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  • Rampage

  • Bloodlands collection
  • Written by: Harold Schechter
  • Narrated by: Steven Weber
  • Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (28 ratings)

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Rampage

Written by: Harold Schechter
Narrated by: Steven Weber
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Publisher's Summary

In 1949, things like this just didn’t happen: A quiet New Jersey resident took a morning walk with a 9 mm Luger pistol. In twelve minutes he murdered thirteen neighbors...and then went back to bed.

Howard Unruh went from obscurity to infamy overnight. Even after his obsessive diaries were discovered - a catalogue of simmering rage, petty grievances, and sexual repression - the anomalous crime seemed incomprehensible. Succeeding decades would confirm that Unruh’s “Walk of Death” was just the beginning. The prototype for the modern mass murderer, he would usher in a new age of violence in America.

Rampage is part of Bloodlands, a chilling collection of short addictive historical narratives from bestselling true-crime master Harold Schechter. Spanning a century in our nation’s murderous past, Schechter resurrects nearly forgotten tales of madmen and thrill-killers that dominated the most sensational headlines of their day.

©2018 Harold Schechter (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Likely America's First Mass Shooting

This account of a post-war Killing Spree (decades before "Going Postal" entered the American lexicon and School Shoptings became commonplace) is straight-up fascinating. Harold Schechter provides a nicely-delivered chronicle of odd loner Howard Unruh's 1949 "revenge" spree in Camden, NJ.
'Rampage' isn't particularly insightful but touches on the potential roles of mental illness and the availability of firearms (as well as unlikely/unusual theories - his War Service; "focal infections"; etc). The short format necessarily limits the completeness, but Schechter does a very good job leading the discussion.

Steven Weber contributes to my favorable impression of this recording. Brilliance Audio did well to cast Weber to read the book. His diction, timbre, cadence, tone, and rate of reading are well above average.

This installment in Schechter's 'Bloodlands' series isn't the best of them, but rates 8 stars out of 10. I can easily recommend it to those interested in quality True Crime who are looking for a thought-provoking option for a quiet drive or a boring night shift.

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