I am reading Dongri to Dubai by S. Hussain Zaidi.
Growing up in Mumbai in the 1980s/90s, I remember reading news stories about the Mumbai gang wars.
This book covers that in great detail and as such qualifies as a genuine history book.
And yet, it reads like a potboiler. It is essentially unputdownable.
10/10
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
I recently read Thunderstruck, also by Larson, and I found it to be much more tense and exciting. I knew nothing about both stories in that book though. I’d read Harold Schecter’s book on Holmes before I read DitWC, so that was likely a factor.
But I recommend Thunderstruck either way.
So much scary shit happened to me when I read that book. It was like HH Holmes’ ghost didn’t want me knowing what he did.
Yes, and also same for In The Garden of Beasts, and Dead Wake. Larson really has a knack for this subgenre.