In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

A+

A-

B+

F+

F-

Rating

Current

To-Read

Read Sample

In Cold Blood

October 9, 2001 / 368 pages (is this book fiction or nonfiction?)

National Bestseller

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

↓ more

Murder

Criticism

True crime

History

Writing Quality

Originality

Addictiveness

Re-readability

Movie Potential

Sequel Potential

My Rating

F+

F-

Major Themesautofill

Minor Themes

Fiction

Nonfiction

Writing Quality

Originality

Addictiveness

Re-readability

Movie Potential

Sequel Potential

Review (optional)500 left

started

finished

Save Rating

Title

Author

Release Date

Oct

2001

Page Count

Genre

Fiction

Nonfiction

Series

Cover Image

(Must be JPEG and less than 1 MB)

Synopsis

Submit

Mark book as duplicate

Reviews

sort

This is one of the first true crime novels. Truman Capote describes the events leading up to and following the murder of the Clutter family in Kansas in a chilling way. It's a gripping read with wonderful prose. Capote's writing is sharp, on point and captivating. The killers are described in such great detail that by the end of the book you think you know them and you feel both disgusted by them, but also feel sympathy for them. Or at least I did, and I think that was the main reason I liked I

Grade: B / Vinjii / Oct 11, 2016

Very comprehensive and fascinating.

Grade: B / Trekkie1999

/ Dec 4, 2017

I listened to this first installment in the true crime genre and got sucked in fast. It’s so creepy and so very engrossing! I enjoyed the format of the book a lot - I think it was genius the way it was written- and if the middle was a little less exciting, I was so invested in the characters at that point I wasn’t putting it down.

Grade: A / MrsReganReads / Jan 13, 2022

I'm happy I finally read this book. The way Capote uses imagined dialogue and scenes involving the killers made very unsympathetic people/characters somewhat sympathetic. Once I felt that at least one of the men, Perry, was a kind soul who couldn't possibly be the one who pulled the trigger, Capote hit me with what actually took place. The whole murder scenario was a punch to the gut after taking his time building the characters into real human beings, the victims and the murderers. It's a st

Grade: B / amcheri

/ Dec 2, 2022

I found this book tedious to read and yet hard to put down. Capote delivers incredible amounts of absolutely worthless information and that makes the book often difficult to read because I just don't care about the history of side characters. But there is still the voyeurism this book plays to and that made me go on, although I started skipping paragraphs later on. At the time this book apparently did something new, but when reading it now it just feels way too long. We usually get the same fro

Grade: D / namulith

/ Jul 6, 2023