false 2490073 3 <p> It was a crime that shocked the nation, a brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child, by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb had first met several years earlier, and their friendship had blossomed into a love affair. Both were intellectuals&#8212;too smart, they believed, for the police to catch them. However, the police had recovered an important clue at the scene of the crime&#8212;a pair of eyeglasses&#8212;and soon both Leopold and Loeb were in the custody of Cook County. They confessed, and Robert Crowe, the state's attorney, announced to newspaper reporters that he had a hanging case. No defense, he believed, would save the two ruthless killers from the gallows. </p> <p> Set against the backdrop of the 1920s, a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess, <i>For the Thrill of It</i> draws the reader into a lost world, a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, that existed when Chicago was a lawless city on the brink of anarchy. The rejection of morality, the worship of youth, and the obsession with sex had seemingly found their expression in this callous murder. </p> <p> But the murder is only half the story. After Leopold and Loeb were arrested, their families hired Clarence Darrow to defend their sons. Darrow, the most famous lawyer in America, aimed to save Leopold and Loeb from the death penalty by showing that the crime was the inevitable consequence of sexual and psychological abuse that each defendant had suffered during childhood at the hands of adults. Both boys, Darrow claimed, had experienced a compulsion to kill, and therefore, he appealed to the judge, they should be spared capital punishment. However, Darrow faced a worthy adversary in his prosecuting attorney: Robert Crowe was clever, cunning, and charismatic, with ambitions of becoming Chicago's next mayor&#8212;and he was determined to send Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb to their deaths. </p> <p> A masterful storyteller, Simon Baatz has written a gripping account of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case. Using court records and recently discovered transcripts, Baatz shows how the pathological relationship between Leopold and Loeb inexorably led to their crime. </p> <p> This thrilling narrative of murder and mystery in the Jazz Age will keep the reader in a continual state of suspense as the story twists and turns its way to an unexpected conclusion. </p> 2497378 book 1 8 2008 For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago total:180|5:24|4:79|3:59|2:17|1:1| 180 648 358 50 4 0 false false Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 14:20:38 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 14:40:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false true Fri Sep 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 09:40:48 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 13:10:34 -0700 2009 Almost by default, since, as the puzzled author points out in his afterword, his boo...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 18:35:29 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 18:56:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 21:22:29 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 12:46:06 -0700 2009
The author quotes from court t...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 05:06:19 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 05:14:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jan 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 10:43:20 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 22:15:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Feb 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 16:23:20 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 16:27:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jul 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 19:38:25 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 17:24:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 06:32:13 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 18:46:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 26 15:52:41 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 10 08:39:30 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Apr 07 09:22:10 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 09:32:36 -0700 2009 Each person involved in the case is described in detail, and the writing can be a bit tedious. It's one of those scandalous cases that you want to know all the sordid details of, but Baatz doesn't really give 'em to you. I am...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 09:14:24 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 14:32:28 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Sep 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 12:11:14 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 12:11:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 18 08:05:35 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 14 19:48:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 09 10:58:56 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 03 11:05:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Oct 24 05:57:21 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 06:11:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 08:12:29 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 08:16:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 16:38:59 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 18:09:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 28 13:41:03 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 28 13:46:35 -0700 2008
Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb are presented here by life...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 19:23:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 19:25:32 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2490073