Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

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

65 reviews

oceanwriter's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Living on oil-rich land, the Osage Indians had a fortune. Unfortunately, this fortune was largely monitored and limited by the government. When members of the tribe begin dying under mysterious circumstances, it calls for investigation. 
 
I found the book to be informative and I was particularly invested in the first part of the book. Once it switched to part two, I struggled to get used to the new perspective and narration which was particularly distracting while listening to the audiobook and the narrators changed. Still, I learned a lot and my heart breaks for the Osage people, not only for their losses but also for the mistreatment and conservatorship they were subjected to. 
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eucalyptusrising's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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millipede_reads's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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matcha_cat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.25

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peterplaysguitar's review against another edition

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informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.75

Killers of the Flower Moon is a true crime story that almost feels like an old Hammett novel—not for the prose, but the drama of the content. There were many times while reading that my mouth fell open in quiet shock over what I was reading, and I'm still struggling to comprehend the brazen evil required of the perpetrators of the crimes. The story is told in three distinct parts (
a detective mystery, a courtroom drama, and a present-day investigation
) and each unravels more tangled knots of the Reign of Terror.

There are aspects of the story that I question the veracity of, namely the polished heroism of lead detective Tom White, whose only flaws it seems was that he was too moral and stoic. While reading, I did have a feeling that Grann might have taken some creative liberties with the minutiae of the events and actions of the people involved. But until I am able to read more about the Reign of Terror, I'll take Grann with a grain of salt and trust that he did his best to temper any dramatization with evidence and research.

Killers of the Flower Moon is thrilling and tragic, infuriating and engrossing. Highly recommended for anyone who wants (or needs) to face the sordid reality of the American spirit.
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issyd23's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

“‘the devil was standing right there.’…the missing panel: showed William K Hale, staring coldly at the camera. The Osage had removed his image, not to forget the murders, as most Americans had, but because they cannot forget.” 4🥀
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nclausel25's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

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frenchpants's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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nc_unknown_user's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.5

It often feels difficult or unfair to review books like these. The story is heartbreaking and to know real people experienced these things is terrible. Especially because this still probably doesn’t even cover half of it and there are so many stories that will left untold or forever unknown for many of those who were among those lost during these times. Unfortunately, the writing felt lacking in some ways. Not that I expected it to be some page-turner for my entertainment… it just felt disjointed in its presentation and hard to follow. I found it difficult to keep track of the information being presented and even now that I have finished the book, I feel like I only vaguely know what happened and how it took place. The story itself is interesting so I feel it was just the style of writing that takes away from it. It felt unnecessary to break the book up into three separate parts. All in all, I would be interested in doing more reading on this subject, but not by this author. 
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christinadekoek's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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