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Bottom of the pile
12
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
6/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Max Marshall
Publisher:
Harper
Date:
November 7, 2023
An investigative journalist traces a murder and a multi-million-dollar drug ring, leading to an unprecedented look at elite American fraternity life. When Max Marshall arrived on the campus of the College of Charleston in 2018, he hoped to investigate a small-time fraternity Xanax trafficking ring. Instead, he found a homicide, several student deaths, and millions of dollars circulating around the Deep South. He also opened up an elite world hidden to outsiders. Behind the pop culture cliches of "Greek life" lies one of the major breeding grounds of American power: 80 percent of Fortune 500 executives, 85 percent of Supreme Court justices, and all but four presidents since 1825 have been fraternity members.
What The Reviewers Say
Gripping.
He treats his drug-dealing subjects and their victims as fully fleshed-out people. A must-have addition to any library’s true-crime section..
Finishes without moral lessons or final conclusions, instead aiming clearly to report events that will disturb most readers. Combining excellent journalism and deftly paced storytelling, this chilling tale lifts a veil on a decadent and troubling lifestyle..
The author refers to most of his anonymous sources by their fraternity or sorority affiliation, as if that is someone’s most distinguishing trait, and he seems overly enamored of his subjects’ connections, wealth, and hard-partying lifestyles. While he does expose a dark side of campus life, he misses an opportunity to offer a deeper, more interesting story with appeal beyond the Tucker Max demographic. A flashy disappointment, leaning more on drug dealer fantasy and frat-boy excess than real crime drama..
