Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (Unabridged)
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4.2 • 1.8K Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
"Disturbing and riveting...It will sear your soul." —Dave Eggers, New York Times Book Review
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.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. Her relatives were shot and poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances.
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. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
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. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling, but also emotionally devastating.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In the 1920s, prominent members of Oklahoma’s Osage Nation began dying under ugly circumstances, giving J. Edgar Hoover’s newly formed FBI one of its first major challenges: finding the killers. The audio version of David Grann’s shocking history of money, racism, and murder builds on the book’s three-part structure by using an all-star trio of narrators to read each section of the story. Voice actress Ann Marie Lee exposes the social tensions that led to the violent murders, while Will Patton—who’s read books by heavy hitters like James Lee Burke and Stephen King—adopts a hardboiled persona to detail the FBI’s tense investigation. Finally, veteran Western and history narrator Danny Campbell reveals shocking facts about the case that came to light in ensuing decades. The readers’ distinct voices helped us grasp the different aspects of this complex and troubling story. Killers of the Flower Moon is one of the best true-crime books of recent times—but it’s an even better listen.
Customer Reviews
Opt for the book rather than the audio version.
If you're multitasking like me, listening to this required focused attention due to the intricate details and fascinating history.
Narration is Bad
I am an avid audiobook listener, and in listening to the preview, the narrator of this book is atrocious. Getting a great narrator is such an integral part of a successful audiobook. Thus, I will not be ordering the audiobook… and drive right into the movie. 🍿
Narrator is lacking
Should first say this review is largely about the narration and not the writing. It was hard to get past how bad the first narrator was to appreciate the story. If there is such a thing as “bad casting” in the book narrating world, this is a prime example. To be specific, it’s like listening to your great aunt talk about murder and rape. Jury is still out if I will be able to push through.