First line: "The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains in western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans called 'out there.'"

Capote's narrative is absolutely fascinating without seeming condescending to the very serious matter at hand. His intensive research into this case fostered a relative compassion for these two killers which transforms this book from a diatribe against murder and "bad people" into a delve into the psychosis of two seemingly normal men and why they murdered a family of four for seemingly illegitimate reasons.