I am not a nonfiction book reader— this book was phenomenal. A nonfiction book that reads like fiction. I am from NJ and never heard this story and thought this book was fascinating. Very interesting and without a doubt one of the better books I’ve read lately.

On 6 September 1949, twenty-eight-year-old Howard Barton Unruh shot thirteen people in less than twelve minutes on his block in East Camden, New Jersey. The shocking true story of the first recorded mass shooting in America has never been told, until now.

The sky was cloudless that morning when twelve-year-old Raymond Havens left his home on River Road. His grandmother had sent him to get a haircut at the barbershop across the street—where he was about to witness his neighbor and friend Howard open fire on the customers inside.

Told through the eyes of young Raymond, who had visited Howard regularly to listen to his war stories, and the mother trying to piece together the disturbing inner workings of her son’s mind, Murder in the Neighborhood uncovers the chilling true story of Howard Unruh, the quiet loner who meticulously plotted his revenge on the neighbors who shunned him and became one of America’s first mass killers.Ellen J. Green's true crime Murder in the Neighbourhood is narrative non fiction at it's most fascinating. Told through the eye's of Raymond, a young boy, Freda, Howard Unruh's mother.
I had never heard of the case before. Howard Unruh, a young man returned from the Second World to his home town, shot and killed 13 people in fewer minutes.
It's pretty hard reviewing narrative non fiction and memior and to begin with I found this book pretty hard going, reading one chapter a night, finding it all a bit of a chore. However, I think it's testament to the author's research, that soon I needed finish the last 2/3rds in one go!
Very quickly, I needed to know what happened to Raymond, Freda and Howard. It was through her story-telling and the way she wrote about the elements of mystery surrounding the shootings; Raymond's need to talk about what happened and Fred's desire to understand her son's actions that Ellen J Green brought to life. I would thoroughly recommend this book to true crime and mystery readers alike.

This is a True Crime Book that I listened to the audiobook of it. I really enjoyed the first part of this book, but then I just lost interest in it. I listen to over 60% of it before giving up on it. The narrator was good. I just felt the book kept going over the same things. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Murder in the Neighborhood tells the story of Howard Unruh and his spree shooting event in Camden, NJ. It was told mostly from the perspective of a young boy who was present at the time, as well as, Howard's mother.

I was not familiar with this story but am a true crime junkie so I figured that it was worth a shot. I am so glad that I did!

It was told more as a novel then your usual true crime stories and I had to keep reminding myself that this was a true story. The detail that was given by the author and the way that she told the story churned up several different emotions. I actually found myself feeling empathy for the "bad guy," while still being enraged by his actions. It takes a great author to be able to do this. You are also given insight into the internal battle that his mother faced...repulsed by her son's actions yet still loving her son. The damage that was done to so many beyond just the victims is evident throughout as well.

The ending did a nice job of wrapping things up and giving updates on everyone without trying to make everything seem perfect. The tie in to the Parkland shooting was an eerie coincidence that hightened the overall story.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes True Crime or just wants to learn more about this topic.

#murderintheneighborhood #netgalley

I do not know why I did not pick up this read sooner. I think I may have found a new favorite genre as well. This story was tasteful and utilized multiple point of view in a kind and efficient way.

The content is not for the faint of heart if you are triggers by gun violence/bullying/death of children I would not recommend. However, I do feel that all pov told were don'erespectfully and as accurate as possible.

If you are looking for a fast paced true crime set in the United States with less than 400 pages this would be it. I found the writing and the story easy to follow. After all, the story is told through the eyes of a child who was their when the event occurred.

Please keep in mind this is true crime and this author did their best to accurately replicate the incident that occurred through the usage of diaries and crime records.

Murder In The Neighborhood tells the story of the first recorded Mass Shooting in the United States; the unique perspectives offered in this book were quite interesting to view the story from and the reader almost dangerously finds themselves pitying the murderer at points due to his larger story and experiences. It is important to make sure as a reader we read the facts but remember the importance of the victims stories as well. Overall a good read - 3.5/5

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well- this book was fascinating! ⁣
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⁣Murder in the Neighborhood details the events of September 6, 1949 when Howard Barton shot and killed thirteen of his neighbors in East Camden. This event has been called the first mass shooting in America. Ellen J. Green does such a splendid job telling the story that it sounds like a fictionalized, dramatic novel. ⁣
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⁣This book is impeccably researched and told through eyewitness accounts, psychiatric records, police reports, and diary entities. It was heartbreaking and riveting. I felt a lot of emotions for the shooter, victims and eyewitnesses. ⁣
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⁣Overall, I recommend Murder in the Neighborhood. Four stars. ⁣
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⁣Thank you to NetGalley and Thread for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. Murder in the Neighborhood comes out on April 28, 2022.

Very important case to read up on. I just don't like how it was made into more of a novel in this book. Was hoping for more of a telling of the case and not a drama novel.

As you probably know, I am a big fan of true crime. A lot of us are fascinated with stories like the one told in this book.

Diary entries and reports are used to tell the story of one of America’s first mass murders. An interesting case, and the storytelling in Murder in the Neighbourhood is top notch. A compelling page-turner. Highly recommended.


Added to Instagram and Goodreads

#murderintheneighborhood #murderintheneighbourhood #truecrime #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookreview #bookreviewer #netgalley

Ellen J. Green brings this true crime story and tells it in such a way that it seems like a fictional retelling in the best way. Offering perspectives from multiple people involved that day, you get a well rounded view of the confusion and chaos that this event caused, and insight into the shooter's life and how his story came to be.

I will definitely be checking out her other works! Fantastic book.

First things first, I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Thread Books for an honest and fair review.

Now, I wanted to like this one, I really did. Anyone who’s been here for a while knows I’m a true crime addict, and what little I know about Howard Unruh and the “Walk of Death” is fascinating and absolutely terrifying.

Sadly, I feel like this book absolutely dragged. Written like a novel, which isn’t a bad thing by itself, most of the story is told from the perspective of a young neighbor boy who witnessed a part of the crime. While I did enjoy the chapters that followed Unruh’s mother and the trauma of loving your child while being horrified by their actions.

Very rarely do we get any actual information on Unruh himself, and even his victims only get their stories told in one chapter near the end.

While the last chapter was a by far one of the most interesting in the book, it came far too late, and I feel like Green really missed an opportunity to speak about how Unruh’s crimes are “a seed that was pushed deep into the soil of America and become one of our most common methods of everyday crime”. (Quote from the incomparable @drfantasty and the Howard Unruh episode of @lpontheleft)

Of course, I’m not saying you shouldn’t give this one a shot. Every book has and deserves its audience. This one just isn’t for me.

🌟🌟/5

I had heard of this mass shooting before, but not in any depth. Ellen Green has done a fine job of turning the grainy black and white news photos of the incident into a compelling account that brings everyone to life. The story POV alternates between several people, the main one being Raymond, a young man who was present during the slayings. He is conflicted, having had a friendship with Howard Unruh, the killer. The book mainly follows Ray as he attempts to cope with the horror he witnessed, and as he tries to reconcile in his mind Howard, the killer, with Howard, his odd friend.

I liked how the story showed the aftermath of the tragedy - how it hurt and destroyed so many people and perhaps contributed to the decline of the neighborhood as residents moved away. This is a wonderful mix of extensive research and the author's artistic license in narrating the story through the eyes of real people. It captured my interest immediately and held it (pretty hard to do with this ADD reader). I felt like I was there and could vividly imagine the details of life in the 40's through Ms. Green's prose. Additionally, I've seen some graphic photos of the victims, but they were not included here. The selection of the pictures was more focused on the people and the place, which I thought was very respectful to the surviving family members.

Thought provoking and interesting. I hope Ms. Green writes another true crime book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

Book: Murder in the Neighborhood
Author: Ellen J Green

🅢🅤🅜🅜🅐🅡🅨:⁣
Murder in the Neighborhood, is the true story of the first recorded mass shooting in America. On September 6, 1949, in Camden, New Jersey, Howard Unruh shot and killed 13 people in the span of 12 minutes. This book is told from the POV of 12 year old Raymond that had a friendly relationship with Unruh and from the POV of Freida, Unruh’s mom. The book not only tells about the events of that day, but how it affected the people involved, and tries to figure out why it happened in the first place.⁣
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🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦: ⁣
This book read like fiction, and at times I had to remind myself that I was reading about true events. It was obvious that the author, Ellen J Green, did an extensive amount of research for this book. I would recommend to those interested in true crime, and I would encourage those that do read it to read it in it’s entirety, including epilogue. ⁣
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I received an ARC from Thread Books in exchange for an honest review

On Sept. 6, 1949, in the quiet city of Camden, NJ, Howard Unruh slowly and methodically walked down his street and shot shopkeepers he knew and then turned the gun to unknown victims who had been unlucky enough to drive down River Road at the moment that Unruh was shooting up the neighborhood. Not in fit of passion, not in a brawl, just to settle a score with the people he hated.

Little Raymond was a neighbor who knew Howard because he and Raymond's father collected stamps and the father would use his little boy as a liaison to deliver and trade stamps with Howard for a couple of years. In just about 10 minutes Howard Unruh had killed 13 people, 3 of them small children. He precipitated America's first mass-shooting. Ironically, a small child who was the only survivor of his family would one day have a granddaughter who survived a mass-shooting at a high school in Parkland, FL.

I occasionally read memoirs, biographies and nonfiction journalism to gain insight into other people's psyche. Howard Unruh returned home from WW II, having served in the Battle of the Bulge and killed and witnessed the killings of war. He came back a changed man, who could not hold a job or a relationship and lived with his mother. He was an awkward sight around town, always wearing his army boots and carrying a bible under his arm. Children- and worse- adults, would call him names in his hearing: Nancy, weirdo, retard, idiot, pansy. The kids sometimes threw mud at him or taunted him to his face.

Howard would retaliate by blasting his radio, breaking up a neighbor's wood pile and other actions, so the next-door neighbor family denied him and his mother the ability to cross their patio to the main street. Because the Unruh's rental apartment door was in the rear of the building, they now had to walk through high weeds and mud to get out of their house. Unruh and his father, who worked out at sea and never was home enough, decided to build their own gate in the rear fence for easier access. The next night some unknown person or persons tore down the new gate and hid it. Early the next morning, Howard got his Luger out and settled his score against the harassers. 13 were shot and killed.

This story was historical true crime, but it wasn't focused on the killings as much as it was with Howard's story and how the lives of those all around him were changed that day. It describes, in minutiae, how Americans lived in 1949 and the years just before and after it. The sights, the smells, the experiences of living in a city which would seem like a small town to us today. That was the year my parents married, so it was intriguing to find out how people were living back then after the Depression, and after the War.

I would've liked to have seen a few chapters left off and the story compressed because it felt somewhat repetitious in the middle and plodding in spots, but that would be me, not the writing. It's an historical story of the day to day of a city street's families, slow-paced, but informative, and therefore enjoyable for me.

I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to. Perhaps history or sociology buffs, or nonfiction readers in general. Those who like sensational true crimes, look elsewhere.

3.5/5 rounded up to 4/5 for the incredible amount of research that had to be done.

The story outlines the events of a mass shooting that happened on September 6th 1949 in Camden New Jersey by a man named Howard Unruh.

On this fateful day in September Howard had finally had enough and snapped, after years of emotionally being bullied and ridiculed, when he found that his newly placed gate that himself and his father put up just the day before was stolen. It was then that Howard decided to take matters into his own hands. After his mother left their home Howard left home and began killing the people of Camden. He walked calmly through the street killing adults and children alike, sparing a few along the way. By the end of this mass shooting, just a mere twelve minutes later, Howard had taken the lives of thirteen people. Howards then went home where he was then tear gassed and taken into custody. Howard was later declared to be schizophrenic and was sent to an asylum for the criminally insane until his death in 2009.

Going into this book I had no idea what to think as this would be a first true crime novel for me. I felt for Howard due to the mental abuse he endured which led him to this point but also have no sympathy for the acts he committed. This author did a wonderful job at telling the events of this horrific act and will really have you thinking about what some people go through in this world that get them to such a point that things like this happen.

It goes to show that how you treat people truly does matter.

Murder in the Neighborhood-- 4 stars!

What I liked...

- The setting: I worked in Camden, New Jersey for four years and grew up 40 minutes outside of Camden. It was so cool, as the reader, to know exactly where the author was describing. The details about the city (ex: smelling the tomatoes from the Campbell's Soup factory) were cool to read.

- The point of view(s): True Crime novels can take so many avenues in terms of author's voice, point of view, first person vs second person vs third person, etc. Author Ellen Green chose to tell this story through the eyes of two people: Andrew and Freda. Andrew was a boy who witnessed the mass shooting and Freda is the mother of the serial killer. Loved how it was told

-The research: kudos to a well researched book! The tie in to the Parkland shooting was *jaw drop* and impressive to dig up/add into the story

What could have been better...

- I think this book could have been shorter or condensed. Aspect's of Andrew's story line felt repetitive.

Overall, a well researched, jaw dropping true crime account.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thread Books for the advanced reader copy. The anticipated publication date for this book is April 28th. I highly recommend it!

"Murder in the Neighborhood" recounts America's first known mass shooting committed by Howard Unruh.
The non-fiction book follows those impacted by Unruh's crimes – his own mother, a young boy who survived the shooting, etc. It's a beautiful mix of fact illustrated with something more resemblant of literary fiction. Author Ellen J. Green does a tremendous job of making the reader see every side of the situation, including what led Unruh to think he had to kill and how he impacted so many lives.
Overall, a solid true crime read.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Thread Books for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.
4/5

I found this book fascinating. I am a true crime aficionado and this did not disappoint. This book was based on the true story of America’s first mass shooting. The author had access to the shooter’s diaries as well as newly released police reports. It was very well crafted and if you are into true crime I highly recommend this book!

Murder in the neighbourhood tells the story of what is believed to have been America’s first mass shooting, committed by 28 year old, World War Two Veteran Howard Unruh.

This was a true crime book like one I’ve never read before. It reads almost like fiction, told from the point of a view of twelve year old Raymond, a witness to the shooting. This allows the book to have the best of both worlds between fiction and non fiction - it is informative and educational, but you are also able to truly engross yourself into 1949 New Jersey and the community that surrounded Unruh’s infamous ‘walk of death.’

My only criticism is that the perspective and characterisation of Raymond often struggled with reminding you it is a child’s point of view. Naturally I understand the events he saw forced him to grow up fast - but there was little variation in the writing of his character (even in the flashbacks prior to the actual murders) and the adult perspectives of the book.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

On September 6, 1949, the first mass massacre took place in New Jersey. Howard Unruh shot 13 people in less than 12 minutes in his neighborhood. This massacre stunned people countrywide. The story is told from the point of view of Raymond, a 12 year old boy. The book examines the life of Howard and what events may have led to murderous rampage. Many different reasons are explored such as: service in the army, disputes with neighbors, poor relationship with his mother/father, and simply, his personality. This book provides detailed research and insight into Howard’s life prior to the shooting and also after the shooting when he was being treated in psychiatric hospital. This book is very well written and kept my attention throughout. I recommend this true crime novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.