Review Stars!

True Crime: Send shivers through your patrons with these true stories of murder and mischief.

Kathryn Harrison
While They Slept: An Inquiry into the Murder of a Family

978-1-4000-6542-4 | $25.00 |
Random House | HC

In Medford, OR, very early on an April morning, Billy Gilley, Jr., eighteen years old, attacked his sleeping father and mother, killing them both. This remarkable true crime story by one of our most talented writers is also about the Before and After life - how young people survive and go on, after abuse and a violent explosion in a family.

Harold Schechter
The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century

978-0-345-47679-1 | $27.95 |
Ballantine | HC

From renowned true-crime historian Harold Schechter comes the riveting exploration of a notorious, sensational New York City murder in the 1890s, the fascinating forensic science of an earlier age, and the explosively dramatic trial that became a tabloid sensation at the turn of the century.

Looking Forward:

Jay Dobyns
No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hell's Angels

978-0-307-40585-2 | $25.95 | Crown | HC | Feb. 2009

Ted Botha
The Girl With the Crooked Nose: A Tale of Murder, Obsession, and Forensic Artistry

The Drop-In Alarm

A Team to Believe In: Our Journey to the Superbowl Championship by Tom Coughlin and Brian Curtis

The unbelievable inside story of the 2007 New York Giants, who, after a tough 2006, bounced back to upset the undefeated New England Patriots in one of the most memorable Superbowls ever. Told by coach Tom Coughlin.

In God's Name: Wisdom from the World's Great Spiritual Leaders by Jules and Gedeon Naudet

In God’s Name offers readers a rare opportunity to know 12 of today's most holy people and to read their answers to eternal questions of life and death, doubt and belief, and the nature of God. Luminaries such as the Dalai Lama, Pope Benedict XVI, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, and the Archbishop of Canterbury appear alongside leaders in the Shinto, Hindu, and Sikh communities.

The Private Patient: An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery by P.D. James

Another impeccable mystery from the prolific James, author of Children of Men and many other books that have been adapted to film or television. Over the years she has gained a reputation for creating detective stories of uncommon depth and intricacy, combined with the sort of humanity and perceptiveness found only in the finest novelists.

Barack Obama for Beginners by Bob Neer

From the popular For Beginners series comes this condensed personal and political history of the Democratic presidential candidate, which will get you up to speed and allow you to draw your own conclusions.

Win a free finished copy of The Scotia Widows by groundbreaking litigator Gerald M. Stern!

On March 9, 1976, a violent explosion, fueled by high concentrations of methane gas and coal dust, ripped through the Scotia mine in the heart of Eastern Kentucky coal country. The blast killed fifteen miners who were working nearly three and a half miles underground; two days later, a second explosion took the lives of eleven rescue workers. For the miners’ surviving family members, the loss of their husbands, fathers, and sons was only the beginning of their nightmare. Stern shares a story of loss, scandal, and perseverance–and the plaintiffs’ fight for justice against the titanic forces of “Big Daddy Coal.”


Be entered to win a free copy of The Scotia Widows when you answer this question: How many years long was the widows' legal struggle? (hint)

Please email your answer along with your address (sorry, no P.O. boxes) to library@randomhouse.com with the subject line, "widows" to enter.

Don't forget to include your address! (Offer open only to librarians in the U.S.)