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For the Thrill of It
- Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 20 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, True Crime
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Summary
It was a crime that shocked the nation: the brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were intellectuals - too smart, they believed, for the police to catch them. When they were apprehended, state's attorney Robert Crowe was certain that no defense could save the ruthless killers from the gallows. But the families of the confessed murderers hired Clarence Darrow, entrusting the lives of their sons to the most famous lawyer in America in what would be one of the most sensational criminal trials in the history of American justice.
Set against the backdrop of the 1920s - a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess in a lawless city on the brink of anarchy - For the Thrill of It draws the listener into a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, with a spellbinding narrative of Jazz Age murder and mystery.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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What listeners say about For the Thrill of It
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- R. woods
- 30-08-21
Very Detailed
Meticulously researched book, sets all the known facts out in great detail. Very much an unbiased account of the crime, arrest, trial and aftermath, author sets out no opinions of his own.
Narration takes some getting used to as the narrator puts the wrong emphasis on certain syllables and words in a strange way. However, perhaps it’s just an accent that I am not used to.
3 people found this helpful
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- Staupe
- 07-04-21
Amazing story with roadrunner narrator
This is an amazing true crime book and an absolute must for everyone who is also interested in the history of law and it's developments in the 20th century. Very detailed and interesting on so many levels.
Mind you, I had to listen to it on 0,8 slowdown because the narrator, well, he is trying to break speed records left and right. The book is unlistenable at normal speed. This guy was really in a hurry to get it over with.
2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-09-21
Indepth coverage if a well known story
I knew a bit about this case, as i enjoy true crime but this went into the background of the case in a lot of detail a lot of which was knew to me.
I have seen other reviewers comment on the narrator. He does have his own style but i didn't mind that and i certainly didn't find it too fast
1 person found this helpful
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- Maggsie
- 30-04-22
So detailed
The basic story was very interesting but there was far too much unnecessary detail that it could have been told more succinctly in a third of the time. I even had to increase the speed of narration to get through it.
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- Robert James
- 18-03-22
Over dramatic
Can’t really rate the story, but the performer annoyed me so quickly that so quit. Really dramatic enunciation, pauses and intonation made it sound like a scandal sheet rather than a serious crime story.
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-02-22
What is going on with this narrator?
I've given it 5 minutes and I can't take the narrator any more. He reads every word - including even the acknowledgements before the book begins - with a breathless intensity that is simply exhausting to listen to. I didn't manage to take in anything he said.
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- Emmet
- 27-01-22
narrated by an idiot.
I've never quit a book so quickly, the narration is unbearable.
give it a miss.
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- Mark B.
- 20-01-22
Good story but too much irrelevant information
Should have stuck to the story line and not added the unnecessary padding. Narration was clear and pace was comfortable listening.
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- Caroline
- 23-12-21
Interesting book
Interesting true crime book and well narrated. It was a sensational crime at the time. It would have been interesting to know if it had any effect on the US criminal process
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- hannah
- 22-12-21
Woefully 'unthrilling'
For the first time ever, I am unable to finish a book. The VO was alright, but definitely felt overly dramatic and mispronounced a few terms here and there, but the content of the book is the real problem. It was bad enough hearing unnecessary details about a football game prior to the murder, but that was only a taste of the off-topic information overload to come. Around chapter 7/8 onwards, you start to hear almost nothing about the case the book is apparently about! I don't need to know the extensive credentials and background of each and every lawyer, psychologist, and politician unless that information has some bearing on THIS case! If this was a fiction, a fairytale, perhaps I'd appreciate the detailed physical description of random characters, but given that it ISN'T, I don't need a detailed description of completely random, inconsequential characters from other cases! It got so frustrating, I couldn't even continue with the book as background noise while at work. Absolutely wouldn't recommend!
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- P'an
- 27-08-20
Great book, awful narrator
It's so hard to choose a Worst Audiobook Reader Ever award recipient, because there are seemingly infinite ways to be terrible at it. This guy, though..... this guy's special. I'm actually really worried about him. Does anyone know if he's ok? There's no way this.... um... performance(?) didn't injure him seriously. And there's no way he could digest all the scenery he chewed. There's a very distressing combination of over-enunciating AND over-salivating. I don't even enjoy this much spit-sucking in porn. One does feel one needs an umbrella. Really though, is he alright? It sounds like he's horribly straining every part of himself.
21 people found this helpful
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- Eric Leafblad
- 24-02-18
Narrator was too dramatic.
Narrator was too dramatic in his reading of the book. Other than the "performance " of the book, it is a great book.
17 people found this helpful
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- SM
- 13-10-20
Oration, not narration
The narrator seems to think he's Cicero orating at the Roman Senate. Either that or there are 20+ hours of a highschool-quality performance of Hamlet's "to be or not be" speech. Trying so hard to be dramatic, you can actually hear him gasping for air and wetting his lips while over-articulating every single syllable. I gave up in the middle of the 2nd chapter, so I can't rate the book itself. Even as a freebie with Audible Plus, this was horrible.
14 people found this helpful
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- Sue Smith
- 08-07-20
Listen at 30% faster speed
Intriguing tale that risks being ruined by poor narrator, but I enjoyed the whole book anyway by increasing speed by 30%.
12 people found this helpful
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- Margaret
- 26-09-19
Good story, narration makes it a chore
This book should be read. It seems well written and informative.
But the narrator sounds like some hack trying to perform Shakespeare. Way over the top dramatic. I don’t usually write bad reviews, but this author and audible need to be aware.
8 people found this helpful
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- Anne Ashley
- 05-05-17
Excellent!!!
I couldn't stop listening to the story. I knew of the incident/case but this is brilliant!
8 people found this helpful
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- Deborah Steffen-Mellott
- 28-07-19
Fair retelling of landmark crime
Sometimes I order and enjoy an audiobook about a story I know well, for the added enjoyment of hearing it retold with fabulous narration. This is not one of those times. I don't know if the narrator is a stage actor, but i found the telling a bit (although not hugely), over the top with regards to enthusiasm and expression. Fairly written, albeit with a little repetition and over-explanation, but not great.
7 people found this helpful
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- Polly L. Mccall
- 04-05-19
Awful narration
I almost stopped and returned this one - only powered through to hear the story.
The narration is unnaturally precise and overly dramatic. Just awful
6 people found this helpful
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- Jason Gansauer
- 27-10-20
Do Your Homework
I admit, the narrator’s performance is stilted and excruciatingly precise, but it fits the material, being unemotional and exact. What is a gross fault, however, is the apparently careless attention to the pronunciation of place names. One would think a reader and his producers would have done their homework before pronouncing “Kankakee” as “kon kocky,” “Manteno” as “Mon tenno,” and “Charlevoix,” as “Char la voh.” These are local place names....and there are at least 6 others mispronounced. Unfortunately, I kept waiting for the reader to make another glaring mistake and interrupt my concentration.
3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-10-20
Story is interesting
Hard to follow the story based on how the narrator was reading it. Every sentence was read excitely, too many words emphasized when they shouldn't be and he almost sounds pompous.
3 people found this helpful