The Case of the Vanishing Blonde
And Other True Crime Stories
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4.2 • 50 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The #1 New York Times–bestselling "master of narrative journalism" and author of Black Hawk Down presents a compelling collection of true crime stories (The New York Times).
Acclaimed investigative reporter Mark Bowden has ferreted out unbelievable-yet-true stories of wrongdoing, murder and mayhem for decades. His illustrious body of work has won him a lifetime achievement award from the International Thriller Writers organization, and a reputation as "a Woodward that outdoes even Woodward" (Malcom Gladwell, The New Yorker).
The Case of the Vanishing Blonde collects six of Bowden's most riveting stories—accounts spanning four decades of fascinating characters and unsettling tales to illustrate all manner of crimes and the ways technology has progressively altered criminal investigation.
From a 1983 story of a University of Pennsylvania campus rape that sparked a national debate over the nature of consent, to three cold cases featuring the inimitable Long Island private detective Ken Brennan and a startling investigation into a murderer deep within the LAPD's ranks—shielded for twenty six years by officers keen to protect one of their own—these stories are the work of a masterful narrative journalist.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The six previously published true crime stories in this engrossing collection from Bowden (Black Hawk Down) showcase his gift for narrative nonfiction. "The Incident at Alpha Tau Omega" recounts the gang rape of a Penn college student in 1983, providing insights into how both the victim and the accused were treated in a different era, with the culprits eventually receiving what amounted to a slap on the wrist. Whodunit fans will relish "The Body in Room 348," in which businessman Greg Fleniken was relaxing in a Texas hotel room one evening in 2010 when he was fatally "struck from nowhere" by a mysterious something. The lack of obvious wounds led the police to believe he died of natural causes, until an autopsy revealed severe internal injuries. Fleniken's widow was fortunate to get PI Ken Brennan, who appears in other articles, to crack the case. In the book's most memorable piece, "why don't u tell me wht ur into," Bowden reconstructs an online sting aimed at child predators via interviews with the FBI agent and the man eventually arrested, and raises thought-provoking questions about entrapment. New readers will want to seek out Bowden's book-length nonfiction after devouring this.
