I recently read the book The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. I chose this book because several people I look up to recommended it to me. The plot of this story takes place in Chicago during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It all starts with Daniel Hudson Burnham reflecting on the years he spent planning the Chicago’s World Fair of 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus discovering the new world.

Chicago was the perfect place to host this world fair, it was growing rapidly and eager to establish itself as a major and important city. It was growing rapidly because of the Chicago fire in 1871, allowing it to rebuild more efficiently.

Burnham now has to assemble a group of architects to help design the large fair. He hires Charles McKim, Fredrick Olmsted, and Louis Sullivan. They decide to host the event at Jackson Park overlooking Lake Michigan. The architects agree that all of the buildings must compliment each other and not outdo each other.

H. Holmes, a handsome and deceiving doctor. He forges signatures of people who trust him to buy a building to convert into a hotel, he uses this hotel to house equipment designed for murder. Holmes gets away with this because the locals can’t imagine a serial killer living in their neighborhood. As the World Fair is being built, Holmes attracts tourists to his hotel, the World’s Fair Hotel. Throughout this time he takes advantage of his guests, he murders them, seduces them, and even convinces them to buy into his failing businesses to take their money.

The World Fair in Chicago was first thought of to surpass the greatness of the World Fair in Paris that brought the Eiffel Tower. George Ferris had an idea to outdo the Eiffel Tower, he created the Ferris Wheel. Along with the Ferris Wheel, the World Fair brings many new inventions and many great performances, like Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show starring Geronimo and Sitting Bull. 

After the fair, Holmes sets fire to his hotel in attempt to collect a large insurance claim, but gets arrested. 

I would recommend this book because it is extremely engaging. Throughout this book you forget this was a true story, it seems too fantastical to be real. If you like history you’d love this book, if you like thrillers, you’d love this book, if you love murder mysteries, then you’d also love this book. This book attracts many different types of readers. 

I would rate this book a 9.5/10.