Tremors in the Blood
Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector
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Tremors in the Blood
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Narrated by:
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Matt Reeves
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By:
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Amit Katwala
About this listen
Nominated for the CWA Dagger Award 2023
‘A wonderful book’ - Guardian
Truth, murder and the birth of the lie detector
Henry Wilkens burst through the doors of the emergency room covered in his wife’s blood. But was he a grieving husband, or a ruthless killer who’d conspired with bandits to have her murdered?
To find out, the San Francisco police turned to technology, and a new machine that had just been invented in Berkeley by a rookie detective, a visionary police chief, and a teenage magician with a showman’s touch.
John Larson, Gus Vollmer and Leonarde Keeler hoped the lie detector would make the justice system fairer – but the flawed device soon grew too powerful for them to control. It poisoned their lives, turned fast friends into bitter enemies, and as it conquered America and the world, it transformed our relationship with the truth in ways that are still being felt.
As new forms of lie detection gain momentum in the present day, Tremors in the Blood reveals the incredible truth behind the creation of the polygraph, through gripping true crime cases featuring explosive gunfights, shocking twists and high-stakes courtroom drama.
Touching on psychology, technology and the science of the truth, Tremors in the Blood is a vibrant, atmospheric thriller, and a warning from history: be careful what you believe.
©2022 Amit Katwala (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedCritic Reviews
"Katwala manages to bring history alive in this riveting delve back into the archives, placing you right at the heart of one of the most consequential – and controversial – inventions in criminal history." (Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom and YouTubers)
"A gripping, forensically detailed account that reads more like a mystery than history." (Angela Saini, author of Superior and Inferior)
What listeners say about Tremors in the Blood
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 29-06-2022
Well researched but overall disappointing
The author had clearly done a lot of research, but didn’t seem to know how to use it. The history of the polygraph and the Berkeley police department is quite interesting but the book spends far too much time describing every detail of criminal cases which are only tangentially related and could have been briefly mentioned. There are also quite a few moments where information is presented uncritically, or where the author makes it clear that a story was debunked, but then tells it anyway.
The conclusions the author draws also don’t seem particularly supported by the information presented- e.g. a key point in the book is that the polygraph ended up ruining the lives of its creators, but it only seemed like a small factor and it’s not really explained how this was the case.
The narrator’s use of slightly dubious accents for the characters also didn’t help.
I did finish the book but wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have a special interest in the topic.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-12-2022
Neither entertaining fiction nor illuminating history
A mix of descriptive crime-noir and historical account, this book is not very satisfying on either level. The crime stories are turgid and the history superficial. Don’t bother!
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