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    H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil
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    H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil
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    H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil
    Audiobook5 hours

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

    Written by Adam Selzer

    Narrated by David Bendena

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateApr 4, 2017
    ISBN9781520071763
    Author

    Adam Selzer

    Adam Selzer lived in Des Moines back before it was cool, then tried out a series of small Georgia towns that will probably never be cool before settling in Chicago. In addition to several books on Chicago history and ghostlore, he’s the author of several young adult and middle grade novels, including Play Me Backwards, How To Get Suspended and Influence People (which is part of the ALA’s Banned Books Week packet), I Kissed a Zombie and I liked It, and Sparks (under the name SJ Adams, a Stonewall Honor book for 2013). He has seen Bob Dylan in concert more than forty times, holds a world record for “Most Richard Nixon jokes in a Children’s Book,” and often performs music, both solo and with various bands, at science fiction conventions. Visit him online at AdamSelzer.com.

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    Reviews for H.H. Holmes

    4/5

    20 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      H.H. Holmes, born Herman Mudgett, did more than murder women in his “hotel” during the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. He was all about money and not shy about committing fraud to gain it. He had a number of alias’s, and he lied all the time. He was “married” to three women, but only legally married to the first, since he never divorced her. He eventually wrote a “confession” with more lies, as he confessed to killing people he couldn’t have. He was only convicted of murdering one person, Ben Pitezel, though it’s fairly certain, he also killed three of Ben’s children. There were a few women who worked for/with him in his “hotel” who were most likely murdered by him. There is so much misinformation out there. Adam Selzer went to primary sources to write this book. Even many of those are not reliable, but Selzer does his best to sift through all the information and try to come up with the most plausible story of Holmes. It was good, and for enjoyment of/interest in the book, I’d actually give it 3.5 stars (good), but I really want to give it an overall of 4 stars for all the detailed research. I feel like this should be the primary book on Holmes, with all the research that went into it. Selzer also looks at other books/articles written about Holmes and looks deeper into where the information came from for those works to determine how legitimate the information is (including Eric Larson’s “The Devil in the White City”). Well worth the read for anyone interested in learning more about Holmes.
    • 4/5
      I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.This book was absolutely fascinating, and impeccably researched. I have read a lot of books on H.H. Holmes, and thought I knew all there was to know, but I was wrong--and I was glad to be proved wrong by Selzer's excellent tome.What was particularly fascinating and impressive was how deftly Selzer disputed the myths and legends about Holmes that almost everyone (including myself) had taken for fact. Selzer has more than done his research, and this book provides a masterful overview of every aspect of the Holmes' tale. I highly recommend this book for true crime readers, and those who want to know the truth behind the tales.
    • 5/5
      The definitive H.H. Holmes book, an absolutely must read!!
    • 1/5
      This is only part of the book! The ending is missing!
    • 4/5
      Book received from EdelweissI thought this book would be the same old stuff on H.H. Holmes, but this author dug a little deeper into the serial killer. He questions some of the things that we "know" about Holmes, like how many women he killed in the murder castle. He even brings up the subject if it was actually a hotel like many others have claimed. The author used documents that are believed to have never been used as background into who Holmes really was, and while he was a criminal was he as horrible as his legend portrays. I definitely want a copy of this book so I can re-read it at some point.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This does seem to be the best researched book of all the H. H. Holmes novels I’ve read. The author made a point to go back to original documents and sources where available to research for his own work. It starts by revealing a little about his childhood as recorded by family and neighbors- then as he ages up, marries, and attends medical school- then continues through his ‘career’. Going in to reading this book, I had already known much of what the author had to say about the dramatization behind the murders and the news reports making into a bigger hype than it really was, but there were still details that he was able to dig up that I hadn’t read about yet. I also can’t remember reading that much about his college years, either.Why such a low star rating if the book is so good? It is in dire need of an editor! The book is very detailed, something I usually cherish in a book, but the details became so muddled at some point reading became very dry and heavy. Instead of reading a novel on a subject the author is passionate about, it was a research project he was ready to be done with.
    • 4/5
      Meticulously researched. Includes details comparisons of the newspaper accounts of Holmes' life of crime, details from court transcripts and analysis of the timelines involved. Makes me continue to question historical research that relies on newspapers.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book, although it took quite some time toread.. A lot of research went into this book, so much detail. Gives a different 'look 'at Holmes. Not as much about the stories we often hear about him but more of the true character. A real con artist.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      H.H. Holmes: The True Story of the White City Devil by Adam Selzer is a 2017 Skyhorse Publishing publication. Dubbed the “First American Serial Killer’, H.H. Holmes has garnered a great deal of attention in the past, and has been the subject of documentaries and bestselling books. But, recently, the interest in Holmes has spiked. Just this afternoon, I saw a post on social media claiming a letter had been found in a family Bible, allegedly written by Holmes, expressing remorse for his heinous crimes. There were also recent headlines involving the suspicion that Holmes faked his own execution, prompting an exhumation of his body. In the not so distant future, Holmes will be the subject a feature film, starring Academy award winner, Leonardo DiCaprio. So, with the flurry of rumors and eye catching headlines keeping the notorious serial killer in the public eye, your interest in Holmes might be piqued. If you are looking for a good book that will detail the life of one of the most prolific con men in history, as well as the man who carries the debatable moniker of being America’s first serial killer, this book might be a good place to start. While I still highly recommend Erik Larson’s book on Holmes, and many of you would probably grab it first because of the bestseller status and the author’s success, I can tell you the book spends nearly as much time detailing the world fair as it does on Holmes. While it was a very good, educational, and interesting book, its focus was not solely on Holmes, whereas this book keeps Holmes as it’s one and only focus. (This author tended to disagree with Larson’s account, but I still think Larson has the killer’s psychology figured more accurately) The only downfall, and I find it hard to complain about such a thing, especially in true crime, is that it is perhaps too comprehensive. It is obvious the author has done meticulous research, and has named his sources, providing so much information, at times it got bogged down in minutiae. The author’s opinion seems to differ from most others, in that he feels Holmes killed out of necessity, rather than any thrill he got committing of the act itself, and he disputes some other common assumptions as well. He deftly lays out his arguments with facts and lots of details, that could support his theory. But, whether or not you agree with his assessment of Holmes’ reasons for mass murder, the sheer volume of information is mind boggling and paints a picture of Holmes that despite the author’s best efforts to convince me otherwise, only solidified my view of him. Holmes was a grifter, a con man, and a cold- blooded killer. His schemes and cons were outrageous, but so often he got away with them, far longer than he should have. Even though I was quasi-familiar with the case, I still found myself shaking my head at the horrific way he committed his crimes and, frequency of them, not just the murders, but the con man games as well. Despite some recent claims to the contrary, the man never showed the slightest bit of remorse. If nothing else, this book paints a very clear picture of Holmes and the author did do an amazing job of bringing him to life, which really gave me the creeps. It took me a while to get through this one, and I didn’t just sit down and read it through cover to cover, like I do most of my books. I went through it a little at a time, but I’m glad I decided to stick it out, despite the slow going. I would check out Larson’s version of events as well, in order to get a well -balanced look from all angles. (There are other books, but since I’ve not read them, I can’t speak to their accuracy) I’ll also leave it up to you to decide if you agree with this author’s assessment of Holmes’ psychopathy, or his alternate theories, as well, but for an enlightening view of Holmes, a complete outline of his crimes, and how he was ultimately captured, I recommend making this book your first stop.