The Crime of the Century

This is an exhaustively detailed account of the horrific crimes of Richard Speck and the eight nurses who died by his hands. More than that, however, this is an excruciatingly in-depth look at the trial process and the work that the lawyers and experts put into building a case against Speck that would ensure his elimination from society. I suppose that this is not surprising as the book was written by the prosecution. I could eventually come to appreciate the pages upon pages of research, mind games, testimony, etc, but it was a bear to slog through. The authors are not concerned with constructing a compelling narrative but rather with explaining the criminal justice process. In that way, this book isn't really about the crime, but show more about the system that went into motion following the crime. show less

Detailed account of the infamous and shocking nurse murders committed by Richard Speck in 1960’s Chicago. Having been written by the lead prosecutor in the case no detail was left out of the narrative. Hence my problem. This book often slowed down to a crawl while each piece of evidence or each expert witnesses’ testimony was examined from every conceivable angle. Did we really need to spend several pages exploring why one finger print expert was substituted for another on the eve of that testimony? Having said all that this book does show the evil and horror one man can create and the depths that good men and women will go through to prevent that person from ever being given a second opportunity.

I give it a 9 out of a 10.