Chilling and Informative Book

Where does Chicago Death Trap rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is a chilling tail. All based on fact. I own the physical copy of this book. Hearing it read seams to bring the chilling piece of Chicago story to life. Its right up there next to the Woman In Back.

What other book might you compare Chicago Death Trap to, and why?

Its hard to think of another book that goes into such detail about Chicago and it' s theatre history. I would say that the book compares to 'The Tinder Box' By Anthony P. Hatch. It is regarding the same subject. However, this book goes into more detail and holds the reader in suspense. Also a big plus its on Audible

Which character – as performed by Gary Regal – was your favourite?

There are no characters in this book of historical depiction that I would say is my favourite.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book is extremely informative and sad. It depicts the greatest Theatre disaster in american history ' The Iroquois Theatre built in 1902 - 1903 Chicago. The book goes into a lot of detail regarding the events surrounding the theatre and disaster. It also goes into detail about the social formalities of the city. overall the book will drive you to a tear or two.

Any additional comments?

Overall the book is very informative. It targets a specific audience, theatre technicians, history buffs etc. I do like the book and after extensive background work on the Iroquois Theatre Disaster for University my only wish would be that the audio version was available when I had to work through the mounds of reports.

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Fascinating topic, poorly executed

What did you like best about Chicago Death Trap? What did you like least?

This book covers the historical detail well. It starts by setting the scene at the turn of the century Chicago in terms of the city and the people in general. It describes the building of the theatre, the disaster itself and the after effects including trying to find someone to blame. The start of each chapter details a piece of fire code (regulation) in operation at the time. However, there is a real lack of personal and emotional depth to the writing.

What other book might you compare Chicago Death Trap to, and why?

The subject matter makes obvious comparisons with Stewart O'Nan's book about the big circus fire and Paul Benzaquin's 'Holocaust' about the nightclub fire at Cocoanut Grove in Boston. However what these other books do makes them far superior in my opinion. They focus on the people in the disaster. We learn about who they are, what led them to be involved in the disaster and what happened afterwards. These authors take time to make the reader care about characters whereas in The Iroquios Fire we are given lots of history and fire regulations, but very little personal detail. The sections about the horrific fire are done well and are emotional in places, but this is too brief. The disaster takes only about 2 hours of the 7.5 hours listening time.

How could the performance have been better?

It must be difficult to narrate such a horrific true story and the Narrator keeps a serious tone throughout. However this made it terribly dull to listen to. He also pauses at odd places sometimes and it sounds like he is reading to the end of line in a book and taking a pause, regardless of punctuation.

Any additional comments?

Overall this is worthwhile because it is true, it is history and we can realise how lucky we are today to be protected by rules and regulations that care for our safety. I didn't know anything about this disaster and so found it very educational, however it is a dull listen. I also felt that a more personal and human story could have been crafted from historical sources.

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