“The whole time I was listening to this, I kept asking myself whether it was, in fact, nonfiction. Erik Larson’s ability to spin a true tale will have you saying, “This can’t be a true story.” I’ve since seen that he often includes an author’s note, assuring readers that he’s telling you a true story.”

“One of the most horrific chapters in American history is brought back to the national consciousness with alarming detail in Killers of the Flower Moon. After the Osage Indian Nation strikes oil, its members become rich beyond their wildest dreams, only to encounter a vast and murderous conspiracy that will leave more than 60 members of the nation dead.

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David Grann reconstructs those murders and the subsequent investigations with astonishing care and reveals the depths of a conspiracy that stretched from Oklahoma to Washington, D.C.”

“This true crime story reads like a great murder mystery and will have you hooked from the start. Wonderful research pulls you right into the story, in which readers are introduced to George Remus, a bootlegging lawyer/millionaire during the prohibition Jazz Age, and Mabel Walker Willebrandt, who is given the job of prosecutor because the corrupt U.S.

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Attorney’s office doesn’t think she will pose a threat to their relationship with Remus. Willebrandt will prove them wrong. The tension, greed, and flair of The Ghosts of Eden Park makes this the best nonfiction book of the summer!”

“Cara Robertson’s first book details the events surrounding the infamous murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892. Based entirely on primary sources: trial transcripts, contemporary accounts, and even recently discovered letters from Lizzie herself, The Trial of Lizzie Borden is an in-depth discussion of the circumstances surrounding the incident and Lizzie’s subsequent trial.

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Robertson has poured decades of research into this sensational book, breathing new life into a story that has captivated the American psyche for over a century.”

“So often it seems that people approach events like these wondering how someone could possibly do something so terrible. Jon Krakauer bypasses the ‘how’ and goes immediately for the ‘why.’ With a keen eye for discrepancies and Scott Brick’s intense narration for the audiobook, Krakauer leaves no stone unturned when it comes to detailing what led to the Lafferty murders through historical, social, and familial contexts.

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Under the Banner of Heaven is a severe breakdown of how religious fervor works, how zealotry can build up speed a lot faster than you think it will, and what environments serve to make or break any grassroots religion.”

“Gripping and thrilling, this story dives into the making of a mutinous voyage that inspired adventurers and authors for centuries to follow. Spanning the course of several decades, Grann’s ability to blend handwritten accounts and perspectives of a handful of men in order to paint a complete picture of a historical shipwreck & the ensuing mutiny is unparalleled.

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When circumstances become dire, at what point does the captain’s authority no longer hold water? When does the strength of the empire that upholds law and order begin to weaken? The moral quandaries that are brought to light during such a survival situation come out in full force in this book, and I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in a page-turning account of a tragic non-fiction adventure.”

“An overwhelmingly obsessed Michelle McNamara dissects the decades old trail of tragedy, trauma and ongoing taunts by the elusive East Area Rapist in her investigative crime thriller “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” published posthumously after her unexpected demise.

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Dubbed the “Golden State Killer” by McNamara herself, his crime spree started with 50 unsolved rapes before escalating to numerous murders leaving terrorized California residents tense for ten years. A determined McNamara meticulously researches this reign of terror with such precision it’s sure to pry this perpetrators identity out of obscurity and into justice, a suitable ending for this authors’ life.”

“As much a journey for the writer as it is for the reader, this book solves a murder but leaves us with many unanswered questions. We Keep the Dead Close challenges us to question our assumptions as well as the paths we use to arrive at those assumptions.

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Delving into the academic culture of Harvard, the misogyny of the 1960s, and the burgeoning women’s rights movement, the story follows several threads, all of which have a significant impact on the life of Jane Britton, whose story is told with empathy, compassion, and five decades of curiosity.”

“The facts are that in the summer of 1980, two young women were hitchhiking in Pocahontas County, West Virginia en route to the annual Rainbow Festival. Their murdered bodies were found in a remote clearing on a remote road.

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Over the years, multiple people confessed to the murders. Was it a local as many thought? Or an itinerant mass murderer traveling the country, raging against blacks and others? Eisenberg dives deeply into the case after spending time there years later as a Vista volunteer. This engaging book tells the story of the people of this rural county, the history of the area, and the officials who would not let the case die. It is also Emma’s story: her time with these people, her loves, and her discontent. It is a stirring addition to the Appalachian story.”

“In Cold Blood and To Kill a Mockingbird kept me up reading all night as a teen, and I can now add Furious Hours to the list of couldn’t-put-it-down tomes. I was enthralled, educated, and awestruck by Casey Cep’s well-researched and masterfully written true-crime account of a rural minister, his lawyer, and his killer.

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Thankfully, Cep discovered and brought to light what surely could have been Harper Lee’s second bestseller. Now…off to get a good night’s rest!”

“Say Nothing is a chilling chronicle of The Troubles of Northern Ireland and its aftermath, with special focus on the orchestrated disappearance of civilian mother of ten Jean McConville. Per the author, Patrick Radden Keefe, the book is not a comprehensive history, but as someone who knew virtually nothing about The Troubles going in, I found Say Nothing to be a great place to start.

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I found the account of the Price sisters to be particularly fascinating. This is a compelling story about people standing up for what they believe in, filled with betrayal and deadly consequences. Matthew Blaney’s narration is exquisite.”

“For over a decade Leovy has reported on murder in L.A., especially on the killing of black men (and boys) by black men (and boys) in the south side of the city, and in Ghettoside she does justice to a vast and varied range of characters: victims (often chosen nearly at random), killers (often motivated by revenge), witnesses (often terrified and reluctant), and especially the few dogged homicide detectives who refuse to shrug and let murders go unsolved.

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And from this daily tragedy she builds a compelling conclusion: that black-on-black homicide flourishes because it is not punished; while the law harasses African Americans over pretexts and petty crimes, it declines to protect them from the worst crime of all. It’s a complex, subtly skillful, and necessary book.”

“Iconic, complicated, bad-ass women, we love: Norma Rae, Karen Silkwood, Erin Brokovich, and now Lissa Yellow Bird. My husband and I listened to journalist and author Sierra Crane Murdoch tell the story of Lissa Yellow Bird and her search for justice, as we traveled through the Dakotas, passing by places named in this true crime thriller.

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I can’t imagine a better story for this part of the country. It is a journalistic story about fracking, boom times, corporate greed, tribal politics, intergenerational trauma, family, community, race, oh, and there is a murder and then another. Lissa Yellow Bird, who leads a one-woman search for a missing trucker, is one of the most complex heroines you’ll ever meet. Sierra Crane Murdoch spent eight years researching, interviewing, combing through files, spending time with Lissa and her family, and writing, and it shows in every carefully thought-out chapter.”

“I was there, in the room, jaw agape, with the most successful art thief in history as he did the deed, time and time again. In The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession, author Michael Finkel describes in astounding detail how Stéphane Breitwieser made off with artworks valued in the billions of dollars.

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Finkel’s years of research resulted in a mesmerizing portrait of a young man driven to steal by elusive motivations. An incredible account of a fascinating and infuriating individual.”

“The Feather Thief is true crime at its best — a tale starting with the Amazonian explorations of Darwin-era naturalists, rooted in the eccentric sensibilities of Victorian collectors, fueled by the obscure cult of fly-fishing tying, and culminating with a shocking 2009 British Museum heist by a shy American flautist.

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All of these elements are deftly brought together at a thriller’s pace by author Kirk Johnson, a veteran of the Iraqi reconstruction effort suffering from PTSD, who stumbles across the story while fly-fishing in New Mexico in 2011. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up.”

“Jeffrey Lendrum is a criminal extraordinaire who grew up in South Africa, honing not only his love of birds but his heists—stealing the eggs of rare birds of prey to sell to egg collectors around the world.

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Soon he was selling falcon eggs to Middle Eastern buyers where falcon racing is a multimillion dollar business and one egg can sell for thousands. Detective Andy McWilliam with the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit is determined to stop Lendrum and protect the world’s birds of prey. This true crime story has it all: mystery, adventure, and danger, making for a great read from start to finish.”

“Susannah Cahalan, the bestselling author of Brain on Fire, is back with another riveting true story of madness and the mental health system. In the 1970s, Dr. David Rosenhan convinced seven sane people to join him in committing themselves to mental hospitals as patients and trying to get out on their own.

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What begins as an inspiring and daring story of experimentation darkens and twists as Cahalan closes in on a story shrouded in mystery—who were these seven ‘pseudopatients’ in Rosenhan’s groundbreaking study, and what really happened to them? The Great Pretender is not-to-be-missed narrative nonfiction.”

“Another major hit by Patrick Radden Keefe, one of the best journalists working today. This is the story of the Sackler family—the ones behind Oxycontin, and thus the opiod crisis. The book shows how the family founders went from small pharmaceutical company owners to one of the biggest in the country, to then the harbingers of doom in their flagship drug, Oxycontin.

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It shows how they pushed it to market, encouraged its sales with dodgy tactics, and knowingly ignored its addictive properties to make a profit, driving America into our largest epidemic to date. You likely know some of this story. Trust me, you want the full one.”

“A timely, incredibly important account of the difficulties Farrow faced at NBC while working on the Weinstein expose, which he took to the New Yorker and subsequently won a Pulitzer for. The audiobook is grippingly read by Farrow (though the accents he attempts are… let’s go with ‘confusing’).

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It’s upsetting, sure, but heartening to see the exhaustive research and the very clearly laid-out account of how Farrow had to work against the very powerful high-profile members of the media establishment—including his own bosses—not only because of Weinstein’s well-oiled intimidation machine but also as part of those figures attempting to cover up their own histories of being harassers. Highly recommend this important piece of current events journalism, which reads like a thriller novel.”

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Memorial Hospital became known as the hospital that euthanized patients during the flood. The truth, however, is infinitely more complicated than that, and in this brilliant, completely engrossing book, Sheri Fink tells the whole story from every angle she can. This book sucked me in, didn’t let go, and left me stunned. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”

“This is one of those “I’m changed forever” books and having the author, poet Natasha Trethewey read it makes it reverberate in the soul even more. The writing of this memoir is exquisite and the construction of the prose is perfect. The heartbreak and honesty of the author will stay with me. I can’t wait to hear back from those I’ve recommended it to, they’re in for a special experience.”

“In this riveting memoir, Cheryl (a.k.a. Crystal a.k.a. Harbhajan) recounts her childhood growing up on the run, crisscrossing the globe with her family in order to evade Interpol. Diamond’s childhood set the stage for an extremely dysfunctional adolescence thanks to her charming yet intensely controlling father.

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Not only was the family on the run, they were living by his set of rules and principles that set them even further apart from regular society. Nowhere Girl hit exactly the way I think the best memoirs do: a place that is stranger-than-fiction and incredibly heartfelt. On top of that, Diamond is an excellent writer, evoking a strong sense of place in each setting as well as offering insightful commentary on her emotional state along the journey. Eileen Stevens narrates phenomenally, making it a slam dunk audiobook choice.”

“Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich didn’t set out to investigate murder of six-year-old Jeremy Guillory in Louisiana; it was the case she happened upon as a young law school intern in 1992. In a fascinating twist, this becomes not only the true story of a heinous crime for which the perpetrator is in prison, but also of the investigation that unlocks the author’s memories of her own youth, a childhood in which she and her sisters were repeatedly sexually abused by their maternal grandfather.

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As Marzano-Lesnevich moves backward and forward in time between the young man who killed Jeremy and her own life, the reader is swept along on a current of dismay and awe: dismay that human beings can do these things to each other, and awe that the author could face such demons and move on. I’ve never read another book like this.”