For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago

by Simon Baatz
For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago
book data
121 ratings, 3.64 average rating, 35 reviews (more data...)
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published
August 1st 2008 by Harper

binding
Hardcover, 512 pages

isbn
0060781009    (isbn13: 9780060781002)

description

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 thri

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 279)

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Jill
06/05/09
Jill rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2009
Just finished this book, an account of the Leopold and Loeb thrill killing of Bobby Franks in 1924. The book examines not only the killers but also the political environment of Chicago and the attorneys with special focus on Clarence Darrow for the defense.

The author quotes from court transcripts and some recently discovered interviews to weave a fairly complete picture of the trial that enthralled the nation. It was, in fact, not a trial but a penalty phase hearing since the defend...more
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Jessie
01/13/09
Jessie rated it: 2 of 5 stars

Read in January, 2009
This book was pretty disappointing because it provides no real historical context. The jacket and all of the positive reviews refer to the book's backdrop of hedonistic 1920s Chicago, but this is hardly explored. Instead the author (Baatz) chooses to focus on the tiniest details of the case and never gives the reader the bigger picture. While the book disappoints as a history, it also lacks the intrigue endemic to the more sensationalist true crime genre. It's as if Baatz intentionally sucked al...more
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Vince
02/25/09
Vince rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2009
Pretty darn good. Well researched and the author touches on the more controversial parts of the story - homosexuality - etc. without resorting to making excuses for Leopold and Loeb or sensationalizing their heinous act. I still have a few unanswered questions about the case, what were A,B,C,D. If any of you out there do know please post as a comment. I've always found it rather odd that Loeb never lost at cards and kept depositing cash in his account. I've also always thought the State's Attorn...more
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Glenn
12/26/08
Glenn rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in January, 2009
Very informative, very thorough, well-paced, organized & readable. (NOT a quick read!) Good companion to Compulsion by Meyer Levin. Very thorough description of one of the very first high-profile cases to employ high-profile psychiatrists for both prosecution and defense sides. Lots of info about the context of Chicago's culture, politics, legal system & history of each. Appendix describes plays, films & books based on or inspired by this case, including "Rope", w/some interesting anec...more
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Sally Bullock
04/07/09
Sally Bullock rated it: 2 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2009
A bit of a grueling read. I think it induced a couple naps, at least.
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 trying to think of some positive things to say...it was interesting to read about the role the still-young science of psychology had to play in the case, something that was probably a bit of a landma...more
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Vicki
11/26/08
Vicki rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: true-crime
Read in November, 2008
I was torn between giving this book three or four stars. Much of it was quite compelling, but I wasn't that interested in much of the middle section about the trial -- because it didn't end up telling us why these guys killed Bobby Franks! That is the question the book is unable to answer, because there probably isn't really an answer. The crime was senseless in every way. As a reader of lots of true crime, I can say that this is a very well-written book that other true crime readers will enj...more
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Jeffrey
09/04/08
Jeffrey rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: history
Read in September, 2008
It is true that humanity is obsessed with death and crime. If there is a story that can connect the two there will be an audience for that story. We are all curious with Jack the Ripper, Dr. Crippen and Charles Manson. Leopold and Loeb is a pair that also catches the interest of the public some 90 years after their vile crime. It seems that the unknown motive is what haunts society and continues to fascinate people to this day. So Simon Baatz has written a new and engaging account of the cas...more
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Laura
08/18/08
Laura rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in April, 2009
Most people are probably familiar with the infamous Leopold and Loeb case: two teenagers in 1924 Chicago kill a 14-year-old boy, Robert Franks, for no reason other than the thrill of it (Ladies and gentlemen, we have a title!). They're quickly caught and jailed; their wealthy families hire lawyer extraordinaire Clarence Darrow to save them from the gallows, where pretty much every convicted murderer was sent in those days.

Even if you've seen Alfred Hitchcock's Rope around 542 times, ...more
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Julie
05/14/09
Julie rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2009
Gave it a 3 although I skipped a bunch of passages and skimmed a lot also. Seems like a good book if you are very interested in all the little details of the case and the atmosphere at that time or are doing research about it, but if you just want to know the basics, it is a bit long winded and very repetitive.
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Jack
10/28/08
Jack rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in October, 2008
The Crime of the Century that earned the title "Thrill Murder" - when two college students kidnapped and killed a 14 year old neighbor boy - for no other reason than to do it - is the subject of this tome by Simon Baatz.

Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb are presented here by life stories, court testimony, and doctors' interviews.

Some of the information is new or at least newly revealed.

Anyone interested in the case, the trial, or the lives of those inv...more
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Carrie
12/21/08
Carrie rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in December, 2008
fascinating courtroom drama. A book that covers what happens to Leopold and Loeb after their convictions for kidnapping and murder. Started my current interest in Clarence Darrow
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Mark
05/05/09
Mark rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2009
Good Book about what was once an unusual crime-teenagers killing for the "thrill of seeing what it's like." Unfortunately, there are too many of these killings you read about today.
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Margie Frazer
05/26/09
Margie Frazer rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes killers are just plain crazy. No, make that sane. Or is thrill-killing by an otherwise sane person by definition crazy? Decide for yourself.
Very readable.
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Alan
06/19/09
Alan rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2009
A very complete account of the Leopold/Loeb case. Fascinating and detailed - maybe a bit too detailed. If you like true crime stuff, this is a good bet.
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Donna
10/14/08
Donna rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: nonfiction
Read in October, 2008
recommended to Donna by: Evelyn
A new take on Leopold and Loeb...this one focuses on the "scientific" testimony of the psychiatrists (alienists) who testified for the prosecution and the defence. Prosecution was trying to prove them sane using neurology and Defense was trying to prove them mentally ill based on Freudian analysis and biochemistry. The middle is a bit dry, but the expert testimony was interesting. The first chapters on the murder itself was well done.

Tom recommends "Life Plus 99 Yea...more
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Sarah
08/29/08
fbuser547626292 rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in August, 2008
I found this book really fascinating. It's a full accounting of the crime, investigation, and trial of the Leopold & Loeb case. It gives great background on the lawyers, plus the various psychologists and doctors who worked on the case. Especially interesting to me was the explanation of the political climate and the philosophies each lawyer held, and especially how and why Darrow saved them from the gallows.

I would highly recommend this book to any one interested in true crime, th...more
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Debbie
02/02/09
Debbie added it

Interesting topic and very readable.
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Gwen
04/21/09
Gwen rated it: 3 of 5 stars

interesting Chicago history!
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Sarah
04/04/09
Sarah rated it: 4 of 5 stars

The first 1-200 pages went really fast. Chicago in the early part of the century is fascinating, and the story of the inept, self-indulgent killers just added to it.
I thought the author spent a little too much time on the background stories of everyone involved in the case, though. It was probably fascinating to those who know more about Chicago's history, but I found it slow-going in places.
All in all, well-written and thorogh.
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Carter Reese
07/03/09
Carter Reese marked it as to-read (review of isbn 0060781025)

bookshelves: to-read
Albert Mohler
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