franchang's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious fast-paced

3.5

bookishbel's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

curiousintrovert's review against another edition

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3.0

a bit dry over all and slow in the middle.
I believe this book is the Cocaine Bear of True Crime. Mostly not true.
So go in for the cultural time capsule of America, because that part is engaging.

wynne_ronareads's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

saramschacht's review against another edition

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informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

cthompson00297's review

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dark medium-paced

3.0

tracy_reads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

rballenger's review against another edition

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3.0

Type of read: Commuter (listened to and from work)

What made me pick it up: I saw it on a recommended list after I read 'We Carry Their Bones' and thought it looked interesting.

Overall rating: Sometimes I wonder how I'm so oblivious to certain historical happenings. 'Hell's Half-Acre' is an interesting tale of the Bender family and how they somewhat stealthy wreaked havoc on the American frontier. I think for me what made this book especially interesting is that not only have I lived in southwest Kansas and still have family throughout the state, I knew many of the places they referenced. I feel like that gave it an extra sense of reality for me. Although it's a nonfiction work with historical information, 'Hell's Half Acre' is told in a very storybook way, even if there are times where the amount of facts, figures, and names gets a wee bit long. If you're looking for something to get a glimpse into some gruesome Americana, 'Hell's Half Acre' isn't half bad.

spitefulgod's review against another edition

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dark informative medium-paced

2.5

impasto's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

3.5