Lizbeth Ramon Carrillo

I don’t generally gravitate towards novels based on a real-life murder case, but during my senior year of high school, one of my teachers introduced In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and if I were, to be honest, the first couple of chapters didn’t have me on the edge of my seat, like other books I’ve read. Nevertheless, I trusted my teacher’s recommendation regarding this true crime novel, and it was undoubtedly the greatest decision I’ve made. Personally, the emotional rollercoaster this novel has brought was incredibly well written. This being the first true crime novel I’ve read; I felt a plethora of feelings in the first chapter that I was not expecting so soon in a novel. Unequivocally, I really enjoyed Capote’s alternating points of view from the Clutter family to the two murderers, which helped me navigate through this book and get a deeper understanding of the tragedy that unfolded in this lonesome area of Holcomb, Kansas. Yet it also helped me grasp the mind of these two murderers and their plan that started with a miscommunication, in the prisoner who was a former employee of Mr. Clutter. Truman Capote’s novel is by far one of the best true crime novels I’ve ever read due to its extensive background information of both the clutter family and the two murderers later identified as Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. This book has brought so many waves of emotions throughout each chapter that it made it hard for me to stop and take a break; this novel is like drinking caffeine; you can’t stop until you finish it. The details that went into place for uncovering the murder of the Clutter family were shocking, to me because it was so descriptive it felt as if I was there walking in the Clutter house, into each room, feeling the everything that this small town of Kansas felt when they realized their little town was no longer safe. The murder of the Clutter family changed this town. There is a myriad of reasons why I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is deeply interested in true-crime crime unraveling as you read a chapter. The alternative point of view is another great emphasis on how the clutter family meets their death and the thought process that went into the plan from the murderer's perspective. Once again, I would greatly advise anyone to read this novel; you will not regret it.