BOOKS

New Release

The Hollywood Con Queen

The spellbinding tale of an epic international manhunt for a psychopathic con artist who exploited the dreams of creators to steal dozens of identities and millions of dollars.

"This book is as engrossing as anything by Agatha Christie, as unsettling as a novel by Stephen King, and reported with a vigorous empathy that leaves Truman Capote in the dust. Scott Johnson’s courage, his relentless quest for the truth behind a set of brilliantly obscured cruelties, and his examination of the very fabric of psychopathy ultimately lead him to question how the appalling lies spat out by the Con Queen relate to the daily untruths required of us all. His narrative is further deepened by breathtakingly honest reportage about himself and his family, which led him to this radical investigation of a deformed mind. I cannot remember the last time I read anything with such breathless fascination.”

—Andrew Solomon

- LOS ANGELES TIMES

"It is a rocket of a book that can and should be consumed in one head long dash for maximum effect."

- ANDREW SOLOMON

"This book is as engrossing as anything by Agatha Christie, as unsettling as a novel by Stephen King, and reported with a vigorous empathy that leaves Truman Capote in the dust."

"A twist-filled book…Riveting."

- GUARDIAN

"Fascinating..."

- WALL STREET JOURNAL

"A propulsive journalistic chase tale that creates a vertiginous sensation; you feel your feet leaving the ground as you read."

- BOSTON GLOBE

BOOK AWARDS

National Book Award Long List, September 2013
Washington Post Notable Book, 2013
Kirkus Reviews, Best Non-Fiction 2013
PEN USA Long List Finalist

National Book Award Longlist

Washington Post Notable Book of the Year

The Wolf And The Watchman

Growing up, Scott C. Johnson always suspected that his father was different. Only as a teenager did he discover the truth: his father was a spy, one of the CIA’s most trusted officers. At first the secret was thrilling. But over time Scott began to have doubts. His father had been living a double life for so long that his lies were hard to separate from the truth.

- ROBERT BAER, AUTHOR OF SEE NO EVIL

"A beautifully written memoir, and a cautionary tale about double lives. . . . I couldn’t put this book down."

- WASHINGTON POST

"Evokes John Le Carré’s dark autobiographical thriller The Perfect Spy… To his credit, Johnson has transformed what might have been just one long, narcissistic howl at the darkness into the kind of psychological police procedural that might have been written by Camus."

"With rare emotional subtlety, and in finely etched prose worthy of Evelyn Waugh or Graham Greene Johnson captures the perspectives of people on various sides of the bloody equation."

- DAILY BEAST

"This moving, poetic and deeply meaningful book shines a light into the faltering human condition and its many shadows with unerring skill."

- TELEGRAPH