Superb Writing at its very best.

Wonderful crafted account. A masterpiece. Narrator was excellent. Always wanted to read this and it certainly lived up to all my expectations.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Gripping

What a well-told, gripping story! Great narrator, does justice to the gravity of the story.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Incredibly well-written and researched true crime

Capote poetically charts the convergence of the lives of both the victims and the perpetrators.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Stands the test of time

Despite the case being 60 years old and the original book written over 50 years ago, this stands the test of time. A really well written, well balanced story that doesn’t, in my opinion, feel like a story written so long ago. It is helped by a really excellent narrator. I would recommend this to anyone liking true crime.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Truman Capote's Great Work Brought To Life

Hearing Truman Capote's great work brought to life and listening to its being read, is superb.
Scott Bricks performance is excellent with the 'southern drawl' accent enriching the story.

This was a unique work at the time and Capote engages you and your attention never wavers. It makes you think deeply about the dreadful act of the murder of the Clutter family and equally of
the act of capital punishment.

An outstanding work so brilliantly performed.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Fantastic

In Cold Blood

I went into this book knowing nothing about it. All I knew was it was a highly regarded book and that was it - I genuinely didn’t even know it was non-fiction. It wasn’t until the prologue that I realised this was a true story.

I have been blown away by how brilliantly this is written. I genuinely found myself forgetting at times (in the first part, at least) that this was a murder case. I was so invested in the daily lives of the Cutter family, and just how much they could remind you of people in your own life, or even yourself. When it came to their deaths, I genuinely found myself so saddened; as awful as it may sound, I find that due to my main genre of reading material being that of true crime, much of the time I’m not shocked or upset by the content of a book. I normally go in with at least a basic knowledge of the case, but as I didn’t this time, I found myself genuinely feeling aggrieved for the loss of these people who died so many years before even my parents were born.

As for the murderers, I even found myself in shock that I felt some kind of empathy, at least for one of them. Perry Smith, whilst still a vile soul for his actions, evokes feelings; you feel sorrow for his life growing up, and what may have been a closeted man. Smith seemed to be a lot more complex than Dick Hickock, who really just came across as a paedophile with grand ideas and a chip on his shoulder that made him think the world owed him. That said, I have never read a book that so brilliantly detailed almost every little aspect of everyone involved.

I was almost sad to finish it, oddly. I almost felt bad upon the execution of the murderers, purely because it brought everything to an end. It was like the Clutters somehow died all over again when their killers were hanged.

Absolutely astonishing book.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A true crime classic

Capote easily lives up to his reputation as one of the 20th century's best American writers.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A true crime classic!

The storytelling took me along effortlessly. The tone and pitch of the narration is just right for a relaxing pyjama afternoon doing absolutely nothing, and loving every minute!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Exploring new grounds

OK, so I am 77, retired and now reading for pleasure, exploring new ground. Classics, Crime, comedy, anything that grabs me but particularly exploring authors I have not ever tried. This, my first book by Truman Capote, has held me bound to the suspense, true, but also to the style of writing, description, vocabulary narration all to class. A fantastic analysis of a true grim crime and all that fed into the mindset of the perpetrators through their short lives, people with nothing left to lose.
This has exercised my mind and my thinking in so many direction. I look forward to finding more of Capote’s work.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

19 people found this helpful

Simply the best.

As good as an audio book can be. Hugely enhanced by the superb narration. We'll done, everyone!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!