Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and entertaining
Review: "Depraved" tells the story, at least so far as it can be known (and perhaps a little farther than it can be known) of Harold Mudgett, alias H.H. Holmes (among others), who the book jacket will tell you was "America's first serial killer." I seriously doubt that he was, but the story is fascinating nevertheless. Holmes was a career con man who, using credit only as a source of financing, built a strange and imposing edifice in suburban Chicago ca. 1890 called "The Castle." He was a relentless schemer, dreaming up numerous quack inventions along with real-estate and insurance scams. His more sinister crimes, however, included at least nine murders, usually of his mistresses but including one of his co-conspirators and three of the man's children. This alone makes for an amoral monster, but the odd architecture of "The Castle"--with its airtight safe, asbestos-lined rooms, and greased chutes to a cellar containing vats of chemicals and a furnace fit for cremation, hinted at even more sinister deeds. Unfortunately, most of these crimes must remain the subject of speculation, as Holmes was an inveterate liar whose confessions were wholly unreliable, and little evidence of any additional murders actually exists. This naturally has not stopped Schechter from noting that some writers have estimated Holmes' body count at more than 100 people.

Like all of Schecter's books, this one refrains from a dry or staid recitation of the facts as they are known. Although these are woven into the narrative skillfully enough, it is clear that Schechter is of the school of biographers/historians who freely mix fact with "re-creation," or to put it more honestly, "fiction." Although he steps back now and then to note that we cannot know what was going through his mind at such-and-such time, a great deal of extrapolation went into this book. Nevertheless, I would hesitate to say that anything here is falsified or sensationalized. The writing is nothing inspired by muses, but chugs along at a breezy pace. Perhaps the most surprising fact to me is that Holmes is not as notorious today as he was then, or as other serial murderers are now. Overall, an interesting and entertaining bit of crime history.

Rating:
Summary: A nostalgic look back at the olden days of serial murder
Review: Dapper ladies man HH Holmes was undoubtedly the most cunning and ruthless criminal of America's Gilded Age. Dozens of people met their death in his infamous "Murder Castle", a nightmarish structure outfitted with secret passageways and an underground dungeon complete with vats of acid and operating tables. His exploits made him the most famous villian of his time. Yet he is largely forgotten today, an injustice that Schechter's riveting book will hopefully correct. Not simply a fascinating piece of historical reportage, "Depraved" is also a real life suspense thriller that will have you reading well into the night. An instant true crime classic

Rating:
Summary: The book is better than the killer
Review: I do agree with some of the things said before, one may be slightly disappointed by the book, but that is if you expect much about the "Castle" and the other stuff Holmes is known for. On the other hand you can hardly blame Schechter for it, he does a most excellent job of research, as usual, and I guess that book must have been and endless maze to write. Holmes' frauds and manipulations and lies become so messy that it's hard to follow all acurately even as a reader.

The weak spot of the book, in my experience of it, is that there is a whole part of it that, according to me, is maybe too "novelised", that would be the trips with the children and family on which some reader had some complains to make. I never had that impression before on a Schechter book but maybe this time the "novelisation" goes too far and there might be too much direct speech and other such things. It's not bad but it may surprise readers as the passage extends in its number of page.
Hopefully, this doesn't last till the end of the book and soon enough you're back to Schechter at his best. The rest of the book is as excellent as could be. Again, Harold Schechter has done the best job one could possibly make on the matter.

Now, as far as the killer is concerned, I do despise him a great deal, as any serial killer should, but Holmes was really some soulless machine. Even Albert Fish would get more sympathy from me, at least he was "passionate", he didn't sleep well at night, which never seems like Holmes' case. He's like the incarnation of materialism and utilitarism's dark side. A capitalist to the core (and to the core of others). He's most despisable because he is totally unreliable and lies constantly till the bitter end. Odds are you will be more shocked at his mean tricks than at his "Castle". The latter which is not dealt much with in the book, although it was not possible to do more about it, so again don't blame Schechter, he's innocent!

Personally, Holmes is not the most interesting serial killer I read about so far. Not that he is devoid of interest, but he seems so inhuman, in the sense of a machine. I mean, you can have sympathy for even a monstrous psychopath like Fish, because even in his incredible deeds there was still something human, too human maybe, about it. But Holmes! He is capitalism's terminator. He'd insure on your life, kill you, sell your bones, steal your jewels to sell them afterwards, same with your clothes, and when he's cornered he'll write a book of his life, not without tonloads of lies and fabrications.

It is a very good book, apart from the weak spot I mentionned earlier, although I don't think everyone would agree with me on that. Schechter again did a great job, considering the matter he dealt with, however, if you never read a Schechter book before, I'd advise another one to start with, like Deviant, or even Deranged.

Rating:
Summary: What a mysterious world...
Review: I love this book. H. H. Holmes is by far my favorite serial killer. That sounds strange but he is the most fascinating in my opinion. I picked up this book and could not put it down. I loved every minute of it. It's full of little known facts, information, and stories revolving around this intriguing man. From his roots in New Hampshire, to his pharmacy, to his castle, to his death. One thing though, above in the critic reviews it says that he kills his partner, his partners wife, and their five kids, that isn't true. He only kills his partner and two of his partners kids. There are countless others that no one even knows about that checked into the castle and never checked out. This is an excellent read and I recommend it to anyone interested in the killing mind.

Rating:
Summary: A wild ride with a unique psychotic
Review: There have been killers and con-men and thieves and dead-beats in America throughout its long history, but I don't think there has ever been anyone before or since like the subject of this long book. The history of H. H. Holmes is so complex, and with so many gaps, that Schechter has done an amazing job in managing to tell a more-or-less coherent story. Holmes himself never told the truth about anything, no matter how trivial, while his own caution and incessant travel kept much of his crime anonymous or undetected. Even in his early days, when he maintained more fixed addresses, his crimes were largely undetected--- there is no way to know how many people he murdered in a special building in a suburb of Chicago during the days of the Exposition, when he rented rooms to travellers who were never seen or heard from again. A continually fascinating book.