Title: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Author: David Grann
Narrators: Will Patton (Narrator), Ann Marie Lee (Narrator), Danny Campbell (Narrator)
Publisher: Random House Publisher
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

My Perception:

'Killers of the Flower Moon' was quite a sad read of what happened to the Osage people a hundred years ago. I was left saying, wow... this occurred in the U.S. Can one believe this? Are we finally seeing how there is so much evil and corruption in our American government that happened so long ago still going on in some form, even today? Oh yes, I can. I am an Afro-American, and I know it has happened here in the U.S. not only to my race but to other races, too. Thank you to this author for bringing this story about the Osage people to light.

This author did an excellent job explaining what happened in 'The Reign of Terror and the Osage Murders of Killers of the Flower Moon.' David Grann's research, recordings, documents, and photographs were very well presented, giving the reader quite a good read.

What gets me is how these people [white] got away with this for so long. Oh, no, really, we know why that happened! It was so good to finally see things come to a head, only to find out later that there was still important information that had not been presented. Now, what was left out? This is where you must pick up this read to see what that was and how it was brought out. But was anything done about it? Oh, I know, it was too late; they all were dead by then! Thank God for the wonderful character, Tom White, an FBI agent who cared; I will leave it at that.

This story was an alarming piece of history that some wouldn't want to come to light, but it did! The reader will see how the Osage people were horribly treated by [white] people, which left me .. well, I will stop here. All that is left to say is this has happened not only to the Osage but to many other races. All that is left to say is that this is the America we live in, like it or not. ( )

I haven’t yet seen the movie version of this story, but picked up the book when I saw it on Amazon. I was unfamiliar with the history when I ordered it.

The gist of the story is that the Osage Indian tribe was gradually settled onto land in northern Oklahoma in the late 19th century. Through a combination of circumstances, the Osage took title to the land, which allowed them to retain mineral interests after much of the land was appropriated and redistributed to white settlers.

Lo and behold, the land held vast reserves of oil, resulting in members of the Osage tribe collecting many millions of dollars in royalties in the teens and twenties. Soon, members of the tribe began to be murdered and poisoned, with their royalty interests being accumulated by nefarious local characters.

State and local politicians and law enforcement were largely in the pocket of the killers, as it was difficult to prosecute the white killers of the Osage tribe.

The first 1/3 of the book highlights the killings. The second 1/3 focuses on the federal investigation, performed by the nascent FBI, under the direction of its new Director, J. Edgar Hoover. The final third involves a more current journalistic investigation of the killings and their aftermath.

Great history lesson, unfortunately not a great book. Pretty dry stuff, written in a style unlikely to engage the reader. I’m guessing the movie is better. ( )

Another sad chapter of this country of greed and racism ( )

Three different narrators tell this gruesome true crime story about a murderous spree that targeted oil-rich Osage Indians around the time of Prohibition. Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell combine their talents to narrate the three sections of the book.

Ann Marie Lee is the narrator of Part 1. In a calm, matter-of-fact, and almost pleasant tone, she introduces the listener to the Osage community and in particular, the family of Mollie Burkhart. Her voice is sometimes at odds with the gruesome nature of the violent murders that she recounts.

In part 2, Danny Campbell narrates the chapters detailing the murder investigations carried out by the newly revamped and renamed Federal Bureau of Investigation. This section of the book focuses on FBI Agent Tom White. Campbell employs the brisk tone one might associate with an old TV or radio crime show, however, his narration is tinged with a Midwestern accent that fits the agent and the Oklahoma setting.

Will Patton narrates Part 3, which recounts the author's own later investigation that discovered many and solved some additional crimes against the Osage. He found a much more widespread Reign of Terror than had been previously known. Patton's voice sounds older than that of Agent White, and he speaks in a rueful manner, showing his sorrow that justice was not better served, but also his determination to uncover everything he could.

Though the movie was excellently done, the book (as usual) is better. While the movie focuses primarily on the murders successfully prosecuted by the FBI, the book reveals the full extent of the many plots to rob the Osage of their rights, their money, and their lives. The depth, breadth, and depravity of the plots involving mostly white men from all levels of society is so insidious as to be barely comprehensible. ( )

Well researched and interestingly plotted. So many people were dying and there. Wasn't enough I the way of letters or diaries to make a deep connection, but the history was interesting, if repellent ( )