Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America’s First Serial Killer
Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Fiendish Killer
Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original “Psycho”
Fatal: The Poisonous Life of a Female Serial Killer
Fiend: The Shocking True Story of America’s Youngest Serial Killer
Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment
The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World’s Most Terrifying Murderers
FICTION
Nevermore
Outcry
The Hum Bug
The Mask of Red Death
Praise for
The Devil’s Gentleman
“Schechter has created satisfying, nuanced portraits of his main characters and set them in a late nineteenth-century New York that fairly throbs with exotic, specific life.”
—The New York Times
“An intriguing read for true-life crime buffs.”
—San Antonio Express-News
“An elegantly written true-crime story, rich in themes and vibrant details. Schechter is an addictive storyteller.”
—Bomb magazine
“Harold Schechter breathes life into the strange and twisted saga of Roland Molineux…letting us taste the mood, lifestyle, customs and moral assumptions of a long gone era…. We can almost feel the chill in the courtroom…. A virtuoso performance.”
—New York Law Journal
“[Schechter’s] lurid tale of murder, jealousy and love also gives insight to the culture of the time period, blending history with vivid storytelling.”
“Thrilling…a riveting tale of murder, seduction and tabloid journalism.”
—Publishers Weekly
2008 Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Edition
Copyright © 2007 by Harold Schechter
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Photograph credits: Prisoners in stripes lined up © Bettmann/Corbis; electric chair at Sing Sing © Underwood & Underwood. Reprinted by permission of Corbis. Photo graphs of General Edward Leslie Molineux and Roland Molineux courtesy of William A. Molineux.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Schechter, Harold.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Molineux, Roland Burnham. 2. Murder—New York (State)—New York. 3. United States—Social conditions—1865–1918. I. Title.
HV6534.N5S34 2007 364.152'3092—dc22 2007019705
www.ballantinebooks.com
eISBN: 978-0-345-50942-0
v3.0