Truthfully this didn't sound that great to me, but I picked it up because I just really love Patrick Radden Keefe's writing.

His research is really the standout here. He talked a bit in the beginning about how he specializes in writing about people who he's unable to interview, and that really shone through in this book. Even when he is able to interview the subject, you can tell he takes everything they say with a grain of salt and comes into the interview with enough prior information that he can tell when they likely aren't being truthful. He does a really great job in the book of contrasting what the interviewee said with some of the information he found through research, and illustrating how they don't really line up. It's a masterful approach to journalism.

A few of the stories were less interesting to me (like the one on political corruption, which I just kind of struggled to follow), but overall they were fascinating and really made me interested in some topics I knew nothing about. Like a Dutch mob family. Who knew. And the one article about Judy Clarke, a death penalty lawyer who takes on obviously guilty clients, was my absolute favorite.

Overall I highly recommend this book if you like well researched journalism or true crime. It was fantastically done. I'm still a little confused about how the Anthony Bourdain article fit with the theme, but I'm not gonna complain about another good piece of writing. Definitely give this book a go if it seems up your alley.