Praise for The Case of the Vanishing Blonde:
“Bowden’s writing is a reminder that, in all the complexity of an age of upheaval, there is still good, and there is still evil, and the most interesting parts of humanity lie in the gulfs of gray in between.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Engrossing . . . New readers will want to seek out Bowden’s book-length nonfiction after devouring this.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Uncomfortably thrilling—as good crime writing should be . . . This true crime master expands the limits of the genre, digging to find answers and revealing that even the most horrific crimes are often linked to a larger story about America.”—Library Journal, starred review
“For all of the podcasts and Netflix docu-series that brought true crime into the modern zeitgeist, this genre solidly thrives where it began: in print journalism…Bowden writes with journalistic efficiency and a matter-of-fact admiration of the investigative work—from the ingenious to the tedious.”—Booklist
Praise for Mark Bowden:
“With its blistering descriptions of an American special-forces operation gone wrong, Mark Bowden's 1999 nonfiction book Black Hawk Down made for excellent action-movie fare. The story told in his latest work, the deeply unsettling The Last Stone, unfolds more slowly but is no less potent. Bowden displays his tenacity as a reporter in his meticulous documentation of the case.”—Time, on The Last Stone
“This is a story of extraordinary persistence and the grimmest, least romantic kind of heroism there is, and Bowden tells it with the dexterity of an old pro.”—Washington Post, on The Last Stone
“A telling a stirring, suspenseful, thoughtful story that, miraculously, neither oversimplifies the details nor gets lost in the thicket of a four-decade case file. This is a cat-and-mouse tale, told beautifully. But like all great true crime, The Last Stone finds its power not by leaning into cliché but by resisting it — pushing for something more realistic, more evocative of a deeper truth.”—New York Times, on The Last Stone
“Riveting true crime from the ever-capable author… A keen synthesis of an intricate, decades long investigation, a stomach-churning unsolved crime, and a solid grasp of time, place, and character results in what is sure to be another bestseller for Bowden.”—Kirkus Reviews, on The Last Stone
“Bowden delivers a narrative nonfiction masterpiece in this account of fiercely dedicated police detectives working to close a cold case. This is an intelligent page-turner likely to appeal even to readers who normally avoid true crime.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review), on The Last Stone
“Interesting and insightful…The book is well-researched and well-written, and those interested in crime and police interrogation methods will find it most interesting.”—Washington Times, on The Last Stone
“Bowden returns to the story that catapulted his career with a horrific portrait of a sociopath and honors the dedicated officers who were determined to get justice for two innocent girls and their grieving family.”—Booklist, on The Last Stone
“Mesmerizing…The Last Stone will leave readers on the edge of their seats as a group of indefatigable detectives tries to unearth the carefully concealed, unspeakable truths behind a decades-old tragedy.”—BookPage, on The Last Stone
“A passionate advocate for long-form journalism and one of its more successful practitioners . . . Bowden is so good at what he does best—highlighting the human angle of battles large and small.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune, on Three Battles of Wanat
“Bowden . . . applies his signature blend of deep reportage and character-driven storytelling to bring readers a fresh look at the 1968 battle in the Vietnamese city of Hue . . . [A] compelling and highly readable narrative . . . A meticulous and vivid retelling of an important battle.”―New York Times Book Review, on Hue 1968
“One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable . . . The individual stories are woven together in such a compelling and expert fashion, the narrative flows so seamlessly, that it’s hard to imagine that this is not fiction.”—Philadelphia Inquirer, on Black Hawk Down
“Riveting . . . Masterfully told . . . Plenty of classic Bowden here: meticulous reporting backed by a compelling narrative.”—Washington Post, on Guests of the Ayatollah
“Mark Bowden has a way of making modern nonfiction read like the best of novels.”—Denver Post, on Killing Pablo
★ 05/25/2020
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. (July)
★ 06/01/2020
Though Bowden (The Last Stone) notes that crime stories serve to titillate, he proves that the genre is more than voyeuristic thrills. The six pieces found here, taken from over the course of the author's career as a crime reporter, are uncomfortably thrilling—as good crime writing should be—but they contain insights into our often sexist and racist society, the criminal justice system, and who gets the privilege of having their stories told and believed. In "The Incident at Alpha Tau Omega," Bowden cites sociological accounts of group mentality as he tells the story of a gang rape that took place in 1983 at a fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania. Examining a Delaware County, PA, case where local police and FBI agents posed as children online to find potential child molesters, Bowden raises difficult questions as to what constitutes entrapment. The other tales are equally compelling, such as a look at a police department that protects one of its own, as well as a seemingly routine death that turns out to be anything but. VERDICT This true crime master expands the limits of the genre, digging to find answers and revealing that even the most horrific crimes are often linked to a larger story about America.—Bart Everts, Rutgers Univ.-Camden Lib., NJ
2020-04-05
Veteran narrative journalist Bowden resurrects a half-dozen works of true crime, ranging from merely creepy to palpably fascinating.
Best known for his visceral accounts of warfare in Mogadishu and the lives and deaths of Pablo Escobar and Osama bin Laden—not to mention his excellent Vietnam book, Hue 1968 (2017)—here the author recalls his foundations as a reporter, a trade that “hones an appetite for crime.” The opening story, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1983 as “The Incident at Alpha Tau Omega,” is awkward. While Bowden’s writing is solid and sincere, his attempt to parse the moral implications of the gang rape of a female college student comes off as both overly disturbing and painfully sympathetic to the perpetrators. Similar themes arise in “why don’t u tell me wht ur into,” a 2009 Vanity Fair piece in which Bowden uses the case of a sex offender to debate the ethics of entrapment à la the TV show To Catch a Predator. The author’s reporting in “…A Million Years Ago” (Vanity Fair, 2012), about the investigation into a decades-old cold case, has attracted some controversy, but there’s no skepticism about his portrayal of the investigation itself, resolutely documented and as incisive and enthralling as any true-crime podcast or episode of NCIS. The collection picks up considerably with the introduction of private eye Ken Brennan, a no-nonsense, profane former Long Island cop. “I’m from New York,” Brennan tells one suspect. “I talk like that to everybody.” Readers are likely to have encountered some version of the title story (“from the start, it was a bad case”) in popular media. However, that piece and its companion stories, “The Body in Room 348” and “Who Killed Euhommie Bond?” are as gripping as any murder mystery and feature shades of Agatha Christie and Edgar Allan Poe.
An uneven but often enthralling collection of true-crime investigations.
