In Cold Blood

By: Truman Capote

Narrated by: Scott Brick

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The most famous true crime novel of all time "chills the blood and exercises the intelligence" (The New York Review of Books)—and haunted its author long after he finished writing it.

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.

In one of the first non-fiction novels ever written, Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, generating 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.

Critic reviews

"A masterpiece ... a spellbinding work." —Life

"A remarkable, tensely exciting, superbly written 'true account.' " —The New York Times

"The best documentary account of an American crime ever written ... The book chills the blood and exercises the intelligence ... harrowing." —The New York Review of Books

Awesome and unforgettable.

I first read "In Cold Blood" when it first came out in 1966, when I was just a kid growing up in a dusty little prairie farming town not very different from Holcombe, Kansas. At the time, I took Capote's rendition of the lives of the Clutter family for granted -- it was all I knew. Didn't everyone live like that?

I've since learned different, of course. Not only does 'everyone' not live like that, but hardly anyone does, or not anymore, anyway. Just as 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Truman Capote's friend Harper Lee defined a certain kind of life in the south, just as did 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' by Betty Smith define life in Brooklyn, so Capote's 'In Cold Blood' defines the essence of prairie life in the 1950's. For that reason alone, it's an American classic.

Since then, I reread the book a couple of times, just because I became a dedicated fan of Capote's writing (if not of his lifestyle). But never has the brilliance of his writing come home to me as it did, in listening to Scott Brick reading it. The book and narration constitute a masterwork, by any standard. Yes, Capote perfectly captured the rhythm of life in rural Kansas, but it seems to me he was just as adept at getting inside the minds of the ruthless killers. I haven't any standard to measure that, of course, but the killers are just as believable as were the Clutter family, their traipse through Mexico and back again just as real.

This is an audiobook I will listen to again and again -- honestly, I might not read it again, but listen again? Absolutely. So many nuances jump out at you when you're listening, little details your eye might skim over when you're reading it. What's really interesting is how scary this book is, even though there's very little gore, in the purest sense. Today we're bombarded with 'serial killer' books, with detailed descriptions of the horrors they perpetrate on their victims. You won't find that here, and yet the horror comes through with an even greater impact.

This is a brilliant book, genius-class, for sure. And the narration couldn't possibly be better. This book belongs in everyone's home library. Don't miss it.

Fabulous -- Why Did I wait so Long to Listen?

In Cold Blood is true tale of a grizzly set of murders of four of the Clutter family in Kansas. Set in 1959, Capote brings this tale to vivid life and Technicolor description. I especially like the way he helps you to get to know each character -- good and bad; he also gives you excellent depth in the supporting characters. From the depth of these characterizations, he weaves a very descriptive tale which draws the listener forward through charter and verse.

Scott Brick is one of my favorite narrators and he brings an added bonus to the work. This novel will be liked by the who-dunnit crowd even though who-dunnit is know; the thriller people will love it as well. Add this book to the bucket list!

All Crimes Were 'Only Varieties of Theft'

"I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat."
- Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

I'm not sure why I waited so long to sit down and read this novel. I've read and enjoyed Other Voices, Other Rooms and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Perhaps, it is just that the novel wasn't very, well, novel. Without having read it I felt I already knew it. I was surrounded by New Fiction inspired by Truman Capote's 1966 book (originally published serially in the New Yorker). Everyone now seemed to write long-journalism pieces like Capote. His influence on journalism and especially on New Journalism was huge. But my kids were reading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and, perhaps, triggered by some vague, dusty memory that Harper Lee and Truman Capote were cousins and that she helped Capote out with the research and interviews for 'In Cold Blood' I decided it was the right time to read one of my copies (I own a first edition* and a Modern Library copy).

I wasn't born, but apparently when this came out in the New Yorker back in the mid-1960s it was a sensation. I'm trying to think of a series of articles recently that could compare. Probably the closest thing might be the PODCAST "Serial" or the TV show "Making a Murderer", but I still sense that it was bigger. It was one of those works that both made the author and kind of destroyed him too.

Anyway, it was brutal. Brutal because of its very humanity. Dick and Perry aren't painted as horrible (or even scary) killers. Like Arendt, Capote's trick (perhaps not trick) is to show us how banal, how casual evil is. It was like staring wickedness in the face and recognizing just a bit of oneself (but the boring, cereal eating side). It reminded me of a German Shepherd my dad (a veterinarian) rescued once when I was a kid. He was viscous. I spent hours trying to "tame" him. Over months I was able to (I thought) reduce the anger, the fear, the viciousness in this dog. But occasionally I would see it. He (the dog) hated old people. An old man or woman would walk by our fence and "Bozo" would go mad. We finally found an adopted home for him. Months later, we heard he had jumped an 8 foot fence and attacked an old man and had to be put down. I remember thinking how sad it was. I loved that dog, but at the same time, I recognized that there was something IN that dog that was dangerous and would never change. Anyway, that was kind of how I felt reading about Perry. Here is a man who had, at one level, a certain gentle quality, but without regret, without much pushing, could also quickly kill another human being. I think that duality. That humanity touched by that evil is what haunts that book and makes it relevant now and into the future.

* These aren't very rare because the first edition of 'In Cold Blood' was printed like it was the Bible in 1966 because of the interest shown by the original New Yorker articles.

Wow!

I'm not totally unfamiliar with Truman Capote's work, but I never got around to reading "In Cold Blood" before. I now see why it is seen as an American masterwork, and Capote's personal magnum opus. I felt totally pulled into the story and couldn't put down---the prose is mesmerizing, the story itself is captivating and Scott Brick is perfectly suited for this reading.

For those who aren't really familiar with the book, a short synopsis: This is a "true crime" story about the murder of the Clutter family in the small western Kansas town of Holcomb, and the story of the murderers and the aftermath of the crimes. It isn't a mystery---we know from the outset who committed the crimes and that they were caught---but the details of the criminals' ongoing escape, the pursuit and the reaction of the small community provide a stunning story.

One word of warning: This book is pretty graphic in places with regard to the state of the murder victims. Not for small children or the squeamish.

A Must-Read True Crime Novel

Really enjoyed this book and I find myself adding it to my growing true-crime collection. The crimes themselves weren't the most facinating and the book wasn't so suspenseful, but it is excellently researched and written and Scott Brick's performance is outstanding as always.