This was my first audiobook - I got the CDs of the abridged version read by actor Tony Goldwyn. I thought the book was very, very good. The only real flaw was that the connection between the great fair and the mass murderer was not in the end a good one. Holmes killed before the fair, and after the fair, and his killings during the fair were not even at the fair, but rather back at his hotel, albeit of fairgoers. So even the title - the devil "in" the White City, was never precisely correct.
The connection worked fairly well (pun not intended) through the days leading to the fair, but during the fair itself, Holmes' activities were not coming to a crescendo. On the contrary, he continued after the fair, and the great story of his arrest and the discovery of the murders was a lengthy coda after the story of the fair had come to a close. Yes, he was killing people - a lot of them - proximate to the fair's location, but most of his murders (at least the known ones) really had no connection to the fair or to fairgoers. The connection might as logically have been with late 19th century medicine in Chicago. That having been said I enjoyed both stories, and pulled out my book on the World's Columbian Exposition this morning to see what all the fuss had been about. And it was still amazing that such a thing ever took place, especially given the obstacles that Burnham faced in executing it.
I do have to point out that the version I listened to was read by Tony Goldwyn, who was terrific. He was especially able to carry off the sections about Holmes, where he emphasized the seductive character of the man, and the horror of what he was doing. He also convinced me that I need to listen to more audiobooks. Despite having XM stations by by hundreds, plus radio plus CDs and course lectures, I listened spellbound from Marshall to Waco to Austin to Dallas - then immediately plugged in a second of three more I bought in Austin. This is good stuff, Maynard.