H.H. Holmes was a serial killer who wreaked havoc on the city of Chicago between 1890 and 1894, all while remaining completely anonymous and without anyone knowing the women were ever missing. The tag line of this book reads "Murder, Magic, and Mayhem at the Fair that Changed America." Naturally, I'm left to assume that it's about the story of H.H. Holmes, which just so happens to take place during the creation and building of the Chicago World's Fair.
Wrong.
Ok, so then it's a story of how the building of the Chicago World's Fair impacted Holmes' "reign," right?
Wrong.
Then it must be how Holmes is involved with the creation and building of the fair while also committing these heinous crimes without anyone having any idea.
Wrong again.
90% of this book outlines in excruciating detail how the idea for the Chicago World's Fair came to be - including the creation of the Ferris Wheel. And oh yeah, there just happens to be this guy that owns a hotel right down the street that is killing women and burning them in an incinerator he has down in the basement.
Having an English degree and a heavily researched-based master's degree, I've had to read a lot of books. And I mean a lot. But never have I read a book that reads as slowly as this one did. Maybe it was my expectation that the storyline was going to be laced with the typical serial killer material I'm used to reading. Not even close. At times, I literally forgot that there was supposed to be a serial killer in this story.
All this to say it wasn't a bad book. I love history, so it was definitely interesting. But it wasn't the book I thought I was going to get...and it was especially not a great book to try to read in a week. I've learned pretty much all I'll ever need to know about the Chicago World's Fair. And considering that the time from inception to creation was only four years, that's saying a lot.
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