H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil

by Adam Selzer Narrated by David Bendena

Overview

This is the first truly comprehensive book examining the life and career of the murderer who has become one of America's great supervillains. It reveals not only the true story but how the legend evolved, taking advantage of hundreds of primary sources that have never been examined before, including legal documents, letters, articles, and records that have been buried in archives for more than a century. Although Holmes is just as famous now as he was in 1895, this deep analysis of contemporary materials makes clear how much of the previously known story came from reporters who were nowhere near the action, a dangerously unqualified new police chief, and lies invented by Holmes himself.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

01/23/2017
Was late 19th-century mass murderer H.H. Holmes motivated more by psychological compulsions than practical concerns? Selzer (Ghost of Chicago) suggests the latter, diverging from the perspective put forth in Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City. He works hard to assemble historical evidence that strays from accounts by Larson, and others, but he never loses sight of the fact that Holmes “almost certainly killed at least nine people, ruined the lives of numerous others, and seemed to feel very little guilt about it.” This highly readable account of the case walks readers through Holmes’s nonviolent crimes before getting to his first murder. Selzer believes that Holmes’s 1891 killing of Julia Conner, a woman he had sued for nonpayment of a loan, was, like his others, committed, not out of bloodlust, but as a “necessary part of furthering his swindling operations and protecting his lifestyle.” He makes a convincing argument that current perceptions of Holmes are not always solidly grounded, even as he concedes that there’s “a lot of mystery left to be solved” about the case, a concession that will lead many aficionados of quality true-crime narrative to monitor his Mysterious Chicago blog for updates. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

“You know you’ve encountered a great book when you get lost in the world the author has created. Adam Selzer’s fascinating, exhaustively researched, highly readable book H. H. Holmes is all of that—a creepy take on America’s original serial psychopath. From the opening pages to its riveting conclusion, you’re drawn into this narrative as though reading a Caleb Carr novel. . . . Engrossing, totally engaging, all at once thrilling and chilling. A fresh, new take on what is an old story. Just what the doctor himself—oh, snap!—would have ordered.”
—M. William Phelps, New York Times bestselling author, Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer

“Erik Larson brought the serial killer H. H. Holmes to the general reading public’s attention in The Devil in the White City. But where Larson leaves off, Adam Selzer picks up, filling in gaps, replacing legend with fact, and debunking myths. From Philadelphia to Chicago, and even down to Texas, Holmes roamed the country in the late Nineteenth Century, leaving behind buried bodies, missing persons, and unanswered questions, in a trail that ultimately led to the gallows. With meticulous research, Selzer digs deep into Holmes’s story to tell us not only the “how” but the “why,” and he reveals a somewhat unorthodox serial killer by today’s standards: a bigamist, a con man, and a swindler who killed indiscriminately, not merely to satisfy some bloodlust but, more practically, to conceal his larceny and deceit. A fascinating read!” —Mike Farris, author of A Death in the Islands: The Unwritten Law and the Last Trial of Clarence Darrow

"When legend becomes fact, print the legend, the saying goes. A case in point is the story of Dr. Herman Webster Mudgett, who became infamous as H.H. Holmes, the depraved supervillain celebrated as the Devil in the White City. If you want the straight dope, and not just the legend about Mudgett/Holmes, read Adam Selzer's H. H. Holmes—the True History of the White City Devil. You won't put it down."
—Dennis L. Breo, co-author of The Crime of the Century—Richard Speck and the Murders that Shocked a Nation

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175607612
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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