Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

Rogues

True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

2022 • 368 pages

Ratings27

Average rating3.6

15

There's some really great information packed into these 12 chapters. Each chapter discusses the transgressions of a different person/company that fits the theme, and the author (a journalist himself) does a great job at doing a deep dive on the subjects, with interviews aplenty. This book was the exact opposite of being dry; the author is phenomenal at grabbing your attention in each chapter and holding it until the very end when he caps things off with a short epilogue of sorts.

Because it's 12 different subjects in under 400 pages, expect to do a lot of ping-ponging in terms of subject matter. My favorite chapter, by far, was, surprisingly, the chapter on Trump, Mark Burnett, and how The Apprentice created a monster, but each chapter had something really interesting going on that kept me listening. The only potentially strange inclusion here was the very last chapter on Anthony Bourdain, because up to that point it had been by and large grifter/illegal activity discussed, but I guess he needed someone in the 'Rebel' category to complete the title collection.

Just a really interesting book, highly recommend for true crime/literary journalism fans. I'll definitely be checking out more from this author/journalist.

April 28, 2025