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trin's review against another edition
4.0
Terrific collection of investigative essays on topics ranging from murdered Sherlockian scholars to giant squid. I loved Grann’s full-length nonfiction book, [b:The Lost City of Z|3398625|The Lost City of Z A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon|David Grann|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255578330s/3398625.jpg|3438638], and as he did in that work, Grann once again proves his skills at plumbing the depths of obsession with these fascinating short pieces. If you’re obsessed with obsession (as I am), you will easily become enthralled by this book.
dogsbooksandpizza's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
I listened to the audiobook, and I did feel like sometimes each essay ended fairly abruptly, which made the beginning of the next essay pretty jarring each time. Sometimes I felt like the attempt to connect the essays was tenuous, and might have benefited with clearer introductions to each section. While some essays were riveting, others felt out of place based on theme (the sand hogs one, especially), and I truly don’t understand any attempts to humanize Toto Constant. The last essay just felt baffling and one-sided in a very weird way.
angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
4.0
Several nonfiction pieces of reportage. Great stories. Some I’d heard a little about (but these stories went into much greater detail) and some were new to me. Very readable and never got boring. One of the better books I’ve read in quite some time.
cinchona's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a series of essays, most (but not all) of which relate to crime. Although the first story was the weakest for me (perhaps because I had just read The Sherlockian, which plays on the same themes), most of them were fascinating, well-researched, and well-written. The author is talented and devoted and the book is compelling, whether talking about a giant squid or the Aryan brotherhood.
eelsmac's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
1.5
Hard meh.