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  • For the Thrill of It

  • Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
  • By: Simon Baatz
  • Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
  • Length: 20 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (64 ratings)
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For the Thrill of It cover art

For the Thrill of It

By: Simon Baatz
Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
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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.

©2008 Simon Baatz (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about For the Thrill of It

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent book, sticks to facts.

Filled with detail & with an unusually good narrator, this book doesn’t miss any of the controversial nature of this crime & it’s trial. I highly recommend it.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Too much scholarship for an audiobook

The story is fascinating and I appreciate there is a need to set the background of the advocates, the prevailing political situation and the sparring psychological opinion BUT this took about 3 hours in the middle of the book. It needed editing down as in a book one can look back to remind oneself but in audio this is difficult. I almost gave up as for audio it disrupted the story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent. Engaging

really great listen. well read. absolutely recommend. it's thorough and cover the crime in detail, and the psychology of the perpetrators. and in some ways a sad unrequited love story. one unanswered question is what happened the victim's family afterward. but really engaging and does the period in time justice too.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too long winded

Just too much irrelevant material to what should be a great story!! Should have been compelling!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazingly researched and compellingly told

This has so much research done that the author could easily have gotten lost and written a piece of dry drivel facts. This is not one of those books. From the word go it is paced well and the narrator does a fantastic job of getting the tone for each chapter right. There was so much I didn't know, This book fills in lots of blank spaces and expands on facts that are commonly known. It's the perfect telling of a very disturbing piece of history.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

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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