Ripped from the Headlines - Review

Author: Harold Schecter

Genre: True Crime

Format: Paperback

Pages: 374

Harold Schechter is one of my favorite true crime authors. I've thoroughly enjoyed every one of his books that I've picked up over the last few years, and Ripped From the Headlines did not disappoint. This was an interesting plot that immediately pulled me.

This is a well-thought-out and researched book packed with information. It's great for people who are new to the world of true crime, and just a lot of fun for those of us who can are true crime junkies. Because while I knew a lot of the criminals mentioned in this book. I did not know the movies that were based on their crimes. 

Sometimes you don't connect the dots when you're watching the movie. So for me, that was fun to learn some of my favorite films had some nefarious origins.

I also liked that this was a mixed bag of movies. They weren't just from one set period or genre. It bounced around from 'old school' movies to more current movies. While I've seen, or at least heard, of a lot of the movies mentioned throughout these pages. There was still a lot I hadn't heard of and is now on my list of things to curl up and watch this winter.

Each chapter is packed full of information from movie production to true crime knowledge. I think even movie buffs would find this book interesting. Schechter did so much research to fill these pages, and you can tell as you move from chapter to chapter. 

It was a fun read that I enjoyed listening to as I opened the restaurant I work at, drove home, and did chores around the house. There was never a moment where I started to get bored, or I felt the writing was dry. It was just really hard to put down, so I was trying to catch it at the chapter's end so I didn't have to drag myself away in the middle of the chapter.

My only complaint about this book was I had to slow down the audiobook a little bit. Which is something I've never had to do before. There was no clear spacing between the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. So I had to stop a couple of times to adjust as the chapters changed. 

That gave me a little bit of whiplash and made it hard to enjoy this book.

Still, this is one I'd love to add to my collection. Mostly so I can go back through and cover it with sticky notes and tabs. Movies to watch, fan facts, etc. This was a lot of fun, and the fast pace of the audiobook aside, I did really enjoy this one.

My neighbors probably could have done with me using my headphones during the Ed Gein chapter, but they already think I'm weird. So there's that.

HAPPY READING!!