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A review by edgwareviabank
Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Looking for Patrick Radden Keefe's Empire of Pain at a book sale, I found Rogues instead. I thought I'd read one of his works and then feel content enough to move on to other authors. I was wrong: I enjoyed this so much, I've put all his other books on my list now.
Some of the pieces could loosely fit into the true crime category, and I'd recommend them to anyone who enjoys the genre without sensationalism and gory violence. That said, the profiles of a university mass shooter and of the lawyer who defended the perpetrator of Boston Marathon bombings are especially sad because of the trauma and grief behind them, and may hit different triggers, so tread carefully if that sounds like you.
I particularly liked learning about stories of crime and deception I'd never heard about before (even the ones about financial crimes, where the finer details are far out of my comfort zone), because scams and similar intrigues are one of the deepest rabbit holes I let myself fall into, and I'm always keen to read stories that are brand new to me rather than new takes on topics I'm already familiar with.
There are profiles that stray from these categories, such as the last piece about Anthony Bourdain. I loved that for entirely different reasons, as it gave me insights into a personality I hadn't followed over the years and knew nothing about going in, making me realise I'd actually quite like to become familiar with his work.
I couldn't recommend this enough. It was a slow burner for me (I read a few pages at a time before going to sleep, and I fall asleep fast) but totally worth spending a couple of months with.
Some of the pieces could loosely fit into the true crime category, and I'd recommend them to anyone who enjoys the genre without sensationalism and gory violence. That said, the profiles of a university mass shooter and of the lawyer who defended the perpetrator of Boston Marathon bombings are especially sad because of the trauma and grief behind them, and may hit different triggers, so tread carefully if that sounds like you.
I particularly liked learning about stories of crime and deception I'd never heard about before (even the ones about financial crimes, where the finer details are far out of my comfort zone), because scams and similar intrigues are one of the deepest rabbit holes I let myself fall into, and I'm always keen to read stories that are brand new to me rather than new takes on topics I'm already familiar with.
There are profiles that stray from these categories, such as the last piece about Anthony Bourdain. I loved that for entirely different reasons, as it gave me insights into a personality I hadn't followed over the years and knew nothing about going in, making me realise I'd actually quite like to become familiar with his work.
I couldn't recommend this enough. It was a slow burner for me (I read a few pages at a time before going to sleep, and I fall asleep fast) but totally worth spending a couple of months with.