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

Loved this book--could it have been more exciting, yes, but I think it would have been less of a book if it had. The two stories--the world's fair and the serial killer--are happening together, but except for the city, there is little actual overlap. I kept anticipating more about a serial killer IN the world's fair, which if this were fiction would have been the case, ending in capture atop the Ferris wheel.

This isn't fiction--and it's much better that it didn't focus on the serial killer as much as it did on the Fair and the architects who created the White City. This was an amazing tale--showing just what man is capable of doing when he tries. Reaching new levels of wonder and skill is also what the serial killer did, only not in an uplifting or progressive way, but in a brutal and depraved way. 

Linking these two tales creates a book filled with tension, technology, and man pushing himself in ways never before thought possible. Gripping in every way....


Recommended by Cynthia Lambert
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