The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Lately I have been a huge Erik Larson fan since I read Dead Wake by him a couple of weeks ago. I bought two other books by him including this one. The other one I will read in a couple of weeks and do a review for. There is something about the way he writes history while at the same time making into a story and backing up everything with proof really draws me in.
I didn't like this book as much as Dead Wake but it still was interesting in its own way. Let me tell you a bit about it:

The story is split between two people at the same time in history.
The first is about the man who put on the National Fair in Chicago in 1893 and about the challenges it takes to get everything together in the years leading up to it. Many friendships are made and lost in the time before the fair opens.
But at a fair where some of the world's greatest inventions are to be displayed there is much work to do even once the fair starts. There are forces acting against him and his team trying to make the fair less than it should be.
In other parts of the city at this time a whole new threat faces the people of Chicago.
H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who enjoys to earn the trust of his victims before he kills them, has come up with a plan to use the fair to get his prey to come to him. In his World Fair Hotel the women of Chicago enter and suddenly disappear without warning. All of his wives leave with no notice, even taking their children with them and are never heard from again.
With the fair drawing in thousands from all over the country both men will have to deal with the great fame and consequences the fair will bring. Years later, aboard the Olympia (the sister ship of the Titanic), the designer of the fair will look back on the events that took place during that time while his last friend from that time sailed on the Titanic.

The book wasn't as interesting as Dead Wake, probably because half of it wasn't as interesting as the other half. Reading from the point of view of H. H. Holmes was cool because it was interesting to see how the serial killer thought and how he went about achieving his legacy as one of America's greatest killers that almost never got caught. The man who designed the fair was alright but most people would choose to read about the killer instead of an architect.
Setting: B
Pace: B-
Characters: A
Story: B
Ending: B+
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Have a great day everyone and happy reading!
- K