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Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood is chilling. More frightening, however, is that it is based on a true story: an actual happening in the real-life town of Holcomb, Kansas. The protagonists of the story, the Clutter family, face an awful destiny to be fulfilled at the end of the first part of the novel, but what short time they actually spend alive, they make up for with their intriguing personalities and stories. The family is introduced to us as Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy and Kenyon. Herbert is the father. He is a hard worker, and is a wealthy businessman thanks to his farm, the River Valley Farm. He is a stern, strict and disciplined man who is well respected in the community. Bonnie is the mother. Her illness had kept her in bed since before the novel begins. Nancy is their eldest daughter who is still living with them. She is what someone would call the "perfect" girl: she is popular, outgoing and smart.