Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster

Harold Schechter

Jun 2008 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

FROM SOCIAL OUTCAST TO NECROPHILE AND MURDERER -- HIS APPALLING CRIMES STUNNED AN ERA.

San Francisco, the 1920s. In an age when nightmares were relegated to the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe and distant tales of the Whitechapel murders, a real-life monster terrorized America. His acts of butchery have proved him one of history's fiercest madmen.

As an infant, Earle Leonard Nelson possessed the power to unsettle his elders. As a child he was unnaturally obsessed with the Bible; before he reached puberty, he had an insatiable, aberrant sex drive. By his teens, even Earle's own family had reason to fear him. But no one in the bone-chilling winter of
1926 could have predicted that his degeneracy would erupt in a sixteen-month frenzy of savage rape, barbaric murder, and unimaginable defilement -- deeds that would become the hallmarks of one of the most notorious fiends of the twentieth century, whose blood-lust would not be equaled until the likes of
Henry Lee Lucas, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer.

Drawing on the "gruesome, awesome, compelling reporting" (Ann Rule) that is his trademark, Harold Schechter takes a dark journey into the mind of an unrepentant sadist -- and brilliantly lays bare the myth of innocence that shrouded a bygone era.

Ratings and reviews

Despite my interest in True Crime this was a series of crimes that I had never heard of before. This does surprise me as there is such a litany of atrocities committed that you would have thought it would be a far more publicised case - especially when you compare it to the rumours of what H H Holmes did in Chicago which have far less proof. The research was undoubtedly thorough and is well documented in the book so should you wish to fact check the author it is easy to do. I always appreciate a full Bibliography and Mr Shechter is always meticulous in logging even the smallest source. Unfortunately there is just something about his writing style that overrides the information being given and takes centre stage instead of the story that does put me off when reading. There are also a lot of personal conclusions drawn and voiced rather than just a retelling of the actual histrocial events and it is for this reason alone I have given it 3 Stars. What is undoubtedly interesting is the background of Nelson and the steady escalation of his assaults which eventually morph in to rape and finally murder. I was surprised how Nelson seemed to have an innate sense that he needed to keep moving from state to state and even crossing Country borders to keep consistantly ahead of the police. He also had no real type, he had a method he employed but each crime seemed to have been one of opportunity and the age ranges of his victims would baffle law enforcement today. Perceived wisdom being that a murderer always has a type and Nelson certainly didn't. If you can get past the author's voice this is a very interesting read for anyone interested in True Crime. This review has been a long time coming. I actually read this book between the 8th and 13th August so my memory is a bit foggy about all the plot lines. Fortunately, I have a notebook where I jot some initial thoughts on the book and an overall ranking so between the book blurb and that I did have a reasonable handle on what I thought at the time of reading.

Entertaining..a real page-turner..considering buying it.

Well done.

About the author

Harold Schechter is Professor Emeritus at Queens College, where he taught classes in American literature and myth criticism for forty-two years. His essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and many more. An esteemed true crime historian, he has written the definitive accounts of some of America’s most infamous murderers, including the nonfiction books Fatal, Fiend, Bestial, Deviant, Deranged, Depraved, and The Serial Killers File. He is the editor of the Library of America volume, True Crime: An American Anthology. He has twice been a finalist for an Edgar Award. His most recent books include Butcher’s Work: True Crime Tales of American Murder and Madness and Murderabilia: A History of Crime in 100 Objects. In addition to his work in narrative nonfiction, Schechter is the author of an acclaimed series of detective novels based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. He lives with his family in New York.