Reviews - The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

9.32k reviews for:

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Erik Larson

3.87 AVERAGE

momof6reads's review against another edition

4.0

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

bweisenb's review against another edition

3.75

dark informative medium-paced

mrpatperkins's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

I love Larson’s narrative style. I still remember his description of the survivors in Isaac’s Storm, floating on furniture inside their set-loose home amid the destruction of an unforeseen hurricane. He made London come to life - and death - in The Splendid and the Vile. He conveyed the normality and inevitable downfall of German society in In the Garden of Beasts. I finished The Demon of Unrest in just a few days, captivated by the futility of the soldiers holding out in Fort Sumter.

This book was equally fascinating. At some point in my life I learned about the Ferris wheel appearing at the Chicago world’s fair, and I’ve seen brief snippets of documentaries about Holmes’s murder castle. But I never put the two together, and Larson has weaves these stories together in a way that compels the reader to believe the date of one relies on the other. He has his usual level of detail, and he shepherds his plot easily through multiple conflicts: deadlines that seemingly cannot be met, police and family members inquiring about missing loved ones, personal disagreements that threaten to derail everything. The outcome is never in doubt - I knew the fair was a success and that Holmes was caught - but you don’t remember that as you read. That’s Larson’s brilliance; the journey through the story is what you’re there for.