law enforcement and then Capote spent six years writing the book.
According to Wikipedia this book was "regarded by critics as a pioneering work of the true crime genre." I know this is considered a classic so was surprised to feel so mediocre about it, has anyone else read it? What did you think?
