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This novel is historical fiction. It is the story of Elizabeth Sattler,
one of the Leopold maids. Wayne Nielson is Sattler's grandson. He was five
when she died. The book begins with a short prologue and ends with a short
epilogue, both written in the first person, describing how Nielson came to
write the book. He gives a brief history of his grandparents and a somewhat
inaccurate synopses of Leopold, Loeb and Darrow. (Darrow's ashes were not
scattered in Wolf Lake as a testimonial to Bobby Franks as Nielson proports.
They were scattered off the Jackson Park Lagoon, lest we forget Darrow lived
in Hyde Park, just as Leopold and Loeb did)
The prologue and epilogue are the best written of a mostly awkwardly written
book. The language is awkward, the German is full of errors, and it is hurried
and inaccurate. There is hardly a story here. There is nothing truly new
here. And there are more errors in a bog of errors. The last thing the world
needs is another fictionalized acount of Leopold and Loeb. Thank you, Hal
Higdon, for your immense contribution into the world of fact regarding Leopold
and Loeb. Alas, Higdon has not yet been outdone. Instead, Warner Brothers
brought us their version called Murder by Numbers.
Semblance of Balance |