The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

What a fascinating story. I had no clue what an impact the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago had on America. The amount and scale of work that they accomplished is really amazing. I don't want to give away too much, so I won't because it really is a great story. The quick synopsis is this is the story of how the World's Columbian Fair came to be layered with a story of a serial killer who targeted young women looking for excitement and adventure in the big city. It's non-fiction but written so well that you think it is actually not true. Read it. It's great!

Here's what amazon.com had to say:
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing.