The Pied Piper

Bloodlands collection

By: Harold Schechter

Narrated by: Steven Weber

With makeup and an affected Elvis pout, Tucson’s Charlie Schmid was a crude parody of a bad-boy heartthrob. In 1964, he still had a hold on girls who’d follow him anywhere. He murdered three of them.

It was the dawn of the free-love movement - perfect for a magnetic madman who’d also foreshadow its end a few years later in the malignant charisma of Charles Manson. The inspiration for a classic story by Joyce Carol Oates, Schmid, the most bizarre serial killer of any era, was the epitome of a narcissist flattered into believing he could get away with murder.

The Pied Piper is part of Bloodlands, a chilling collection of short addictive historical narratives from bestselling true-crime master Harold Schechter. Spanning a century in our nation’s murderous past, Schechter resurrects nearly forgotten tales of madmen and thrill-killers that dominated the most sensational headlines of their day.

©2018 Harold Schechter (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

True Crime

(3.0 Stars)

Informative and interesting. Adds a narrative to historic true crime events. The entire series is good.

A bit sexist but informative

At first I thought this was the literal old story of the pied Piper complete with magical flute. Imagine my surprise when the narrator began talking about murder.

I found it to be a good summary of the story, however, the author seemed to be a bit judgy of women. Calling Mary Finch "dumpy" and another "promiscuous/ admired prostitutes" for getting paid for what other girls gave away for free. The book might be old though. It's very factual and that's about all.

interesting

very interesting story. a lot better than the others. I cant believe how crazy some people are.

enjoying the bloodland collection

I am enjoying the bloodland collection! this is my fourth book of the series. I really like the little bits of history you get in each story.

Fast read

Simple read and straight tell. No speculation or insight into criminality. The subject is hidden in the past.