The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that changed America by Erik Larson

 

This is one of the very first nonfiction books I read purely out of interest. All of the other times I picked up a nonfiction was for research purposes. This is probably why I enjoyed this book more than I did most nonfictions and I am hoping to read Larson's other book once I get my hands on it.

I must hand it to Erik Larson, this book must took forever to write. You can sense the amount of research that went into this book right from the first chapter. He uses actual quotations in this book but made sure there was enough entertainment surrounding it so it didn't feel like you were gnawing down on facts for 400 pages. 

My favourite parts were, as expected, about Dr. H. H. Holmes. It's incredible to learn just how cunning and creepy this man was. Everything he did was for a reason, a move in a game of chess. His moves were calculated and he was always looking to take out the opponent's pieces. I think that's why I really enjoyed his POV, because I was able to take a glimpse at the brilliant and demented mind of Dr. H. H. Holmes. He was charming, smart and handsome. If only he had gone down a more righteous path...

The other perspective of this novel talks about the architects who built the Chicago World's Fair. I admire beautiful buildings and you can totally win me over if your house has a beautiful library. With that said, the parts revolving around architecture were nice but I think there is something about us humans that just love to read about crimes, especially serial killers. We're sick like that. I'm no exception and I found myself yearning for another chapter about Dr. Holmes every time the story was brought back to Burnham. 

So overall, I really enjoyed the historical accuracy of the novel, along with spine-tingling story of Dr. Holmes. I just wish there was more of him within those 400 pages.