Best True Crime

From New Yorker staff writer David Grann, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history. In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,” roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. The Amazon Editors' Pick for the Best Book of 2017: In the 1920s, the Osage found themselves in a unique position among Native Americans tribes. As other tribal lands were parceled out in an effort by the government to encourage dissolution and assimilation of both lands and culture, the Osage negotiated to maintain the mineral rights for their corner of Oklahoma, creating a kind of “underground reservation.” It proved a savvy move; soon countless oil rigs punctured the dusty landscape, making the Osage very rich.

SHELF AWARENESS'S BEST BOOK OF 2017. Named a best book of the year by Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, GQ, Time, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly, Time Magazine, NPR's Maureen Corrigan , NPR's "On Point," Vogue , Smithsonian, Cosmopolitan, Seattle Times, Bloomberg, Lit Hub's "Ultimate Best Books ," Library Journal, Paste, Kirkus, Slate.com. and Book Browse From New Yorker staff writer David Grann, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. It has everything, but at scale: Execution-style shootings, poisonings, and exploding houses drove the body count to over two dozen, while private eyes and undercover operatives scoured the territory for clues. Even as legendary and infamous oil barons vied for the most lucrative leases, J. Edgar Hoover’s investigation – which he would leverage to enhance both the prestige and power of his fledgling FBI - began to overtake even the town’s most respected leaders. With the same obsessive attention to fact - in service to storytelling - as The Lost City of Z , Killers of the Flower Moon reads like narrative-nonfiction as written by James M. Cain (there are, after all, insurance policies involved): smart, taut, and pacey.

Erik Larson—author of #1 bestseller In the Garden of Beasts —intertwines the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel. It doesn’t hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction.” — The New York Times. “Another successful exploration of American history. Larson skillfully balances the grisly details with the far-reaching implications of the World’s Fair.” — USA Today. “As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to find.” — San Francisco Chronicle. “Paints a dazzling picture of the Gilded Age and prefigure the American century to come.” — Entertainment Weekly.

Drawing on previously classified CIA documents and on interviews with firsthand participants, The Billion Dollar Spy is a brilliant feat of reporting and a riveting true story of intrigue in the final years of the Cold War. What [Hoffman]’s accomplished here isn’t just a remarkable example of journalistic talent but also an ability to weave an absolutely gripping nonfiction narrative.” — The Dallas Morning News “This riveting drama. packs valuable insights into the final decade of the cloak-and-dagger rivalry between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Human tension hangs over every page of The Billion Dollar Spy like the smell of leaded gasoline. [Hoffman] knows the intelligence world well and has expertly used recently declassified documents to tell this unsettling and suspenseful story. Hoffman is a scrupulous, meticulous writer whose pages of footnotes and references attest to how carefully he sticks to his sources. “Hoffman viscerally evokes the secret, ruthless Cold War battle between the American Central Intelligence Agency and the Soviet KGB in his true-life espionage thriller. An exciting, revealing tale with a courageous, sympathetic protagonist.” — Tampa Bay Times “The fine first sentence of The Billion Dollar Spy could almost have been written with an icicle. A work of painstaking historical research that’s paced like a thriller.” — Departures “Hoffman [proves] that nonfiction can read like a John le Carré thriller. Hoffman’s revealing of [Adolf Tolkachev] as a person and a spy is brilliantly done, making this mesmerizing true story scary and thrilling.” — Booklist (starred review). “Hoffman ably navigates the many strands of this complex espionage story. “A fabulous read that also provides chilling insights into the Cold War spy game between Washington and Moscow that has erupted anew under Vladimir Putin. It is also an evocative portrait of everyday life in the crumbling Soviet Union and a meticulously researched guide to CIA sources and methods. I devoured every word, including the footnotes.” —Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War. This is a breakthrough book in intelligence writing, drawing on CIA operational cables—the holy grail of the spy world—to narrate each astonishing move. Hoffman reveals CIA tradecraft tricks that are more delicious than anything in a spy novel, and his command of the Soviet landscape is masterful. Full of twists so amazing you couldn’t make them up, this is spy fact that really is better than fiction.” —David Ignatius, author of The Director. It is a gripping story of courage, professionalism, and betrayal in the secret world.” —Rodric Braithwaite, British Ambassador in Moscow, 1988-1992. “A scrupulously researched work of history that is also a gripping thriller, The Billion Dollar Spy by David E. Hoffman is an unforgettable journey into Cold War espionage. This spellbinding story pulses with the dramatic tension of running an agent in Soviet-era Moscow—where the KGB is ubiquitous and CIA officers and Russian assets are prey.

Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path.

From New Yorker staff writer David Grann, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history. In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,” roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. The Amazon Editors' Pick for the Best Book of 2017: In the 1920s, the Osage found themselves in a unique position among Native Americans tribes. As other tribal lands were parceled out in an effort by the government to encourage dissolution and assimilation of both lands and culture, the Osage negotiated to maintain the mineral rights for their corner of Oklahoma, creating a kind of “underground reservation.” It proved a savvy move; soon countless oil rigs punctured the dusty landscape, making the Osage very rich.

From a small town in Mexico to the boardrooms of Big Pharma, an explosive and shocking account of addiction and black tar heroin in the heartland of America. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America--addiction like no other the country has ever faced. “Over the last 15 years, he has filed the best dispatches about Mexican migration and its effects on the United States and Mexico, bar none.” ― Los Angeles Times Book Review. “Journalist Quinones weaves an extraordinary story, including the personal journeys of the addicted, the drug traffickers, law enforcement, and scores of families affected by the scourge, as he details the social, economic, and political forces that eventually destroyed communities in the American heartland and continues to have a resounding impact.” ―starred review, Booklist. “In Dreamland , former Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Quinones deftly recounts how a flood of prescription pain meds, along with black tar heroin from Nayarit, Mexico, transformed the once-vital blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, and other American communities into heartlands of addiction. With prose direct yet empathic, he interweaves the stories of Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics agents, and small-town folks whose lives were upended by the deluge of drugs, leaving them shaking their heads, wondering how they could possibly have resisted.” ― Mother Jones. “Smack is back in the news as heroin use spikes and busts pile up at the border, making Dreamland a timely book. But he also goes way deeper; he tells the social and human stories at the heart of the opiate trade and how it tortures the souls of America and Mexico.” ―Ioan Grillo, author of EL NARCO. “ Dreamland spreads out like a transnational episode of The Wire , alternately maddening, thrilling, depressing, and with writing as sharp and insightful as a razor blade. Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic is an intricate jigsaw puzzle piecing together his findings from intensive investigation of the unprecedented spread of heroin addiction throughout the United States over the past two decades . Dreamland stands as a model of meticulous investigative reporting providing important insights not only the current opiate epidemic but also into the sometimes negative symbiosis between our country and our neighbors to the south.” ― New York Journal of Books. "The path of heroin from America’s urban slums to its trim suburban subdivisions is traced by a Los Angeles Times reporter. Quinones’ deeply researched and readable book says well-heeled addicts got hooked first on pain-killing medications like OxyContin--but then switched to much cheaper Mexican heroin, feeding a problem across the nation." Using expert storytelling and exhaustive detail, Quinones chronicles the perfect storm of circumstances that cleared the way for the Mexican narcotic to infiltrate our small and midsize communities over the last two decades.” ― Kansas City Star. "You won’t find this story told better anywhere else, from the economic hollowing-out of the middle class to the greedy and reckless marketing of pharmaceutical opiates to the remarkable entrepreneurial industry of the residents of the obscure Mexican state of Nayarit . Quinones combines thorough research with superlative narrative skills to produce a horrifying but compulsively readable book about opiate addiction . Spanning the central U.S. and crossing the Mexican border, Dreamland adroitly unsnarls the tangled business that feeds a growing lust for chemical euphoria and relief.” ― Shelf Awareness. "[A] powerful investigation into the explosion of heroin abuse in suburban America that combines skillful reporting and strong research with a superb narrative."

Erik Larson—author of #1 bestseller In the Garden of Beasts —intertwines the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel. It doesn’t hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction.” — The New York Times. “Another successful exploration of American history. Larson skillfully balances the grisly details with the far-reaching implications of the World’s Fair.” — USA Today. “As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to find.” — San Francisco Chronicle. “Paints a dazzling picture of the Gilded Age and prefigure the American century to come.” — Entertainment Weekly.

A tragic suicide, a likely murder, wrongful imprisonment, and gripping courtroom scenes draw readers into this compelling story giving them a frightening perspective on justice corrupted and who should be accountable when evidence is withheld. The takeaway is that both Bushies and Obamaites should be very afraid: over the last few years, a coterie of vicious and unethical prosecutors who are unfit to practice law has been harbored within and enabled by the now ironically named Department of Justice.''. ''When you ve finished reading this fast-paced thriller, you will want to stand up and applaud Powell's courage in daring to shine light into the darkest recesses of America's justice system. ''I have covered hundreds of court cases over the years and have witnessed far too often the kind of duplicity and governmental heavy-handedness Ms. Powell describes in her well-written book, Licensed to Lie.''.

Whether your relationship is flourishing or failing, Dr. Gary Chapman’s proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your partner—starting today. Updated to reflect the complexities of relationships today, this new edition reveals intrinsic truths and applies relevant, actionable wisdom in ways that work. GARY CHAPMAN --author, speaker, counselor--has a passion for people and for helping them form lasting relationships.

When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author— Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand. Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award “Extraordinarily moving . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.” — People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.” —The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.” —The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.” —The Dallas Morning News “An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.” — Entertainment Weekly “A tale of triumph and redemption . nothing less than a marvel.” — Washingtonian “[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.” —Time “Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2010 : From Laura Hillenbrand, the bestselling author of Seabiscuit , comes Unbroken , the inspiring true story of a man who lived through a series of catastrophes almost too incredible to be believed. Growing up in California in the 1920s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything edible that he could carry, staging elaborate pranks, getting in fistfights, and bedeviling the local police. But as a teenager, he emerged as one of the greatest runners America had ever seen, competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he put on a sensational performance, crossed paths with Hitler, and stole a German flag right off the Reich Chancellery. Stationed on Oahu, he survived harrowing combat, including an epic air battle that ended when his plane crash-landed, some six hundred holes in its fuselage and half the crew seriously wounded. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. I found it in diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs; in the memories of his family and friends, fellow Olympians, former American airmen and Japanese veterans; in forgotten papers in archives as far-flung as Oslo and Canberra.

ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee pulls back the curtain on her life in Natural Disaster. She first fell in love with weather while watching storms over Lake Michigan, later deciding to be a meteorologist and pursuing her goal with intense drive.

Both man and dog were heartbroken and lacking trust, but together, they learned how to share a space, how to socialize, and most of all, how to overcome their bad experiences. At the same time, Colin relived childhood memories of his beloved grandfather, a decorated war hero and a man who gave him hope when he needed it most. Meanwhile, Colin headed to the beach to rekindle his love for surfing, but when George encountered the ocean and a surfboard for the first time, he did a surprising thing--he jumped right on the board. Free Days with George is an uplifting, inspirational story about the healing power of animals, and about leaving the past behind to embrace love, hope and happiness. COLIN CAMPBELL has worked as a marketing executive in both the United States and Canada for the past twenty-four years.

Relive the extraordinary Presidency of Barack Obama through White House photographer Pete Souza's behind-the-scenes images and stories in this #1 New York Times bestseller--with a foreword from the President himself. During Barack Obama's two terms, Pete Souza was with the President during more crucial moments than anyone else--and he photographed them all. "The book, which distills the 1.9 million photographs that Souza took of Obama's eight years in the White House down to about 300 images, it as once warm and nostalgic, worshipful and respectful, sad and wistful-in a sense, not so different from the framed JFK portraits that everyday Americans hung in living rooms, right through the Nixon administration. "Here are the qualities that radiate from these photos of the former President and his family, all taken by Souza during his eight years as official White House photographer: intelligence, kindness, warmth, integrity. "Souza, chief official White House photographer for Obama's two terms, was on hand for history--documenting our first black president, and a pretty photogenic one at that. Souza's book, an instant best seller, includes many iconic images we've seen before, but its most poignant moments are the least public--like one of the president and his daughters frolicking in the snow at the White House. "The 300 photographs in the book are a remarkable account of President Obama's eight years in the White House, from events of historic significance to quiet moments with his wife and daughters and the family dogs.

Whether your relationship is flourishing or failing, Dr. Gary Chapman’s proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your partner—starting today. Updated to reflect the complexities of relationships today, this new edition reveals intrinsic truths and applies relevant, actionable wisdom in ways that work. GARY CHAPMAN --author, speaker, counselor--has a passion for people and for helping them form lasting relationships.

Whether your relationship is flourishing or failing, Dr. Gary Chapman’s proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your partner—starting today. Updated to reflect the complexities of relationships today, this new edition reveals intrinsic truths and applies relevant, actionable wisdom in ways that work. GARY CHAPMAN --author, speaker, counselor--has a passion for people and for helping them form lasting relationships.

A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery. An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana . Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, this true story also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love. An MBA graduate of Texas Christian University, he divides his time between Dallas, New York, and his Brazos River ranch near Fort Worth.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both. And part comes from the way he conveys what happened to him—passionately working and striving, deferring gratification, waiting to live, learning to die—so well.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times. The book brims with insightful reflections on mortality that are especially poignant coming from a trained physician familiar with what lies ahead.” — The Boston Globe. As he wrote to a friend: ‘It’s just tragic enough and just imaginable enough.’ And just important enough to be unmissable.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, written as he faced a terminal cancer diagnosis, is inherently sad. It is, despite its grim undertone, accidentally inspiring.” — The Washington Post “Paul Kalanithi’s posthumous memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, possesses the gravity and wisdom of an ancient Greek tragedy. [Kalanithi] is so likeable, so relatable, and so humble, that you become immersed in his world and forget where it’s all heading.” — USA Today “It’s [Kalanithi’s] unsentimental approach that makes When Breath Becomes Air so original—and so devastating. “Rattling, heartbreaking, and ultimately beautiful, the too-young Dr. Kalanithi’s memoir is proof that the dying are the ones who have the most to teach us about life.” —Atul Gawande “Thanks to When Breath Becomes Air, those of us who never met Paul Kalanithi will both mourn his death and benefit from his life. Kalanithi strives to define his dual role as physician and patient, and he weighs in on such topics as what makes life meaningful and how one determines what is most important when little time is left. This deeply moving memoir reveals how much can be achieved through service and gratitude when a life is courageously and resiliently lived.” — Publishers Weekly “A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity . Kalanithi describes, clearly and simply, and entirely without self-pity, his journey from innocent medical student to professionally detached and all-powerful neurosurgeon to helpless patient, dying from cancer. Every doctor should read this book—written by a member of our own tribe, it helps us understand and overcome the barriers we all erect between ourselves and our patients as soon as we are out of medical school.” —Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery “A tremendous book, crackling with life, animated by wonder and by the question of how we should live. Paul Kalanithi lived and died in the pursuit of excellence, and by this testimonial, he achieved it.” —Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being.

In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century. The New York Times Book Review A thoroughly researched, crisply written, convincingly argued chronicle.

Relive the extraordinary Presidency of Barack Obama through White House photographer Pete Souza's behind-the-scenes images and stories in this #1 New York Times bestseller--with a foreword from the President himself. During Barack Obama's two terms, Pete Souza was with the President during more crucial moments than anyone else--and he photographed them all. "The book, which distills the 1.9 million photographs that Souza took of Obama's eight years in the White House down to about 300 images, it as once warm and nostalgic, worshipful and respectful, sad and wistful-in a sense, not so different from the framed JFK portraits that everyday Americans hung in living rooms, right through the Nixon administration. "Here are the qualities that radiate from these photos of the former President and his family, all taken by Souza during his eight years as official White House photographer: intelligence, kindness, warmth, integrity. "Souza, chief official White House photographer for Obama's two terms, was on hand for history--documenting our first black president, and a pretty photogenic one at that. Souza's book, an instant best seller, includes many iconic images we've seen before, but its most poignant moments are the least public--like one of the president and his daughters frolicking in the snow at the White House. "The 300 photographs in the book are a remarkable account of President Obama's eight years in the White House, from events of historic significance to quiet moments with his wife and daughters and the family dogs.

Relive the extraordinary Presidency of Barack Obama through White House photographer Pete Souza's behind-the-scenes images and stories in this #1 New York Times bestseller--with a foreword from the President himself. During Barack Obama's two terms, Pete Souza was with the President during more crucial moments than anyone else--and he photographed them all. "The book, which distills the 1.9 million photographs that Souza took of Obama's eight years in the White House down to about 300 images, it as once warm and nostalgic, worshipful and respectful, sad and wistful-in a sense, not so different from the framed JFK portraits that everyday Americans hung in living rooms, right through the Nixon administration. "Here are the qualities that radiate from these photos of the former President and his family, all taken by Souza during his eight years as official White House photographer: intelligence, kindness, warmth, integrity. "Souza, chief official White House photographer for Obama's two terms, was on hand for history--documenting our first black president, and a pretty photogenic one at that. Souza's book, an instant best seller, includes many iconic images we've seen before, but its most poignant moments are the least public--like one of the president and his daughters frolicking in the snow at the White House. "The 300 photographs in the book are a remarkable account of President Obama's eight years in the White House, from events of historic significance to quiet moments with his wife and daughters and the family dogs.