Starkweather

The Untold Story of the Killing Spree That Changed America

De: Harry N. MacLean

Narrado por: William DeMeritt

The definitive story of Charles Starkweather, often considered to be the first mass killer in the modern age of America

On January 21, 1958, nineteen-year-old Charles Starkweather changed the course of crime in the United States when he murdered the parents and sister of his fourteen-year-old girlfriend (and possible accomplice), Caril Ann Fugate, in a house on the edge of Lincoln, Nebraska. They then drove to the nearby town of Bennet, where a farmer was robbed and killed. When Starkweather’s car broke down, the teenagers who stopped to help were murdered and jammed into a storm cellar. By the time the dust settled, ten innocent people were dead and the city of Lincoln was in a state of terror. Schools closed. Men with rifles perched on the roofs of their houses. The National Guard patrolled the street. If there is a cultural version of PTSD, the town suffered from it.

Starkweather and Fugate’s capture and arrest, and the resulting trials about the killing spree, received worldwide coverage. The event would serve as the inspiration for the movie Natural Born Killers and Springsteen’s iconic album Nebraska. Today, the story has dropped far from the national consciousness. With new material, new reporting, and new conclusions about the possible guilt or innocence of Fugate, the tale is ripe for an updated and definitive retelling. In Starkweather, bestselling author Harry N. MacLean tells the story of this shocking event and its lasting impact, a crime spree that struck deep into the heart of the heartland.

©2023 Harry N. MacLean (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“MacLean offers the most comprehensive work to date on the horrific murder spree launched in Nebraska by nineteen-year-old Charles Starkweather. As a community insider, MacLean presents a convincing case that the myth of teenage lovers on a murderous lark must be remedied. True-crime fans will be enthralled.”—Dr. Katherine Ramsland, professor of forensic psychology and award-winning author of Confession of a Serial Killer

Brilliant prose here

Harry is smart and
deep. So is his book. Author featured on Ep 187 of The Craig Silverman Show.

Shocking Even All These Years Later

I had this book in hardback many years ago but lost it in a move. When I saw it listed here, I knew I had to have it. The book is hard listening because of the horror of the crimes and the people of that time having little experience with such savagery. Then you sadly realize: there are a LOT of Starkweathers out there today.

Uneven, Somewhat Repetitive and Skip the Epilogue

The gimmick of this book is that the author grew up in Lincoln, NE during the time of the Startweather killings and knew some of the people involved. However, it’s not integrated well in to the book. Instead, most of it is uninvolved reportage. The epilogue goes into the personal aspect at the very end. It felt self-indulgent and vaguely self congratulatory. McLean’s “I had to see Carol” rationalization doesn’t quite work and their meeting stuck me as a little cruel and forced. I don’t mean to imply he did it cynically. It hit me as excessively grandiose and white-knighty. It broke with the tone of the rest of the book. A part of me feels like part of the motivation was selling the story to Hollywood; the McLean as the main character sorting through his memories via flashbacks while he wrote the book.

There are a lot of”would haves” in this book which I found distracting. Ie: “it was bitterly cold Carol would pulled her coat closer to her to fight off the biting wind.” Cinematic, yes, but it’s not a screenplay.

At time, details needlessly get reiterated. I found myself on more than a few occasions saying out loud, “yes, said that.”

I wanted to duck out about 10mins into the epilogue. It felt self-serving. Through out it, I kept letting out gasps of mocking “that must’ve been so HARD for you!!” Especially the last scene at Carol’s nursing home. The self-aggrandizement made me cringe.

I enjoyed the bulk of the book, though and I missed a few exits listening to it.

Amazing!

Great information and it gives the facts of without being bius to either side. Innocent or guilty, you decide.

Justice was served with this book.

I confess I was raised in Nebraska all my life and moved to Lincoln in the 90's but had never heard about this until our book club at work suggested it. With all the research done in order to retell the history of both Caril and Starkweather The authors dedication in writing this is very apparent.