My wife is often exasperated by my habit of reading a book over and over again. Why do it, she asks, you know how it's going to turn out. Well, that's true in a way; especially with something like "In Cold Blood". Since it's based on a true story, you know the Clutters will die, you know the murderers will be captured and executed. What's the big deal?

But it's not that simple for me. I know every note of "Stairway to Heaven", yet it still gives me goose bumps. I know that fried chicken is crispy outside and juicy inside, but I order that more than anything else. I love picking up my Jack London stories in mid-winter. There's nothing like reading that stuff while some norther whoops and screams outside.

Hence, my affection for "In Cold Blood". I read it the first time when I was around 23 and took up reading as a pastime again as my flaming youth started to cool. I'm 44 and I think I've read that book maybe 15 times now. And just writing about it is making me want to read it again. In fact, I will probably have to buy a fresh copy because the binding on my paperback edition is starting to fail and pages are becoming loose.

Most true crime stories these days are drenched in such lurid detail the viscera and entrails practically dangle off the page. Torture, dismemberment, infanticide; make the story as horrific as possible to sell the books. These are the bastard children of Capote's novel, with as much emotion as an autopsy report. They are more akin to the "B" slasher feature at the drive-in.

But the murder here, while a central part of the story (without it, there would BE no story), is not the whole story. This is a very human drama, more in common with Steinbeck than Ed Gein. The killers are ruthless, to be sure - there's no doubt who's wearing the white hats and the black hats. But Capote drew all the characters as real people and not faceless archetypes. We've all known a family like the Clutters. Maybe we've passed under the malevolent eye of someone who shares something in common with Perry or Dick. And if something evil came our way, we all would want someone like Alvin Dewey to tirelessly pursue justice in our name.

And, like a great song or a good meal, Capote's prose paints a vivid picture that can be read again and again over time. The perspective of time in itself has given the novel a different insight. A crime that moved a jaded New York writer into immersing himself into a spartan, midwestern existence now seems almost quaint and old fashioned compared to the horrors that greet us each morning on the news.

Starling is consumed by duty and ambition.
The Bureau roasts Starling (a sacrificial "Lamb")for being too much of a hotshot.
Pazzi is consumed by greed and lust, only to be digested by the media.
Mason Verger ingests what comes forth in the pain of the weak and the weak-willed. Evenutally to be consumed by a red dragon.
Jack Crawford is eaten up with grief from the loss of his wife and his disappointment in The Bureau (his two true loves).
Krendler is a parasite, feeding off anything that will advance his position.
Really, all Lecter wants at the outset of the story is to be left alone. He wants to study history and art in his beloved Florence. But he is forced out of "retirement" by discovery and desire.
Harris is a very deep thinker and tries to reflect this in his stories. He was probably hamstrung a bit by the money people wanting to create a franchise in "Hannibal", but dig beneath the blood and gore; you'll find a nice allegorical novel full of history and culture.

Folks are really hung up on the ending. I'm not sure what they wanted. Maybe a nice, pat, Hollywood ending. Oh well, who knows? Maybe Harris envisioned something where Ardelia gets Barney to help her track down Starling. Or maybe, he wanted just an ending. If you listen to the money people they'll keep you at it until there's no soul left to your ideas, and maybe Harris wanted to close the book on Lector.

I think time will be kind to this story, and as years go by it will be stand on its own merits, and not as a literary Happy Meal.

Awesome book! I'm only about 5 chapters in, but this guy did his homework. Very deep.

The main thing to keep in mind here is, although his research and erudition give this book miles of verisimilitude, Crichton did the same with "Jurassic Park". Preston did it with "The Cobra Event"; and "Apocrypha" should be judged in that light - and not as a historical text. This is "The Blair Witch Project", not a newsreel. Fiction-as-Fact.

BUT - this is also an important book, it will be discussed and argued about for a long time. De Vito knocked one outta the park with this one.