Fascinating true-crime reportage infused with cinematic suspense.
The story of an amateur detective who helped solve a notorious cold case, altering the field of criminology in the process.
New Zealand–born Rae-Venter became an investigative genealogist purely by accident. Having just concluded a lengthy career as a patent attorney, the author honed an innate puzzle-solving disposition with a “postretirement hobby” of volunteering as a genetic genealogist working with adoptees. In 2017, her diligent work and background experience in biotechnology caught the attention of California cold-case investigator Paul Holes, who requested her assistance in the search to identify the Golden State Killer. Using revolutionary new techniques, including DNA genotyping, Rae-Venter scrutinized the details of the killer’s “rape-and-killing spree that spanned the twelve years between 1974 and 1986.” The author familiarizes readers with several other dauntingly complex, engrossing cold cases—e.g., that of Lisa Jensen, who was abducted by a paternal imposter as a child; the grisly quadruple-victim Bear Brook murders—to which she contributed before helping crack the riveting GSK case. Successfully overcoming cardiac issues, Rae-Venter devoted herself to the investigation, noting how the killer’s sadistic “reign of terror and mayhem” sunk her into “some very dark places, darker than anywhere I had been before.” Her chronicle is a solid testament to the evolution of genetic forensic science and how it has made investigators more effective in apprehending criminals, both from cold cases and those in real time. It’s also an examination of corrupted humanity gone haywire and the thrill and release of an abuser being brought to justice. Rae-Venter was eventually encouraged by her son to rescind her request for anonymity (initiated for fear of her safety) and go public with her pivotal role in identifying and apprehending Joseph James DeAngelo as the GSK. In doing so, the author demonstrated the importance of forensic DNA testing as a consequential game-changer in criminal justice.
Fascinating true-crime reportage infused with cinematic suspense.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-35889-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
