The Midnight Assassin, Skip Hollandsworth
The Midnight Assassin, Skip Hollandsworth
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Midnight Assassin
Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer

Author: Skip Hollandsworth

Narrator: Clint Jordan

Unabridged: 9 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/05/2016


Synopsis

A sweeping narrative history of a terrifying serial killer--America's first--who stalked Austin, Texas in 1885

In the late 1800s, the city of Austin, Texas was on the cusp of emerging from an isolated western outpost into a truly cosmopolitan metropolis. But beginning in December 1884, Austin was terrorized by someone equally as vicious and, in some ways, far more diabolical than London's infamous Jack the Ripper. For almost exactly one year, the Midnight Assassin crisscrossed the entire city, striking on moonlit nights, using axes, knives, and long steel rods to rip apart women from every race and class. At the time the concept of a serial killer was unthinkable, but the murders continued, the killer became more brazen, and the citizens' panic reached a fever pitch.

Before it was all over, at least a dozen men would be arrested in connection with the murders, and the crimes would expose what a newspaper described as "the most extensive and profound scandal ever known in Austin." And yes, when Jack the Ripper began his attacks in 1888, London police investigators did wonder if the killer from Austin had crossed the ocean to terrorize their own city.

With vivid historical detail and novelistic flair, Texas Monthly journalist Skip Hollandsworth brings this terrifying saga to life.

The introduction and epilogue are read by the author.

About Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth is an award-winning journalist, screenwriter, and executive editor of Texas Monthly magazine. His work was included in the 2006 edition of Best American Crime Writing and he has won a National Magazine Award for feature writing. Hollandsworth co-wrote the acclaimed screenplay "Bernie" with director Richard Linklater. He lives in Texas with his wife.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Heidi on February 03, 2019

A fascinating, non-fiction examination of what may have been the first serial killer in the United States. "The Midnight Assassin" or "Servant Girl Annihilator" terrorized Austin, Texas, for about a year before disappearing. Then, when Jack the Ripper began running around London, some in Texas theor......more

Goodreads review by Heather on February 18, 2016

Well-written and researched, this true crime mystery is right up there with the best of Erik Larson. This lesser known crime spree is well deserving of more attention and Skip Hollandsworth does it a great justice. The pacing was spot on and the world was expanded enough so the reader feels that not......more


Quotes

"Narrator Clint Jordan does an outstanding job of keeping this suspenseful real-life thriller going to the last chapter...highly recommended." -Library Journal