The Midnight Assassin
Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer
Report an issue
Tell us what's wrong and we'll take a look.
Thanks – we got it. We'll review and follow up if needed.
The New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the Texas Institute of Letters's Carr P. Collins Award
One of Book Riot's Best Books of the Year
In nineteenth-century Austin, Texas, a ruthless murderer terrorized the city in what would soon become a story more shocking than any fiction.
In the late 1800s, just as Austin was on the cusp of emerging from an isolated western outpost into a truly cosmopolitan metropolis, a series of brutal murders rocked the burgeoning city and shook it to its core. At the time, the concept of a serial killer was unknown and unimaginable, but the murders continued, the killer became more brazen, and the citizens’ panic reached a fever pitch.
For more than a decade, Texas Monthly journalist Skip Hollandsworth has researched this gripping tale of murder and madness that plays out like a well-crafted whodunit. With vivid historical detail and novelistic flair, Hollandsworth's The Midnight Assassin: The Hunt for America's First Serial Killer brings this terrifying saga to life.
Skip Hollandsworth
Skip Hollandsworth is an award-winning journalist, a screenwriter, and a distinguished writer of Texas Monthly. He has won a National Magazine Award for feature writing, and his 2016 book, The Midnight Assassin, was a New York Times bestseller. He also cowrote the acclaimed screenplay Bernie with director Richard Linklater. The film was based on Hollandsworth’s 1998 Texas Monthly article “Midnight in the Garden of East Texas.” Linklater recently adapted Hollandsworth’s Texas Monthly article “Hit Man” for a 2024 feature with Glen Powell. Hollandsworth lives in Texas, where he and his wife have raised two children.
More by Skip Hollandsworth
Why Readwise Books?
Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →