During my U.S. road trip in the spring of 2001, I knew I was going to be going past the town of Holcomb, Kansas, site of the murder of the Clutter family and eventual capture of the murderers documented in this book. I chose this to take along with me in part because of my desire to get a tast of Kansas before going there. I had read the book so long ago, it was like reading it for the first time.
The author does a good job of providing background on the Clutter family and their killers, who thought they would find a lot of money in the house. He recounts the events in an engaging manner, switching his focus first to the family and the town, then to the killers and their backgrounds, then to the investigation.
When I finally reached Kansas about a week into my trip, I was amazed to see how spread out everything was. I stopped in Syracuse and talked to some people who thought that a population of 1,000 made their town crowded. One man commented that they all knew everything about each other, which seems odd to me, a city person in a place where few people know their neighbors. Talking with these people, however, made the circumstances behind this brutal event even more clear to me; despite how isolated their homes were from those of others, people did know a lot about each other, or thought they did.
I wanted to visit the town of Holcomb and see what was left there as a reminder but delays due to road construction and a time zone change that took me by surprise and I missed it. I guess I'll just have to go back. In the meantime, all I can do is recommend that you read this true crime classic if you have not already done so.
Anecdotal history of the rise and fall of Jews in organized crime in the early part of the century. "It's all about Jews acting in ways other than Jews are supposed to act, Jews leaving the world of their heads to thrive in a physical world, a world of sense, of smell, of grit, of strenth, of courage, of pain."
It's a story of Jews getting along with Italians when it was expedient, of men who set the style for gangster dress, of those who started what became known as "Murder, Inc." It's also the story behind a lot of names you've probably heard of but never really associated with the backgrounds they came from.
Zodiac
Serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area, starting in the 60s, who was never caught.
This book relates the true story of the first criminal case solved using DNA evidence to identify a rape/murder suspect.
Here is the story of a fire investigator in Southern California who was suspected of setting many of the fires he investigated, as well as others. A piece of evidence used to convict him was the manuscript for a novel, later published as Points of Origin: Playing With Fire, by John Orr.
I have read both of these. I highly recommend Fire Lover but was disappointed by Points of Origin.
A former police officer, Wambaugh penned the popular books The Onion Field and The Choirboys, both of which were produced as movies. You can read some biographical information and an interview at www.bookreporter.com.
Further information on the case is available at the Court TV website.
http://www.fiatgirl.com/
Copyright © 1999-2007 by Erika A. Lockhart
