Les Standiford – författare

“Les Standiford’s account of the decades-long attempt to solve the murder of Adam Walsh is chilling, heartbreaking, hopeful, and as relentlessly suspenseful as anything I’ve ever read. A triumph in every way.”—Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River

“The most significant missing child case since the Lindbergh’s….A taut, compelling and often touching book about a long march to justice.”—Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent

The abduction that changed America forever, the 1981 kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Adam Walsh—son of John Walsh, host of the Fox TV series America’s Most Wanted—in Hollywood, Florida, was a crime that went unsolved for a quarter of a century. Bringing Adam Home by author Les Standiford is a harrowing account of the terrible crime and its dramatic consequences, the emotional story of a father and mother’s efforts to seek justice and resolve the loss of their child, and a compelling portrait of Miami Beach Homicide Detective Joe Matthews, whose unwavering dedication brought the Adam Walsh case to its resolution.

A groundbreaking narrative—a historical political thriller—that explores the role of a group of grassroots radicals in the American Revolution—“Fresh, fascinating, and compulsively readable. This book is a veritable treat for Revolutionary War buffs” (Jay Winik, New York Times–bestselling author of April 1865 and The Great Upheaval).

“Popular history in its most vital and accessible form. Standiford has recovered the mentality of America’s first group of young radicals, the Sons of Liberty, and tells their story with flair and grace.” —Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Founding Brothers

More than two hundred years ago, a group of British colonists in America decided that the conditions under which they were governed had become intolerable. Angry and frustrated that King George III and the British Parliament had ignored their lawful complaints and petitions, they decided to take action.

Knowing that their deeds—often directed at individuals and property—were illegal, and punishable by imprisonment and even death, these agitators plotted and conducted their missions in secret to protect their identities as well as the identities of those who supported them. Calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, they gathered together in a radical society committed to imposing forcible change. Those determined men—including second cousins Samuel and John Adams, Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, and John Hancock—saw themselves as patriots. Yet to the Crown, and to many of the Sons'' fellow colonists, the revolutionaries were terrorists who deserved death for their treason.

In this gripping narrative, Les Standiford reveals how this group of intelligent, committed men, motivated by economics and political belief, began a careful campaign of interlocking events that would channel feelings of vague injustice into an armed rebellion of common cause, which would defeat an empire and give birth to a radical political experiment—a new nation known as the United States.

Fans of David McCullough’s John Adams and 1776 will be riveted by this true history of young men inflamed by the fires of common purpose who helped a new nation to rise up against its British oppressor.

“Les Standiford has made the American Revolution new and relevant, showing the important lesson that the way to change is through grassroots organizing.” —Mark Kurlansky, New York Times–bestselling author of Birdseye

“Popular history in its most vital and accessible form. Standiford has recovered the mentality of America’s first group of young radicals, the Sons of Liberty, and tells their story with flair and grace.”—Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers

Les Standiford’s Last Train to Paradise, the fascinating true account of the building of a railroad “across the ocean” from Miami to Key West, is already a classic of popular history. With Desperate Sons, the New York Times bestselling author of Bringing Adam Home tells the remarkable story of America’s first patriots, the Sons of Liberty, whose revolutionary acts have become legend. With all the suspense and power of a historical action thriller, Standiford’s Desperate Sons recounts the courage and tenacity of a hardy group that included Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Hancock—radical activists who were responsible for some of the most notorious events leading up to the American Revolution, from the Boston Tea Party to Paul Revere’s fabled midnight ride. Fans of David McCullough’s John Adams and 1776 will be riveted by this true history of young men inflamed by the fires of common purpose who helped a new nation to rise up against its British oppressor.

“Artfully crafted, ingeniously layered noir fiction . . . proving once more that [Standiford] is a master of crime fiction.” —Publishers Weekly   Life looks good for John Deal. A new contract promises to put the family building business in the black and restore its reputation, tarnished by the suicide of John's father. Getting out from under Barton Deal’s shady past is tough. The new contract is linked to old ties—like the multi-million-dollar pact Barton made with Miami mobster Lucky Rhodes decades ago. Now both men are gone, the money has vanished, and Lucky’s son wants it back. John Deal is about to discover just how deep blood ties can cut . . .   “The action is nonstop, the setting of volatile South Florida from the 1950s to the present is fascinating, and the characterization of a man forced to defend what he loves because of the greed of others is compelling.” —Booklist   “An essential addition to the [John Deal] series.” —Miami Herald