I’ve just finished reading One of Us by Asne Seierstad, chronicling the 2011 terrorist attack that took place in Norway and I was blown away at the quality of the writing and the emotional impact the book made on me. I’ve been able to read a few true crime classics over the years and I’ve come up with some qualifications that help to frame what I think of as all time greats. I call them the three E’s.
Engaging – This mostly comes down to the writing style. Does it draw you in? Is it well paced?
Enlightening – Is there insightful information about the event(s) that teaches you something valuable? How well-researched is the book?
Empathetic – Arguably the most important category. Does the author have genuine empathy for the victims? How is the impact and aftermath of the crime presented?
In my opinion, I’d rank One of Us as an all time great along with Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer and The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer. Honorable mentions would go to I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, The Road to Jonestown and In Cold Blood (influential but lacks accuracy/research). I’m wondering what other true crime/crime nonfiction books you’d recommend and what elements you look for in these kind of books? I look forward to hearing your insights and recommendations!
by kruban-c-stikley
3 Comments
So this is *not* a genre I read very often, but Patrick Radden Keefe’s crime nonfiction is incredible! I started off with his book about the Sackler dynasty (Oxycontin folks), but ended up reading Rogues (about different criminal figures) and The Snakehead (about a Chinese-American gang) and yeah, his style is really thorough and incisive and just gripping.
These are crime books I’ve read and enjoyed:
*The Day Lincoln Was Shot* by Jim Bishop.
*Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln* by Edward Steers Jr.
*Nightriders: Inside Story of The West and Kimbrell Clan* by Richard Briley.
*The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street: Jay Gould, Jim Fisk, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Erie Railway Wars, and the Birth of Wall Street* by John Steele Gordon.
*Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield* by Kenneth D. Ackerman.
*The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country* by Laton McCartney.
*Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI* by David Grann.
*The Man-Leopard Murders: History and Society in Colonial Nigeria* by David Pratten.
*Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK* by Gerald Posner.
*Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders* by Vincent Bugliosi.
*Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* by Gary Webb.
*Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw* by Mark Bowden.
I don’t think it’s been published in book form yet, but the best I’vever read was a two-part long-form article in the Texas Monthly:
https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/the-innocent-man-part-one/
https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/the-innocent-man-part-two/