Difficult to consider this novel as a thriller Erik Larson. In my humble opinion, it is not one. It is a historical chronology a bit romanticized, a bible on the rise of industrialization in Chicago in 1893, richly documented but without the fireworks of styles and constructions that define the thriller. The Devil in the White City is a fascinating mural on this race to industrialization experienced by Chicago in the preparation of its World Expo 1893. The city did not intend to miss the opportunity to do better than the exhibition Paris 1889 and its famous Eiffel Tower. A race against time is committed to meet deadlines. Meanwhile, another person goes back in history, one that is considered the first serial killer in the United States. The Devil in the White City, is Dr. HH Holmes, psychopath in power. Power is the feeling that will bring together these two "architects". The metaphorical comparison between these two incarnations is interesting because if they have much in common at the base, they'll leave in two opposite directions: one will work in the open and see his work sublimated by the magic of electricity. The other will work in the shadow under the nose of all. The light and shadow ... A builder who thinks God's angel of destruction that thinks the Devil. As Carter against the Devil by Glen David Gold and The Interpretation of murder Jed Rubenfeld, The Devil in the White City made its cast with characters having existed and historical fact. Erik Larson grows historical accuracy by sprinkling his story about reported and certified true. A fascinating historical novel that will make you an expert on the history of the city of Chicago (which I had already taken a great pleasure to discover the past through Chicago Way and The Windy City Michael Harvey).
