This is Grann's all-too-real account of the Reign of Terror, the time between 1920 and 1924 when a shocking number of Osage Indians were murdered for their oil money. J. Edgar Hoover's relatively new FBI was brought in to solve the murders, and the investigation shaped the way that organization functions even today. Rumor has it that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are developing the movie adaptation.

Ann Kingman of Books On The Nightstand fame was my guest on episode 161 of the podcast. We discussed favorite gifts for the holiday or any other season and she gushed about this incredible story, calling it a "nonfiction novella." By the bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, this is the story of Henry Worsley who was obsessed with Ernest Shackleton, the Polar explorer in the 19th century who tried to be the first person to reach the South Pole and later tried to cross Antarctica on foot. Shackleton never completed his journeys, but Worsley was obsessed, partly because he was related to one of Shackleton's men and so he grew up knowing about these adventures. In 2015, Worsley, at the age of 55, he decided that he wanted to cross Antarctica alone on foot. Worsley had a big sled, filled with three hundred pounds of supplies that he strapped around his waist, put on cross country skis, and set off across Antarctica to complete this journey. David Grann gives us an inside look of what Henry Worsley went through on this journey. Worsley kept an audio diary and would radio back his experiences so Grann uses this to great effect. Kingman says you really feel like you're right there. It is a fast read but that's a good thing, otherwise you'd be up for hours because this qualifies as unputdownable. It's a little bit Into Thin Air, a little bit National Geographic. This was her pick for almost anybody you have to bring a gift for, even if you don't know what they might like to read. Chances are there's something in here that anyone would love.

Readers who loved Killers of the Flower Moon won’t want to miss Grann’s backlist book about an Amazonian expedition gone wrong. In 1925, Percy Fawcett and his son journeyed into the Amazon wilderness in search of an ancient civilization. The whole crew vanished, untraceable in the thick of the forest, but Fawcett did leave a few clues behind about the undiscovered city he called "Z". For years, scientists and explorers have searched for answers to Fawcett’s fate and what he might have discovered before his disappearance. After discovering a collection of Fawcett’s diaries, David Grann embarked on his own quest to solve the mystery, joining other truth-seekers in the dangerous jungle. This propulsive narrative reveals Grann’s dedication to uncovering the truth at all costs: you won't be able to put it down.