gerikatz

I have studied European history and the Holocaust and been a consumer of true crime for many years, so I was surprised I had never heard of this case until a podcast (The Catalyst by Amber Hunt) covered it. It's a fascinating story, and thoroughly researched work of history, but the writing was uneven and disjointed at times. I was most disappointed with the epilogue. The author noted that the section was entirely speculative, so I wish he had actually speculated a lot more on the why, in addition to the how. What in Petiot's life may have turned him into a killer? Who was he working for? Why did the Gestapo release him from prison? Without evidence, it's impossible to come to definitive conclusions, but I would have appreciated educated guesses from the author who spent a significant amount of time with the primary sources for this case.

I read this because my ten year old was reading it. He got bored after 20 pages. So did I, but finished it anyway. Maybe I would have enjoyed this as a kid, but I doubt it. I guess if you like cat drama, you'll enjoy this book.

Thought provoking, entertaining, and well-developed characters. Not a great literary masterpiece, but very enjoyable.

Meh. Entertaining enough that I wanted to finish it to find out how it ended, but i hated all of the characters and found the whole premise ridiculous.