
For the Thrill of It
Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $34.94
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kevin T. Collins
-
By:
-
Simon Baatz
About this listen
It was a crime that shocked the nation: the brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were intellectuals - too smart, they believed, for the police to catch them. When they were apprehended, state's attorney Robert Crowe was certain that no defense could save the ruthless killers from the gallows. But the families of the confessed murderers hired Clarence Darrow, entrusting the lives of their sons to the most famous lawyer in America in what would be one of the most sensational criminal trials in the history of American justice.
Set against the backdrop of the 1920s - a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess in a lawless city on the brink of anarchy - For the Thrill of It draws the listener into a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, with a spellbinding narrative of Jazz Age murder and mystery.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©2008 Simon Baatz (P)2017 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Nothing but the Night
- Leopold & Loeb and the Truth Behind the Murder That Rocked 1920s America
- By: Greg King, Penny Wilson
- Narrated by: Armando Riesco
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly a hundred years ago, two wealthy and privileged teenagers—Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb—were charged and convicted in a gruesome crime that would lead to the original “Trial of the Century”. Even in Jazz Age Chicago, the murder was uniquely shocking for the motive of the killers: well-to-do Jewish scions, full of promise, had killed fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks for the thrill of it. The trial was made even more sensational by the revelation of a love affair between the defendants and by defense attorney Clarence Darrow.
-
-
Terrible crime, fascinating story
- By Samantha TBD on 10-01-22
By: Greg King, and others
-
Deviant
- The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho"
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From "America's principal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers" ( Boston Book Review) comes the definitive account of Ed Gein, a mild-mannered Wisconsin farmhand who stunned an unsuspecting nation - and redefined the meaning of the word psycho.
-
-
Has its Moments but Overly Salacious
- By Adam on 08-26-16
By: Harold Schechter
-
Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
-
-
The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
-
-
Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
-
The Girl on the Velvet Swing
- Sex, Murder, and Madness at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century
- By: Simon Baatz
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1901 Evelyn Nesbit, a chorus girl, dined alone with the architect Stanford White in his townhouse on 24th Street in New York. Nesbit, just 16 years old, had recently moved to the city. White was 47. As the foremost architect of his day, he was a celebrity. She told no one that White raped her that night until, several years later, she confided in Harry Thaw, the millionaire playboy who would later become her husband. Thaw, thirsting for revenge, shot and killed White in 1906 before hundreds of theatergoers during a performance in Madison Square Garden.
-
-
"The Girl" is barely in this book
- By Polly L. Mccall on 07-12-18
By: Simon Baatz
-
The Five
- The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
- By: Hallie Rubenhold
- Narrated by: Louise Brealey
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women. For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that "the Ripper" preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, but it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told.
-
-
Everyone needs to read/listen to this book
- By AAHickman on 12-05-19
By: Hallie Rubenhold
-
Nothing but the Night
- Leopold & Loeb and the Truth Behind the Murder That Rocked 1920s America
- By: Greg King, Penny Wilson
- Narrated by: Armando Riesco
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly a hundred years ago, two wealthy and privileged teenagers—Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb—were charged and convicted in a gruesome crime that would lead to the original “Trial of the Century”. Even in Jazz Age Chicago, the murder was uniquely shocking for the motive of the killers: well-to-do Jewish scions, full of promise, had killed fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks for the thrill of it. The trial was made even more sensational by the revelation of a love affair between the defendants and by defense attorney Clarence Darrow.
-
-
Terrible crime, fascinating story
- By Samantha TBD on 10-01-22
By: Greg King, and others
-
Deviant
- The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho"
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From "America's principal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers" ( Boston Book Review) comes the definitive account of Ed Gein, a mild-mannered Wisconsin farmhand who stunned an unsuspecting nation - and redefined the meaning of the word psycho.
-
-
Has its Moments but Overly Salacious
- By Adam on 08-26-16
By: Harold Schechter
-
Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
-
-
The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
-
-
Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
-
The Girl on the Velvet Swing
- Sex, Murder, and Madness at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century
- By: Simon Baatz
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1901 Evelyn Nesbit, a chorus girl, dined alone with the architect Stanford White in his townhouse on 24th Street in New York. Nesbit, just 16 years old, had recently moved to the city. White was 47. As the foremost architect of his day, he was a celebrity. She told no one that White raped her that night until, several years later, she confided in Harry Thaw, the millionaire playboy who would later become her husband. Thaw, thirsting for revenge, shot and killed White in 1906 before hundreds of theatergoers during a performance in Madison Square Garden.
-
-
"The Girl" is barely in this book
- By Polly L. Mccall on 07-12-18
By: Simon Baatz
-
The Five
- The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
- By: Hallie Rubenhold
- Narrated by: Louise Brealey
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women. For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that "the Ripper" preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, but it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told.
-
-
Everyone needs to read/listen to this book
- By AAHickman on 12-05-19
By: Hallie Rubenhold
-
The Guns of August
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Mike From Mesa on 10-28-08
-
The Haunting of Hill House
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the adventurous future heir of Hill House.
-
-
Well written horror tale
- By C K White on 02-11-14
By: Shirley Jackson
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
-
Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
-
H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Omnibus Collection, Volume I: 1917-1926
- By: H. P. Lovecraft, Finn J.D. John
- Narrated by: Finn J.D. John
- Length: 23 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is volume one of a two-volume omnibus set comprising the complete fictional works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Every story written for publication under his own name is included in this set, from 1917 through 1935. (Poems, ghostwritten material, and stories written in collaboration with other writers are not included.)
-
-
I really enjoyed this collection
- By J.J. on 09-26-16
By: H. P. Lovecraft, and others
-
Reasonable Doubts
- The O.J. Simpson Case and the Criminal Justice System
- By: Alan M. Dershowitz
- Narrated by: Alan M. Dershowitz
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alan Dershowitz, one of the foremost legal thinkers of our time, explores a series of questions raised by the most-watched criminal trial in American history. Through this brilliant, eye-opening account of the O.J. Simpson case, he exposes the realities of the criminal justice system of this country.
Here, Professor Dershowitz examines the issues and social forces -- media, money, gender, and race -- that shape the criminal justice system in America today.
-
-
Waste of time and money
- By Jerry on 08-24-11
-
Devil in the Grove
- Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
- By: Gilbert King
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the US Supreme Court when he became embroiled in a case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and to cost him his life. In 1949, Florida's orange industry was booming, and citrus barons got rich on the backs of cheap Jim Crow labor with the help of Sheriff Willis V. McCall, who ruled Lake County with murderous resolve....
-
-
the fight for civil rights
- By Jean on 01-17-14
By: Gilbert King
-
Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
-
-
Everything I remembered about the case was wrong..
- By karen on 06-22-12
By: Vincent Bugliosi, and others
-
Thunderstruck
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Bob Balaban
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men: Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication. Their lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.
-
-
Reader cannot read
- By Bob on 12-08-07
By: Erik Larson
-
The Last Child
- By: John Hart
- Narrated by: Scott Sowers
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: happy parents and a twin sister that meant the world to him. But Alyssa went missing a year ago, stolen off the side of a lonely street with only one witness to the crime. His family shattered, his sister presumed dead, Johnny risks everything to explore the dark side of his hometown in a last, desperate search.
-
-
Stick With It!
- By Christine on 10-19-09
By: John Hart
-
Special Circumstances
- Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez Legal Thriller, Book 1
- By: Sheldon Siegel
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Mike Daley. Ex-priest. Ex-public defender. And as of yesterday, ex-partner in one of San Francisco's most prominent law firms. Today he's out on his own, setting up practice on the wrong side of town. Then his best friend and former colleague is charged with a brutal double murder, and Daley is instantly catapulted into a high-profile investigation involving the prestigious law firm that just booted him. As he prepares his case, Daley uncovers the firm's dirtiest secrets.
-
-
Narrator RUINS This Book
- By MattMerr on 11-07-17
By: Sheldon Siegel
-
The Girls in the Snow
- Nikki Hunt, Book 1
- By: Stacy Green
- Narrated by: Kate Handford
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the remote forests of Stillwater, Minnesota, you can scream for days and no one will hear you. So when the bodies of two 15-year-old girls are discovered frozen in the snow, Special Agent Nikki Hunt is sure the killer is local: Someone knew where to hide the girls and thought they would never be found. Though Nikki hasn’t been home in 20 years, she knows she must take over the case.
-
-
Everything was just...bad
- By Theotokos on 03-27-21
By: Stacy Green
-
Five Families
- The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
- By: Selwyn Raab
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 33 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits.
-
-
7326451
- By Mark on 10-13-16
By: Selwyn Raab
What listeners say about For the Thrill of It
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pam H.
- 02-26-21
Lot of unnecessary filler
More background and irrelevant information on participants than on crime and criminals themselves. Very boring.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P'an
- 08-27-20
Great book, awful narrator
It's so hard to choose a Worst Audiobook Reader Ever award recipient, because there are seemingly infinite ways to be terrible at it. This guy, though..... this guy's special. I'm actually really worried about him. Does anyone know if he's ok? There's no way this.... um... performance(?) didn't injure him seriously. And there's no way he could digest all the scenery he chewed. There's a very distressing combination of over-enunciating AND over-salivating. I don't even enjoy this much spit-sucking in porn. One does feel one needs an umbrella. Really though, is he alright? It sounds like he's horribly straining every part of himself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer AMS
- 08-06-19
Read by a robot
This thing sounded like it was unedited text to speech. Avoid. Not worth the money.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joseph T. Hobson
- 05-20-22
Too Much Detail
The deranged aren’t worth a twenty hour. Netflix is brimming with all this type of sociopathy porn It is uninteresting and insignificant.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Polly L. Mccall
- 05-04-19
Awful narration
I almost stopped and returned this one - only powered through to hear the story.
The narration is unnaturally precise and overly dramatic. Just awful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marty
- 05-21-18
Very interesting
This book is interesting. I live in Illinois so I was very interested. This book does not go into depth of the reason for the depravity, just touched on it. It was very much about the trial and I found that interesting.
It really proves that then, as now, the rich are favored in the American judicial system. Not much had changed but then, I’m not sure how it could be.
If you have never heard this story before, I highly recommend it. It’s you are familiar with it, it holds little new but is still a good listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex Rowe
- 03-25-21
A different look into all involved
I found this book to be completely different from how
I suspected it would turn out. I like towel in explaining the attorneys and prosecutors they gave histories of the two and how they wound up prosecuting or descending the two accused. This case is 97 years old, and the judicial system has changed drastically since but you can still see a base of where everything started from and may find that very interesting on top of the details of the case. There are about a dozen other cases mentioned throughout that are used as examples.Without droning on for too long. I highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sunmist and sky
- 11-01-21
Please have this novel RE NARRATED!
Okay, I could barely get through the first chapter before I had to jump to the end and write this review. I cannot listen to this book with this fellow reading it as if it is a Shakespeare play or something!? Maybe that isn’t quite the right assessment but whoever the gentleman is narrating,he has got it all wrong. To bad, because I wanted to get settled and thought this would be a great thought provoking reading. Oh well, on to the next story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sue Smith
- 07-08-20
Listen at 30% faster speed
Intriguing tale that risks being ruined by poor narrator, but I enjoyed the whole book anyway by increasing speed by 30%.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- chaoticmuse
- 04-01-21
Narrators can make or break a book
This was a deep dive into the case of Leopold and Loeb with lots of interesting details that made it worth suffering through the unfortunate narration. If you speed him up it's bearable but the producers should have realized early on that he needed to be calmed down, slurping inhalations needed to be stopped and mispronunciations of local place names needed to be corrected. If I were the author I would be upset to have a good book damaged by bad narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful