This book starts out really good and ends really well. But, there is so much included that i found of no interest to this murder case. Also, It reads more as fiction for a nonfiction book.

Just as disturbing today as it was when originally published. Even though I knew the facts of the crime committed, Capote wrote this so masterfully that I experienced a roller coaster ride of anxiety, first, about when and how the killers would be caught, and, second, whether the killers would escape punishment. My favorite line, referring to one of the killers on death row: "When that boy read a book it stayed read". Heartily recommend even if you've read it before.

I had to read this for my English class. Today we just finished it. I found it to be an interesting book but it’s more pointed towards people who are interested in the process from a violent crime being committed to when the sentence is carried out. Luckily I am one of those people since my dream job is to become a criminal psychologist. I also liked this book because it takes place in Kansas close to where I live. It’s not too often that I can tell people that a killer, or, at least, supposed killer, of four people lived a couple towns away from me. I felt like Capote made too many things up, though. This book is more like a historical fiction than a truly non-fiction book in my eyes. At times it was dragging and I lost interest in certain parts such as the long winded descriptions that could have been shortened drastically. Still, a good book for people interested in the process of solving, and committing, a murder.

Thoroughly researched and reported, masterfully written!

In Cold Blood, a rare exception where the MOVIE is better than the book. I read the book first and was appalled by the author's insertion of his personal opinions. I was troubled by this and hoped that his tawdry opinions would disappear into the text/story. It didn't... like an old racist, it stole away the face of inhumanity and replaced it with Truman Capote's prejudice. I was thoroughly disgusted by his views by the end of the pages... as much as the senselessness of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock actions. I could barely stomach the book and forced myself to read it and finish it! It was a horrible read, the most vile book, I ever read and the author is someone abhorr for his portrayal of these two vicious killers as non-human. I saw the movie and was impressed by the acting, the humanity, killers given a human face without being so dogmatic(book). I would never own or buy the movie myself but I'd see it again as opposed to reading the book. I understood the main two characters for the very first time by seeing the movie and even understanding "how" they could kill an innocent family in Kansas. I do not 'CONDONE' any kind of violence, in word, literary, live-in-person or in art form. I don't like the idea of killing anyone for any reason, even in self-defence is the last resort. So, my fellow readers avoid reading the book and see the movie - it does a better job/representation of the human condition. Mitch Yamamoto

No doubt this book was required reading my sophomore year in high school but I have no memory of reading it. However after watching Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Oscar winning performance in “Capote”, I decided to read the book. (Again.) I am thrilled I did. It was completely different than what I expected. Mesmerizing and extraordinary. In 1959 Truman Capote read a short piece in the NYT about a brutal murder of a Kansas family and decided to travel there and write about the crime. Over the next six years, the killers were found, tried, appealed their case and were executed. Capote spent a great deal of time getting to know the local Kansans, the investigators on the case and the killers themselves. As the book jacket states, “…Capote’s account is so detailed the reader comes to feel as if he were a participant in the events”. The most surprising aspect of the book was the lack of gore---far, far less than I imagined. Don’t get me wrong it was scary---Perry Smith and Richard Hickock were scary people and the Clutter family was killed in a heinous manner---but Capote didn’t use gore to tell their story. By alternating the chapters between the Clutter’s house and the killers’ approach, and then between the investigation and the killers’ plight, Capote takes the reader on an unforgettable journey that transcends the gore of the crime. Highly recommended for mystery/police procedural readers as well as true crime readers.

I had to read this novel after watching the 2005 movie, Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Capote is a riveting treatment of what Capote experienced over the 4 or 5 years it took him to complete his book. It is said the with In Cold Blood, Capote spawned a new genre of fiction; the only other book of this genre that I've read is "By Persons Unknown - The Strange Death of Christine Demeter" by George Jonas and Barbara Amiel. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed "In Cold Blood."

An absolutely fantastic book. Beginning was a bit slow, but once the story begins you're kept in suspense, writing is brilliant.

This book is stunning, engrossing and forged and set the standard for a whole new genre of non-fiction/journalism.

While parts of this novel are rather tedious, others are captivating and shocking!