The 2018 Reading Challenge - #2 - A True Crime

Good evening bookworm :)

and another week is over and its time for another review ^^

You have no idea how proud I am that its actually on time again :P

Today I´ll talk about the category - A True Crime

and I have to admit that it took sometime until I found a book I really wanted to read...or maybe its better to say until I decided for a book :)

There are many but not too many I really wanted to read...maybe I´ll have to say that its nor really my genre...or the one I usually read.

In the end it was very close between the two biggest ones - Helter Skelter and In cold Blood

But I chose:

In Cold Blood

by Truman Capote

In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966.

It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family in the small community of Holcomb, Kansas.

When Capote learned of the quadruple murder, before the killers were captured, he decided to travel to Kansas and write about the crime. He was accompanied by his childhood friend and fellow author Harper Lee, and together they interviewed local residents and investigators assigned to the case and took thousands of pages of notes. Capote ultimately spent six years working on the book. When finally published, In Cold Blood was an instant success, and today is the second-biggest-selling true crime book in publishing history, behind Vincent Bugliosi's 1974 book Helter Skelter about the Charles Manson murders.

Some critics consider Capote's work the original non-fiction novel. It has been especially lauded for its eloquent prose, extensive detail and simultaneous triple narrative. The psychologies and backgrounds of the murderers are given special attention, as well as the complex relationship that existed between them. In Cold Blood is regarded by critics as a pioneering work in the true crime genre. But critics have also noted that parts of the book, including some important details, differ from the real events.

Again a little summary from goodreads:

*

"On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence."

*

pic source

I´ll give it a 8 out of 10

...

Again I did a little research for this book. Its the first time that I ever read a True Crime and I thought I´d do my home work and a bit research about it.

When I found that Capote charactereised his book as a "non-fiction novel" when the book first came out I thought what a perfect description ^^ Well I hardly can say I never read anything with a better  fusion of fact and fiction because I never actually read anything like it but...and now it gets confusing ...never read anything like this ;)

I also read that he made about 8000 pages of notes for this book - insane ^^

I just loved how the characters pulse with recognisable life and how detailed he describes every single thing - the places are palpable you actually feel like you are standing in Kansas and visiting Holcomb. You see hear and almost smell everything because of the exact description. Careful prose binds the reader to his unfolding story. The book was in a manner of speaking conceived of journalism and born of a novelist ^^.
When you start reading you feel like you fell into a lovely story set on the countryside but you know all the way that this peaceful silence is going to be violated soon and that something is going to happen.

I really enjoyed the narrative style, which is deeply sympathetic even tho the apparent detachment in it is deceptive. All the time you feel with the characters, you feel the frustration among the officers, you discover backgrounds, you get hooked on what is going to happen to those arrested and to see what happened through their eyes and trust me what they think and say will shock you.

Now after reading this as my first ever True Crime Book I can say that I ...did not / like / d it and I´ll definitely will / wont read another soon ^^

I unexpectedly really recommend this book if you are unsure what to read for this category or if you just wanted to read a True Crime book.

And now for more inspiration and some alternatives ^^

(all summaries are from goodreads and easily found when searching for the title):

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry

A national bestseller-7 million copies sold. 

Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the twentieth century:

the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Here is the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime. 50 pages of b/w photographs.

Columbine by Dave Cullen

"The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror . . . " So begins a new epilogue, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year. What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. 

John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.

It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight.

These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.

Lacy Johnson was held prisoner in a soundproofed room in a basement apartment that her ex-boyfriend rented and outfitted for the sole purpose of raping and killing her. She escaped, but not unscathed. The Other Side is the haunting account of a first passionate and then abusive relationship, the events leading to Johnson’s kidnapping and imprisonment, her dramatic escape, and her hard-fought struggle to recover. At once thrilling, terrifying, harrowing, and hopeful, The Other Side offers more than just a true crime record. In language both stark and poetic, Johnson weaves together a richly personal narrative with police reports, psychological evaluations, and neurobiological investigations, provoking both troubling and timely questions about gender roles and the epidemic of violence against women.

Some more inspiration?

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Son of a Gun by Justin St. Germain

Killings by Calvin Trillin

The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm

The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer

Shot in the Heart by Mikhal Gilmore

Which book did you choose for this category?

Did you read In Cold Blood? What do you think?

Do you read True Crime Books often?

With lots of love

♥♥♥

Verena