Degrees of Affection

I've been meaning to read this for years, particularly after seeing what remains of the World's Fair area. I've also seen a few history documentaries concerning Holmes, as this book has made him infamous to modern audiences. Now that I've listened to the unabridged version, I need to read the book so I can see his notes.

I can see why people like this; the author works hard to bring that era to the reader, until you seem to see it, hear it, and breathe it in. You feel as if you are there as well as giving you the 'inside' scoop on how various people involved felt about events. Seeing the fair slowly grow into existence from their point of view greatly enhanced the story being told.

And interspersed with all this was another man's perspective - H. H. Holmes. Paragraphs would go by without him, then he'd crop up again, never far way from the text or your thoughts. The author worked hard to craft these parts of the text and if you know anything about the information he had to work with, it shows. But they are brilliant. I liked that in his afterword he carefully explained how he pieced Holmes' actions and tried hard to make his writing as factual as possible, as there is much we simply don't know. The only ones how did were Holmes and his victims. They couldn't speak and his word could never be trusted.

The audiobook was quite good; Scott Brick, who read the unabridged version, did a wonderful job, changing his tone more then his voice often for the various figures. He was easy to listen to and the hours went by quickly yet I remember much of it.

A book I wish I'd read before, this was a very good audiobook but I know I'll want to read the book soon for the notes.