Stephen G. Michaud - Böcker

This is a story of a vast cattle and oil fortune left hanging by the thread of a widow's dying wish; a story of prodigious egos and ambitions competing for the fortune before the widow was even buried; a story about a legal battle that has lasted a quarter-century and has swept like a range fire from dusty cow-town courtrooms to the marble halls of the Vatican, pitting captains of industry against princes of the Church. And if it had happened anywhere other than Texas, you probably wouldn't believe a word of it.Sarita Kenedy East was the aging, melancholy mistress of a cattle kingdom as big as Rhode Island: La Parra, 400,000 acres of South Texas rangeland next door to the fabled King Ranch. She was the last Kenedy. And although she cherished the huge ranch founded by her grandfather, her life there oppressed her. Mrs. East's only solace was in her memories, her abiding Catholic faith, and her nightly tumblers of scotch.In 1948 Sarita received a surprise caller, a young and charismatic Trappist monk, Brother Leo—the alleged Svengali of this saga—who had been sent out from his monastery in New England to scout potential sites for new Trappist monasteries…and to find rich Catholic donors to pay for them. In time he discovered what Sarita herself did not know, that under her lands lay an ocean of oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Brother Leo had a gift for persuasion. He became the lonely widow's spiritual counselor, and before she died she made him trustee of a charitable foundation that he says was meant to help the poor of Latin America. But Brother Leo ran into some formidable opposition: Sarita's vengeful relatives in Texas, Fortune 500 industrialist J. Peter Grace, and the Catholic Church itself all had other plans for the giant estate."If You Love Me You Will Do My Will," based upon two decades of investigative reporting and interviews with almost every major character, details this extravagant drama, an epic even by Texas standards.

Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer's famous account of the 1996 Everest disaster, INTO THIN AIR, will remember the story of Beck Weathers: the gregarious Texan climber who went snow-blind in the Death Zone below the summit and who spent a night out in the open during a blizzard that took the lives of a dozen colleagues and friends. Even as he staggered back into Camp 4 the next morning, Beck's condition was such that the other survivors assumed he would not make it back down the mountain. He was effectively left for dead, but drawing upon reserves of determination and courage he didn't know he had - as well as the extraordinary selflessness and bravery of a Nepalese helicopter pilot he'd never met - he finally made it to safety. Only then could a new battle begin: to rebuild his life with a family he'd taken for granted for too long.

Heartstoppingly exciting and ultimately very moving, LEFT FOR DEAD is a terrific read.

The book behind the sensational Netflix series The Ted Bundy Tapes.Now the subject of a major motion picture, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron.He was a sadistic monster.A master manipulator.His grisly killing spree left at least 30 innocent young women dead.This is Ted Bundy in his own words.Readers can't get enough of Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer:'Truly terrifying.''Absolutely chilling. This book really opened my eyes.''I enjoyed this short time inside the devil's mind.'

'This is the most complete self-portrait ever painted by a serial killer... as unique a document as Bundy was a killer. There are lessons in this book for everyone' ROY HAZELWOOD, FORMER FBI PROFILERCharismatic. Articulate. Evil. Killer.Two journalists with unprecedented direct access speak to Ted Bundy and those closest to him - friends and family.What follows is a candid and chilling full account of the life and crimes of the most notorious serial killer in history.What Bundy had to say in over 150 hours of face-to-face interviews is as relevant today as it was at the time.