Which true crime novel shook you to the core? And why?
If you don’t read true crime, then substitute the fictionalization of a real crime.
18 thoughts on “Reader Friday: True Crime”
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote. The murder of the Clutter family was senseless, grisly, and brought about by a convict exaggerating the wealth of the family to another. Capote humanizes the family, the murderers, pursuing law enforcement, jailers, and even the executioners with vivid writing that gives life to their voices. It’s a microcosm for what a cluster**** we humans can be. I read it when I was sixteen and have forgotten neither the story nor the pictures that Capote painted.
Louis,
Same here. I can enjoy tales of zombies, dragons, and ghosts, but knowing In Cold Blood was real got to me. A terrifying, unsettling read I’ll never forget.
Agreed! Tragic story. Capote was a beautiful writer, even if he did fictionalize the ending. 😉
I agree, Louise. I was about the same age as you when I read it and living in a country setting at the time, it haunted me for months.
Oh dear, I just noticed I added an e onto your name, Louis. Sorry, didn’t mean to do that! Should have had one more cup of coffee before I hit the post comment button.
Serpico by Peter Maas. I was in my mid teens when I read it and was totally aghast at the corruption in the NYPD and by extension, other police departments.
Ooh, sounds like a good one. Thanks, Douglas!
Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. Had scary dreams for a week.
I’ve never read Helter Skelter (watched the movie instead), but I hear the book is even more frightening.
I have to go with In Cold Blood as well, and rather wish I hadn’t read it. Too terrifying.
Around the same time, I also read SYBIL, and it captured my imagination for years.
Oh, yes! SYBIL was horrifying.
I have read a fair bit of true crime. The one that hit me the most was probably “A Rip in Heaven”. Probably because I knew the Kerry sisters.
The scariest true crime book I have read was “The Great Influenza”. Still scares me. I had learned a child about how Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin. What I didn’t learn until “The Great Influenza” was he was working on treating the flu, so his petri dish that was Bactria resistant was shelved for two years.
Wow.
My first choice is also In Cold Blood. Such a sad story and the murderers didn’t even get any money.
A close second choice is In the Belly of the Beast, by Jack Abbott, who became Norman Mailer’s protégé and cause celebre. This book scared me because it showed how Abbott, who came of age in prison, could only survive within prison, never in the outside world.
Yeah, that happens sometimes. Life behind bars becomes their new normal. Sad.
I don’t remember the author. – I read a novel called One by One. It was about these two guys who were going around randomly killing people by putting botulinum in things. It was really creepy and made me real nervous eating anything I didn’t have complete control over, which is everything
I lent the book to my sister. She was reading it one night and decided the book was not for her. She put it in a brown bag and stapled it shut. That was not enough so she took the elevator down to the parking center in her building and locked it in the trunk of her car. She said she intended to return it but the story creeped her out so much she didn’t want it in her car. She pulled into a lot and put it in a dumpster.
Which true crime novel shook you to the core? And why?
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote. The murder of the Clutter family was senseless, grisly, and brought about by a convict exaggerating the wealth of the family to another. Capote humanizes the family, the murderers, pursuing law enforcement, jailers, and even the executioners with vivid writing that gives life to their voices. It’s a microcosm for what a cluster**** we humans can be. I read it when I was sixteen and have forgotten neither the story nor the pictures that Capote painted.
Louis,
Same here. I can enjoy tales of zombies, dragons, and ghosts, but knowing In Cold Blood was real got to me. A terrifying, unsettling read I’ll never forget.
Agreed! Tragic story. Capote was a beautiful writer, even if he did fictionalize the ending. 😉
I agree, Louise. I was about the same age as you when I read it and living in a country setting at the time, it haunted me for months.
Oh dear, I just noticed I added an e onto your name, Louis. Sorry, didn’t mean to do that! Should have had one more cup of coffee before I hit the post comment button.
Serpico by Peter Maas. I was in my mid teens when I read it and was totally aghast at the corruption in the NYPD and by extension, other police departments.
Ooh, sounds like a good one. Thanks, Douglas!
Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. Had scary dreams for a week.
I’ve never read Helter Skelter (watched the movie instead), but I hear the book is even more frightening.
I have to go with In Cold Blood as well, and rather wish I hadn’t read it. Too terrifying.
Around the same time, I also read SYBIL, and it captured my imagination for years.
Oh, yes! SYBIL was horrifying.
I have read a fair bit of true crime. The one that hit me the most was probably “A Rip in Heaven”. Probably because I knew the Kerry sisters.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NGN2JG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Ooh, sounds awesome, Alan. Thanks for the link!
The scariest true crime book I have read was “The Great Influenza”. Still scares me. I had learned a child about how Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin. What I didn’t learn until “The Great Influenza” was he was working on treating the flu, so his petri dish that was Bactria resistant was shelved for two years.
Wow.
My first choice is also In Cold Blood. Such a sad story and the murderers didn’t even get any money.
A close second choice is In the Belly of the Beast, by Jack Abbott, who became Norman Mailer’s protégé and cause celebre. This book scared me because it showed how Abbott, who came of age in prison, could only survive within prison, never in the outside world.
Yeah, that happens sometimes. Life behind bars becomes their new normal. Sad.
I don’t remember the author. – I read a novel called One by One. It was about these two guys who were going around randomly killing people by putting botulinum in things. It was really creepy and made me real nervous eating anything I didn’t have complete control over, which is everything
I lent the book to my sister. She was reading it one night and decided the book was not for her. She put it in a brown bag and stapled it shut. That was not enough so she took the elevator down to the parking center in her building and locked it in the trunk of her car. She said she intended to return it but the story creeped her out so much she didn’t want it in her car. She pulled into a lot and put it in a dumpster.