The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

"The U.S. government planned to break up Indian Territory and make it a part of what would be a new state called Oklahoma." ~ pg. 48

Today is Halloween and you may be dressed in costume or passing out candy to children. Take a few minutes to grab a warm beverage and allow me to share a review of a real life horror story.

Have you ever heard the tales of the Osage Hills? It is a story of the American frontier where cowboys and Indians were said to roam. Where the Osage held black gold. Where the father of Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie explained the government would soon make the Osage move away so white people could settle on the best land. It is also where the richest people in the world lived in the 1920s.

A brief history lesson for my bookhearts. The Osage Indians in Oklahoma discovered oil beneath their land. With this fortune, they were able to build mansions, send children to study abroad and boost the economy. Until they were forced to cede acres of their land and moved to Kansas. Then murders began. They were being mysteriously killed off one by one, along with anyone who investigated the murders. So enters the newly created FBI. The Osage murders was the Federal Bureau of Investigation's first major case. A conspiracy soon unraveled thanks to the FBI together with the last living Osage, J. Edgar Hoover, and a Texas Ranger named Tom White. All are illustrated in Killers of the Flower Moon book along with a note on sources.

"History is a merciless judge." ~ pg. 219

Killers of the Flower Moon may be non-fiction but it has a novel feel. A full-blood Osage woman named Mollie Burkhart lost her entire family in mysterious sinister ways. Her money was also tied up in a corrupt system of guardianship. Her story is told in a timeline of events that coincide with the FBI investigation.

The Washington Post noted in a headline: CONSPIRACY BELIEVED TO KILL RICH INDIANS. The Osage murders created terror in the community. People suspected neighbors, friends and even family. Souls were scalped. Hearts were shot. Bodies were poisoned. It was a gotdamn bloody crime in American history! Creepier than any horror film. Very appalling to read and a reality check. This country been ain't shit. Yet kudos to writer David Grann for his journalism and story-telling skills. This is a true tragic tale that I pray won't repeat history. 

"Like most Americans, when I was in school, I never read about the murders in any books; it was as if these crimes had been excised from history." ~ pg. 208

I do not read or review non-fiction books often. So when I do take the time to study history through pages, it is meaningful. Killers of the Flower Moon was not on my radar until it was recommended by my Sistah J. I buddy read with Chickadee so we could discuss chapters as we read along. What a riveting true-life murder mystery it turned out to be!

Title: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Author: David Grann
Published: April 2017
Pages: 303
Edition: eBook
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤

 

V O T E

  

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven

"It ain't really my grave." ~ pg. 160

Lives and losses intersect in this novel of heavenly reunions. Years ago, war veteran Eddie died saving the life of a young girl named Annie at an amusement park. She blocked the accident from memory, only able to recall that it took her left hand. Her guilt-ridden mother moves Annie away hoping to leave the traumatizing past behind. But Annie feels haunted until she reunites with childhood love, Paulo. Happiness is short-lived as another accident ends their wedding night. Now Annie is on a journey to heaven, meeting people along the way. Each telling a lesson on how life matters.

Do not fret if you did not read the first book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. This may be the long-awaited sequel but it can be read as a standalone. Exactly how I read it actually! I was not lost as it gives enough backstory on the main character. Also do not let the title deter you. It is not a religious book but instead a spiritual hug of pages.

"What's time between a mother and her daughter? Never too much, never enough." ~ pg. 148

Let's talk presentation for a quick second. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven is the perfect pocket-size book. It is short and thin. Very lightweight for a hardcover. I carried it in my handbag and whipped it out when I had a spare minute to read: in the grocery line, in a parking lot and while walking. You can easily balance the book in one hand with your favorite hot beverage in the other hand. Just don't mix the two!

Support Michigander Mitch Albom and purchase The Next Person You Meet in Heaven. It left me with a priceless sense of serenity. I guarantee you will enjoy the story and its message.

Title: The Next Person You Meet in Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
Published: October 2018
Pages: 213
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤

 

Series Sunday: Ambush

(Detective Michael Bennett #11) 

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is Ambush, the 11th book in the Detective Michael Bennett series by James Patterson. The famous detective with a fiancé and ten adopted kids has such a busy dangerous life. Where he finds the time to raise a family and fight crime, I don't know. Well, it is totally possible in fiction land.

Nevertheless, in the latest book of this series, Detective Michael Bennett steps in the line of fire...literally. He is ambushed and caught in a drug war between the Mexican cartel and the Canadian mob. The first shootout happens within pages of the book's opening. Bennett soon realizes he was the intended target. Before he can catch his breath good, his son is rushed to the hospital due to a vicious injury. Then a series of murders follow with a distinct weapon called the stiletto. Can it all be related? Bennett organizes a task force that covers all five boroughs of New York to catch an assassin before the assassin finds him.

"They were calling it the Battle in the Bronx." ~ pg. 26

What a good reason to unplug and bury my thoughts into a book. I spent an entire day reading Ambush and it was worth it. The short chapters are always a motivator to keep reading along. Ambush is a good balance of suspense and family time with a new character (Father Alonzo) added to the mix. And hopefully wedding bells soon! The sequence of events in this book set the stage for more to come in the thrilling world of Detective Michael Bennett. I am happy to report this series is not getting stale. ✊🏾knock on wood✊🏾

Please Note: Readers are treated to a bonus short story at the end of Ambush titled Manhunt. Double the mystery for your buck!

Title: Ambush

Author: James Patterson and James O. Born

Published: October 2018

Pages: 303

Edition: Hardcover
Challenge: Keeping Up with Patterson

Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤

 

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Grab your current read(s).
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author.

"In late November 1954, a woman who identified herself as Zelda Zonk drove quietly to the LAX airport and boarded the evening's last plane to New York. Accompanied by a young photographer named Milton Greene, the woman wore no makeup, a man's oxford shirt, and Jax cigarette pants under a full-length black mink. She wore a black wig cut in a blunt pageboy and, though it was nearly midnight, black Wayfarers. She lit cigarettes and bit her nails like any other jittery twenty-eight-year-old about to jettison marriage, home, and career in the course of one midnight flight."

~ Marilyn in Manhattan: Her Year of Joy by Elizabeth Winder 

 

Dinner at Sam's

"People say life is short all the time. But it's real, real long when you ain't livin', when you feel like you have to punish yourself for mistakes you made." ~ 83%

Vanessa is trying to get divorced without breaking the bank or her ex's pocket. She is not vengeful enough to take him for everything he's worth. She isn't even seeking child support for the two daughters he basically abandoned. She just wants to cut all ties and move on with life.

Gibson is an attorney that focuses on helping people, not wracking up excessive billing hours like his family firm would prefer. He would rather serve the community than high profile clients. When Gibson's mother dismisses Vanessa because she's not out for a messy divorce, Gibson takes interest. He wants to do right by Vanessa. Get her divorced so she can start a new life...with him.

"She's all over Instagram and bragging everywhere to anyone who will listen about having lunch in Miami and dinner in New York." ~ 14%

Now that's a life goal! Reading as Vanessa and Gibson's relationship develop gave me all the feels of an organic love story. The romance is not forced. The flirty lines are not cheesy. And most importantly, the main characters are realistic as you and I. Glad I stuck with the story after almost being turned off from lack of editing in the beginning of book. So treat yourself to this good read on a chilly day this autumn.

Title: Dinner at Sam's
Author: D.L. White
Published: April 2017
Pages: 276
Edition: eBook
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤

   

Lit to Movie Review: The Hate U Give

Just as excellent and powerful as the book!

Title: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Cast: Amandla Stenberg (Starr), Algee Smith (Khalil), Regina Hall (Lisa), Russell Hornsby (Maverick), KJ Apa (Chris), Issa Rae (April Ofrah), Common (Uncle Carlos), Anthony Mackie (King)
Release: October 2018
Time: 2 Hours, 12 Minutes
Genre: Drama
Movie Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤
Book Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤