Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

I came away from this one seeing the forest more than the trees. The overall story is interesting, but I wasn't really interested in the details along the way. At the end of the day, I'm glad I read the book, because this seems like an important story in terms of American history. But I often found my mind wandering while going through it.

Did you know that the Osage Native Americans in Oklahoma were among the (if not THE) richest people in the world in the early 1900's? The Osage were assigned land by the U.S. Government that later was found to be rich in oil. In response to this, the United States passed a law that anyone with 50% or more Osage ancestry had to be assigned a guardian (code for a white man) who was appointed by the court and basically in charge of their finances.

This legal racism and exploitation, problematic on its own, also bred all kinds of illegal activity - murders, kickbacks, bribes, corruption, conspiracy. And in the 1920's begin what is known as the Reign of Terror for the Osage, when dozens were murdered for their oil headrights.

The book is told in three parts, the first part focusing on the Osage themselves, then moving to the FBI investigation, and finally ending with additional research and theories that David Grann unearthed. This might be one of those books where the movie is more interesting than the book, but you if really want to get facts and details about the actual events, then the book is key. While I'm not going to insist that the book is superior (and it very well might be, as I have yet to see the movie) I'd suggest one or the other, as the story itself is one that should be heard.

Here's an article from PBS (written by David Grann) about the Osage murders, it has some great pictures. Now that I'm thinking about it, these very well might have been in the book, but I did the audiobook so...

If you're interested in the upcoming movie, directed by Martin Scorsese, here is the trailer.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

I must have felt like I needed a book hug, since I chose this one, which was described as a cozy read. I've heard of cozy mysteries and have been curious about the quaint worlds they inhabit. To be clear this is not a cozy mystery, it's a cozy story - a gateway drug of sorts into cozy mysteries. 

 

This is a story about Mika, a witch who lives in England. Mike meets with other witches, in a sort of bi-monthly support group, but members are discouraged against regularly interacting with other witches, as their power might draw attention. 

You can see how this might be an issue when Mika is contacted by someone who lives in a house with three young witches, interested in a magical nanny. Apparently her Instagram posts, where she "pretends" to be a witch, haven't fooled everyone. 

Mika knows having so many witches together could go wrong in a myriad of ways. But without her help, things could be worse. And Mika is intrigued by this strange family - three young adopted girls, a mysterious and famous head of household, and four adults who run things in her usual absence.  

As advertised, the story isn't offensive, or overly stressful (although Nart brings up an important point about how I really glossed over a problematic plot line). There is some drama, but nothing that's too high stakes or heart clenching. So as you might expect, it isn't terribly exciting either. The story was unique enough that it wasn't boring, but I'm not sure I'm a full convert to the genre. I will say, however, that if I feel like I want to read something for the sake of reading, I might turn to these types of books as sort of literary fidget spinners. I could see how the familiarity might turn to investment for a particular series.

Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo

This is one of those books about what could very well be about normal life. But it's told in such an engaging and intriguing way. Adebayo is able to take the things that we all deal with - longing, loss, infidelity, belief - and show us how extraordinary we all really are. In a lot of ways, Stay With Me is a mirror reflecting our own desires, shortcomings, and struggles.

We learn this by experiencing the lives of Yejide and Akin, who live in Nigeria in the 1980's. Yejide, and her mother-in-law, want nothing more than for Yejide to have a baby. But Yejide and Akin struggle to conceive. What follows is their story through 3 pregnancies (4, if you include a hysterical pregnancy) told against an almost casual backdrop of a government coup, polite extortion, a visit to a healer to conceive, polygymy, sickle-cell disease, and even possibly murder.

But to be clear, the book isn't a murder mystery, or a story of how magic can cause miracles, or a tale of what a polygymous marriage is like. It's about two people who met in college, fell in love, got married, and now want a baby. It's about how tradition competes with modernity. How fatherhood isn't necessarily about biology. It's a cautionary tale, much like the folktales Adebayo deliciously weaves in about how people will do almost anything to get what they want, including ruining their own lives. It's also about how the one thing you think you want, might be the one thing that causes you the most pain.

It's a hearthbreaking, beautifully told narrative that was enhanced by listening to the audiobook, narrated by Adjoa Andoh.

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

If you haven't tired of The Girl on the Train, or Gone Girl, or The Woman in the Window (which, to be fair, I haven't read), and even Ghost 19, then this is your book! Female narrator? check. Possibly unreliable? Check check. Voyeurism? Triple check. Timeframe shifts from chapter to chapter? checkity check check check. Twists and turns? Hopefully you'll think so like I did - but I'm not one to try too hard to figure things out. I'm just along for the ride.

This one takes place at...wait for it...a lake. The cast of characters was mercifully small enough that I was able to keep track of everyone pretty well. There's the supermodel wife, the aloof husband, the spiraling widow, the dead husband, the hot guy, the helpful neighbor, the cop, the supportive best friend, and the annoying mother. While I feel, for many reasons, this book is formulaic, this is the second book by Riley Sager that I've read that has managed to completely surprise me. Again, not so difficult to do. 

What I liked about this book is that I didn't want to put it down. I liked the characters and the setting. I actually appreciated the detail Sager went into regarding his main character's alcoholism. While I can't speak from experience, so I'm not sure how accurate the depiction is, Sager's descriptions of her physical and, really more emotional cravings and how consuming they were were eye opening to me. Hell, I probably should have listed bourbon as an additional character in this book, given its prominence.

While this might not be the most realistic tale at the end of the day, it's a fun, quick read.

Whoever Fights Monsters by Robert K. Ressler & Tom Shachtman

Criminal profiling is a hot topic with maybe the most unglamorous of foundations. Built on the commission of violent sexual homicides and the insights gained from the study of such offenders, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (formerly the Behavioral Science Unit) was formed nearly 40 years ago.

Robert Ressler is an FBI agent who studied these crimes and criminals and was instrumental in the formation of the BSU, which has inspired countless TV shows and movies like The Profiler, Mindhunter, Criminal Minds, The Silence of the Lambs, The Prodigal Son...and the list goes on.

Ressler gives history on the unit, which includes the creation of VICAP and the NCAVC. The NCAVC, or National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime is a department of the FBI that aids law enforcement agencies in the prevention, understanding, and investigation of violent crime. VICAP, or the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, is a national database available to law enforcement to log and query information about violent crimes. These are resources available to law enforcement that didn't exist when Ressler was first involved in the FBI. Ressler details his career and how these programs were created in part through his work and efforts.

Ressler's career with the FBI was in the 1970s and 1980s. Little was known about serial killers or serial sexual homicide. Ressler was good enough at his job that he could ask forgiveness rather than permission and accomplish things that would likely get him fired today. This includes backdating memos and interviewing serial killers in prison without official authorization. 

But his efforts paid off. By interviewing offenders like Jeffrey Dahmer, Charlie Manson, and Ed Kemper, Ressler was able to gain insight into what made them, and people like them, tick. His expertise allowed him involvement in aiding numerous cases with his spot on profiles and he was a consultant for various projects, notably with Thomas Harris, author of The Silence of the Lambs. 

Ressler lived in a different time than we are in now, but the BAU endures today. I wonder how it has evolved over the decades and if the analysis of serial killers is as relevant as it is today or if other types of killers, like terrorists and school shooters, have come into prominence in the unit's study. But there's no denying the groundwork Ressler laid and the sheer fascination this book provides in his tales of serial killers from this time.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

This review is a bit reflective of my experience with this book - fragmented and maybe incomplete. I started Poison Study years ago on audio book and for whatever reason, didn't finish until just a few days ago. Excuses aside, the story didn't invest me enough to overcome them.

So what follows will be a really bare-bones review of what this book is about. Poison study is a fantasy novel (and the author's first!) that takes place in Ixia - a society that seems like it's from days past, but might actually be a vision of a future possibility. Yelena is sentenced to death for killing someone, which is illegal regardless of the reason. And I'm sure Yelena had a good reason, I just don't remember what it was.

But after being imprisoned for a year, Yelena is offered a choice: she can be executed or become the Commander's food taster. From what I can surmise, the Commander is like a governor (or mayor? king? dictator?) of a region that is basically under martial law. Yelena accepts the offer and gets to work learning how to detect the slightest trace of poison in food. In order to keep her from trying to escape, she is administered butterfly's dust, a poison that will kill her in a day if she isn't given the antidote regularly.

Because Yelena works for the highest official of Ixia, she lives in the...palace?...and hears all the good gossip and is involved in any intrigue to be had. This involves learning to fight, nearly dying, killing people, and falling in love, oh, and there's a bit of magic too.

I don't know why I didn't strongly identify with this book. Maybe it was the audio book itself. I really didn't care for the music between chapters and I didn't like a few voices the narrator used for some of the characters. I wonder if I would have had a different feeling reading it the good old fashioned way.

So I'm just meh about this one. All the other reviews I've read on it are glowing, and there are a lot of other books in this series. It might be worth a look if you're a fantasy novel junkee. I'm not, to be fair. But this didn't bring me any closer to being one either.