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

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I could not put this down. I finished in less than 48 hours. Even having already watched the movie (which I loved), this book still left me gasping and in tears. The book has a much broader scope and obviously gets into the weeds more than the movie. They are two separate entities for sure (I mean, obviously -- one is nonfiction and the other is a dramatized account). 

LOVE the way the book is divided up and I love the self-reflexive nature of the last third. Hearing about the author's experience performing research and talking to relatives of victims and seeing how these harrowing events have impacted the future is stunning. This is the kind of history we need to be reading about -- the absolutely systemic and widespread nature of these murders exemplifies so much about how America operates. It definitely makes me want to read more about the west/southwest United States around the turn of the century, particularly from indigenous perspectives. Will be seeking out Osage authors writing about the reign of terror for sure. One of those stories that, unfortunately, is not at all surprising, but terrifying nonetheless. 
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