Book Review of
The Man from the Train
Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Some of these cases—like the infamous Villisca, Iowa, murders—received national attention. But most incidents went almost unnoticed outside the communities in which they occurred. Few people believed the crimes were related. And fewer still would realize that all of these families lived within walking distance to a train station. When celebrated true crime expert Bill James first learned about these horrors, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the same know-how he brings to his legendary baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery: they learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal and uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in America.
Grace's Review
If you love conspiracy stories, ideas, or just plain crime tales, The Man from the Train is a great book for you. I loved reading it. It was gory and had some sexual stuff, but if you can deal with that or can skim over it, you will do just fine. I learned so much about early police work and fingerprints and how the justice system was sometimes misused.
I loved the authors added history to the book to show proof how the criminal probably and how the decided to report on the crimes. They were able to show different views and had apparently done tons of research as they site tons of articles. This made a great summer read for me, but I think it would make a great rainy day read unless its close to bedtime. Of course, it does make you appreciate security systems and modern police forces.