On My Radar:

The Reacher Guy: A Biography of Lee Child
by Heather Martin
Pegasus Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Lee Child has a great public persona: he is gracious and generous with readers and fans. But Jim Grant is a reticent and very private man. 

This rags-to-riches literary and social biography is based principally on disarmingly frank personal conversations and correspondence with the author since 2016 and privileged access to archival materials. It consists almost entirely of original material, and is the nearest thing the world is likely to get to the autobiography he does not intend to write. 

There are a handful of great Lee Child/Reacher stories that have been recycled over and over again. They are so good that no one has bothered to look beyond them. This book revisits (and sometimes revises) those irresistible stories, but goes back further and digs deeper. The emphasis on chronology, accuracy and specificity is unprecedented.  

The Lee Child origin myth is much loved. But mostly it sees him springing fully formed from the brow of Granada Television. There are glancing references to Aston Villa and the schoolyard, but no one has examined the social and historical detail or looked closely at where Lee really came from: the people, places and period.

This is the first time someone has described the Lee Child arc: from peaceful obscurity in the Yorkshire Dales and Upstate New York to cult figure, no. 1 in America, rock star, celebrity and publishing institution through to backlash, the changing zeitgeist, and intimations of retirement. The analysis of the emotional power and significance of Lee’s work in the final chapters—the themes of happiness, addiction, dependency, loneliness, and existential absurdity—and the first-hand retrospective accounts of his life and second-act career are all exclusive to this definitive biography.

In My TBR Stack:

Saving Sin City: William Travers Jerome, Stanford White, and the Original Crime of the Century
by Mary Cummings
Pegasus Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

When Stanford White, one of the most famous architects of the era—whose mark on New York City is second to none—was murdered by Harry K. Thaw in 1906, his death become known as “The Crime of the Century.” But there were other players in this love triangle gone wrong that would play a part in the incredible story of White’s murderer. Chief among them was the ambitious district attorney William Travers Jerome, who had the opportunity to make—or break—his career with his prosecution of Thaw. Award-winning journalist Mary Cummings reveals a new angle to this incredible crime through Jerome’s story—a story that is ripe for our post-“Serial” era. Thaw was the debauched and deranged heir to a Pittsburgh fortune who had a sadistic streak. White was an artistic genius and one of the world’s premier architects who would become obsessed with a teenaged chorus girl, Evelyn Nesbit. White preyed on Nesbit, who, in a surprising twist, also became a fixation for Thaw. Nesbit and Thaw would later marry, but Thaw’s lingering jealousy and anger toward White over his past history with Nesbit would explosively culminate in White’s shocking murder—and the even more shocking trial of Thaw for a murder that was committed in front of dozens of eye witnesses. The promising young D.A. would find his faith in himself and the law severely tested as he battled colorful crooks, licentious grandees, and corrupt politicians.  Cummings brilliant reveals the social issues simmering below the surface of New York that Jerome had to face. Filled with mesmerizing drama, rich period details, and fascinating characters, Saving Sin City sheds fresh light on crimes whose impact still echoes throughout the twenty-first century.

In My TBR Stack:

Political Suicide: Missteps, Peccadilloes, Bad Calls, Backroom Hijinx, Sordid Pasts, Rotten Breaks, and Just Plain Dumb Mistakes in the Annals of American Politics
by Erin McHugh
Pegasus Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Just in time for the presidential election of 2016 comes Political Suicide, a history of the best and most interesting missteps, peccadilloes, bad calls, back room hijinks, sordid pasts, rotten breaks, and just plain dumb mistakes in the annals of American politics.  They have tweeted their private parts to women they're trying to impress. They have gotten caught on tape doing and saying things they really shouldn't have. They have denied knowing about the underhanded doings of underlings — only to have a paper trail lead straight back to them. Nowadays, it seems like half of what we hear about politicians isn't about laws or governing, but is instead coverage focused on shenanigans, questionable morals, and scandals too numerous to count. And while we shake our heads in disbelief, we still can't resist poring over the details of these notorious incidents. In Political Suicide, the foibles of our politicians are brought from the tabloid pages to this entertaining — and cautionary — tale of American history.

In My TBR Stack:

Unaccountable: How Anti-Corruption Watchdogs and Lobbyists Sabotaged America's Finance, Freedom, and Security
Janine Wedel
Pegasus Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

A groundbreaking book that challenges Americans to reevaluate our views on how a new and more sophisticated style of corruption and private interests have infiltrated every level of society.

From the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street, however divergent their political views, these groups seem united by one thing: outrage over a system of power and influence that they feel has stolen their livelihoods and liberties. Increasingly, protesters on both ends of the political spectrum and the media are using the word “corrupt” to describe an elusory system of power that has shed any accountability to those it was meant to help and govern.

But what does corruption and unaccountability mean in today’s world? It is far more toxic and deeply rooted than bribery. Advisors, strategists and other private contractors, which make up an ever-increasing share of the government, act in the best interests of their company, versus beholden to the tax payer.  Foreign governments with a history of human rights violations, military coups, and more, hire American public relation firms to suppress reports and search results for their crimes.  Investigative journalism has been replaced by "truthiness."  From Super PACs pouring secret money into our election system, to companies buying better ratings from Standard & Poors, or the extreme influence of lobbyists in congress, all are embody a “new corruption” and remain unaccountable to our society’s supposed watchdogs, which sit idly alongside the same groups that have brought the government, business and much of the military in to their pocket. 

Janine Wedel is the author of Shadow Elite (Basic Books). Wedel has written for the New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, Politico, and Salon, among others. She is a professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University and has been a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation.