New Releases by Jeff Benedict

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the #1 bestselling author of The Dynasty and Tiger Woods—the “definitive…fantastic” (Sports Illustrated) biography of basketball superstar LeBron James, based on three years of exhaustive research and more than 250 interviews. LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of the twenty-first century, and he’s in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. The reigning king of the game and the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, LeBron wears the crown like he was born with it. Yet his ascent has been anything but effortless and predetermined—the truth is vastly more interesting than that. What makes LeBron’s story so compelling is how he won his destiny despite overwhelmingly long odds, in a drama worthy of a Dickens novel. As a child, he was a scared and lonely little boy living a nomadic existence in Akron, Ohio. His mother, who had LeBron when she was sixteen, would sometimes leave him on his own. Destitute and fatherless, he missed close to one hundred days of school in the fourth grade. Desperate, his mother placed him with a family that gave him stability and put a basketball in his hands. “An absorbing chronicle of talent, character, pluck, and luck” (Wall Street Journal) LeBron tells the full, riveting saga of how a child adrift found the will to become a titan. Jeff Benedict, the most celebrated sports biographer of our time, paints a vivid picture of LeBron’s epic origin story, showing the gradual rise of a star who, surrounded by a tight-knit group of teenage friends and adult mentors, accelerated into a speeding comet during high school. Today LeBron produces Hollywood films and television shows, has a social media presence that includes more than one hundred million followers, engages in political activism, takes outspoken stances on racism and social injustice, and transforms lives through his visionary philanthropy. He went from a lost boy in Akron to a beloved hero who uses his fortune to educate underprivileged children and lift up needy families—and brought home Cleveland’s first NBA championship. But LeBron is more than just the origin story of a GOAT or a recap of his multi-championship, multi-MVP, gold medal–decorated career on the court. Benedict delves into LeBron’s relationship with fame and power: how he has cultivated it, harnessed it, suffered from it, and leveraged it. In these pages, we watch his evolution from a player who avoided politics and was widely criticized for not joining his teammates in protesting China’s role in the Darfur genocide to becoming an athlete who partnered with President Obama; campaigned for Hillary Clinton; became an advocate against gun violence, racism, and voter suppression; and openly clashed with President Trump, empowering other athletes to speak out against social injustice. To capture LeBron’s extraordinary life, Benedict conducted hundreds of interviews with the people who were involved with LeBron at different stages of his life. He also obtained thousands of pages of primary source documents and mined hundreds of hours of video footage. Destined to be the authoritative account of LeBron’s life, LeBron is a “masterful…propulsive” (Los Angeles Times) and unprecedented portrait of one of the world’s most captivating figures.

NOW A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY From Jeff Benedict, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tiger Woods and The Dynasty, Poisoned chronicles the events surrounding the worst food-poisoning epidemic in US history: the deadly Jack in the Box E. coli infections in 1993. On December 24, 1992, six-year-old Lauren Rudolph was hospitalized with excruciating stomach pain. Less than a week later she was dead. Doctors were baffled: How could a healthy child become so sick so quickly? After a frenzied investigation, public-health officials announced that the cause was E. coli O157:H7, and the source was hamburger meat served at a Jack in the Box restaurant. During this unprecedented crisis, four children died and over seven hundred others became gravely ill. In Poisoned, award-winning investigative journalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeff Benedict delivers a jarringly candid narrative of the fast-moving disaster, drawing on access to confidential documents and exclusive interviews with the real-life characters at the center of the drama—the families whose children were infected, the Jack in the Box executives forced to answer for the tragedy, the physicians and scientists who identified E. coli as the culprit, and the legal teams on both sides of the historic lawsuits that ensued. Fast Food Nation meets A Civil Action in this riveting account of how we learned the hard way to truly watch what we eat.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Now a 10-part docuseries on Apple TV+ From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots—the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century. It’s easy to forget that the New England Patriots were once the laughingstock of the NFL, a nearly bankrupt team that had never won a championship and was on the brink of moving to St. Louis. Everything changed in 1994, when Robert Kraft acquired the franchise and soon brought on board head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Since then, the Patriots have become a juggernaut, making ten trips to the Super Bowl, winning six of them, and emerging as one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. How was the Patriots dynasty built? And how did it last for two decades? In The Dynasty, acclaimed journalist Jeff Benedict provides richly reported answers in a sweeping account based on exclusive interviews with more than two hundred insiders—including team executives, coaches, players, players’ wives, team doctors, lawyers, and more—as well as never-before-seen recordings, documents, and electronic communications. Through his exhaustive research, Benedict uncovers surprising new details about the inner workings of a team notorious for its secrecy. He puts us in the room as Robert Kraft outmaneuvers a legion of lawyers and investors to buy the team. We listen in on the phone call when the greatest trade ever made—Bill Belichick for a first-round draft choice—is negotiated. And we look over the shoulder of forty-year-old Tom Brady as a surgeon operates on his throwing hand on the eve of the AFC Championship Game in 2018. But the portrait that emerges in The Dynasty is more rewarding than new details alone. By tracing the team’s epic run through the perspectives of Kraft, Belichick, and Brady—each of whom was interviewed for the book—the author provides a wealth of new insight into the complex human beings most responsible for the Patriots’ success. The result is an intimate portrait that captures the human drama of the dynasty’s three key characters while also revealing the secrets behind their success. “The Dynasty is…[a] masterpiece…It’s a relationship book, it’s a football book, it’s a business book…you’ll just eat up these stories” (Colin Cowherd).

#1 New York Times Bestseller * “A whirlwind of a biography that reads honest and true.” —The Wall Street Journal * “There is beauty and awe in this perfectly pitched biography.” —The New York Times * “Comprehensive, propulsive...and unsparing.” —The New Yorker Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews with people from every corner of Tiger Woods’s life this is “a searing biography of golf’s most blazing talent” (GOLF Magazine)—who has made one of the most remarkable comebacks of all time. In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendent star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life. But it turned out he had been living a double life for years—one that exploded in the aftermath of a Thanksgiving night crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional lives over a cliff. In this “searing biography of golf’s most blazing talent” (GOLF magazine), Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian dig deep behind the headlines to produce a richly reported answer to the question that has mystified millions of sports fans for nearly a decade: who is Tiger Woods, really? Drawing on more than four hundred interviews with people from every corner of Woods’s life—many of whom have never spoken about him on the record before—Benedict and Keteyian construct a captivating psychological profile of a mixed race child programmed by an attention-grabbing father and the original Tiger Mom to be the “chosen one,” to change not just the game of golf, but the world as well. But at what cost? Benedict and Keteyian provide the starling answers in this definitive biography that is destined to linger in the minds of readers for years to come. “Irresistible…Immensely readable…Benedict and Keteyian bring us along for the ride in a whirlwind of a biography that reads honest and true” (The Wall Street Journal). Ultimately, Tiger Woods is “a big American story…exhilarating, depressing, tawdry, and moving in almost equal measure” (The New York Times).

"Steve Young is a hero of mine. . . His perseverance, intelligence, and, most of all, grace under pressure, NFL-style, make this book a fascinating read." —Tom Brady In the most candid and compelling sports memoir since Andre Agassi's riveting bestseller Open, former San Francisco 49er, Super Bowl champion, NFL MVP, and Hall of Famer Steve Young gives readers an unprecedented and stunning inside look at what it takes to become a super-elite professional quarterback. Steve Young produced some of the most memorable moments in NFL history. But his most impressive victories have been deeply personal ones that were won when no one was watching. His remarkably revealing memoir is the story of a Mormon boy with a 4.0 GPA, a photographic memory, and a severe case of childhood separation anxiety. As an eighth-string quarterback at Brigham Young University, it was doubtful that he would ever see any playing time. But Young became an All-American, finished second in the Heisman voting, and was the top draft choice out of college. Then, after signing the largest contract in sports history, anxiety nearly drove him to walk away from football completely. In short, Young's quest in life was always about grit. Now, he shares the experience of being inside his helmet while he faces down his toughest adversaries, both on and off the field. "This book is gold." —Peter King "Intense." — San Francisco Chronicle "Young's battles with anxiety make you forget you are reading about a Hall of Famer, and make you root for him at every turn. This is a revealing, honest, compelling book that any fan will enjoy." —Michael Rosenberg, senior writer, Sports Illustrated

A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year NCAA football is big business. Every Saturday millions of people file into massive stadiums or tune in on television as "athlete-students" give everything they've got to make their team a success. Billions of dollars now flow into the game. But what is the true cost? The players have no share in the oceans of money. And once the lights go down, the glitter doesn't shine so brightly. Filled with mind-blowing details of major NCAA football scandals, with stops at Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Missouri, BYU, LSU, Texas A&M and many more, The System explores and exposes the complex, and perhaps broken, machine that churns behind the glamour of college football. With a New Afterword

"A fast and exciting read. . . . This survey of Owsley's career will appeal to both science and legal buffs." --Publishers Weekly The story of the Smithsonian's brilliant forensic anthropologist and the 9,000-year-old skeleton that sparked his landmark lawsuit against the U.S. government When he is not studying ancient skeletons, Doug Owsley is enlisted by the State Department and the FBI to identify remains. He has worked on some of the most notorious tragedies in recent history—Bosnia, Waco, 9/11 and Jeffrey Dahmer's victims among them. When an anthropologist in Kennewick, WA, calls Owsley to help study a 9,000 year-old caucasoid skeleton, he gets caught up in a battle against the Justice Department and Indian tribes who claim the skeleton is Native American and should be buried and not analyzed. Owsley, backed by scientists worldwide, files suit against the government and is now at the forefront of a landmark case—currently pending a ruling in the U.S. District Court—that may alter repatriation laws and have a significant impact on the classic views of Native Americans, migration patterns, and anthropology, as well as our understanding of prehistory.

The top national expert on athletes and crime and the author of Pros and Cons brings us a controversial in-depth look at criminals in the NBA The Kobe Bryant rape case and the arrest of Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson for allegedly murdering teammate Patrick Dennehy, has galvanized the attention of the public and the press on athletes and crime. Jeff Benedict, with his background in research regarding professional athletes and crime, uses these cases as a springboard into an unprecedented look at criminals who play professional basketball. In this raw exposé, Benedict evaluates every single current player in the NBA and his criminal history, revealing new and startling information about NBA players, the crimes they commit, the league’s tolerance and complacency in these instances, as well as the manner in which these cases are handled or disposed of in the justice system.

In Little Pink House, award-winning investigative journalist Jeff Benedict takes us behind the scenes of this case—indeed, Suzette Kelo speaks for the first time about all the details of this inspirational true story as one woman led the charge to take on corporate America to save her home. Suzette Kelo was just trying to rebuild her life when she purchased a falling down Victorian house perched on the waterfront in New London, CT. The house wasn't particularly fancy, but with lots of hard work Suzette was able to turn it into a home that was important to her, a home that represented her new found independence. Little did she know that the City of New London, desperate to revive its flailing economy, wanted to raze her house and the others like it that sat along the waterfront in order to win a lucrative Pfizer pharmaceutical contract that would bring new business into the city. Kelo and fourteen neighbors flat out refused to sell, so the city decided to exercise its power of eminent domain to condemn their homes, launching one of the most extraordinary legal cases of our time, a case that ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court. "Passionate...a page-turner with conscience." —Publishers Weekly "Catherine Keener nails the combination of anger, grace, and attitude that made Susette Kelo a nationally known crusader." —Deadline Hollywood

An unprecedented look at how the Mormon faith has shaped some of today’s most successful CEOs and businessmen. The Founder of JetBlue.The CEO of Dell Computers. The CEO of Deloitte & Touche. The Dean of the Harvard Business School. They all have one thing in common. They are devout Mormons who spend their Sundays exclusively with their families, never work long hours, and always put their spouses and children first. How do they do it? Now, critically acclaimed author and investigative journalist Jeff Benedict (a Mormon himself) examines these highly successful business execs and discovers how their beliefs have influenced them, and enabled them to achieve incredible success. With original interviews and unparalleled access, Benedict shares what truly drives these individuals, and the invaluable life lessons from which anyone can benefit.

In 1973, an old American Indian woman dies with nothing left of her tribe but a trailer and a two-hundred-acre reservation in the sleepy backyard of Ledyard, Connecticut. It seems to signal the end of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. But it is just the beginning. Over the course of the next three decades, the reservation grows to more than two thousand acres and becomes home to Foxwoods, the largest casino in the world, grossing more than $1 billion per year. The Pequots are reborn, immensely wealthy, and in possession of an enormous amount of political influence. How did it happen? In compelling detail, Without Reservation tells the stunning story of the rise of the richest tribe in American history. It begins with the grand ambitions of two men. One, an unemployed navy brat and outsider, is a failed preacher with the uncanny ability to charm; the other is fresh out of law school and armed with a brilliant legal theory to help impoverished Indian tribes. Together they resurrect the Pequots and battle the local townspeople to aggressively expand their reservation, taking on the state government for the right to gamble on their land. Embracing their cause are misguided and misinformed government officials and a former mob prosecutor who brings Malaysian financiers to the table. The Pequots must also contend with the price of power. Without Reservation reveals the mysterious roots of today's Pequot tribe, the racial tension that divides them, and the Machiavellian internal Power struggle over who will control the tribe's purse strings. This is a story of the duality of the American dream, the good and the bad that come with enormous wealth. Author Jeff Benedict shines a light on the dreamers and the deal makers, the backroom politicking and courtroom machinations, the trusts and betrayals, and the world of high-powered attorneys, politicians, tribal leaders, and financiers who made the Pequots what they are today. As compelling as a novel, Without Reservation is must reading for anyone interested in the way today's world really works.

Discloses the names of the convicted criminals in the NFL, the stunning severity of their crimes, & why they're still playing.

In an age of sports hero idolatry, it is essential to understand the relationship between male athletes and violence against women. Reports of well-known athletes, both professional and intercollegiate, who have been charged with crimes involving violence against women are prevalent in the media. Are these athletes more likely to gain the spotlight because of their status as star athletes? Or do their lifestyles make athletes more likely to engage in sexual assault, battering, or other forms of violence against women than nonathletes? Athletes and Acquaintance Rape unravels the controversy of this topic by focusing on three high-profile cases involving professional athletes who have been charged with sexual assault. Jeffrey R. Benedict provides a brief history on each athlete and traces the chronology of events leading up to the charges of sexual assault and the results of those charges. By examining specific aspects of the collegiate and professional athleteÆs life, Benedict reveals a climate predisposed to committing violence against women that provides star athletes with protection from punishment and conviction. Intriguing and thought-provoking, Athletes and Acquaintance Rape will prove useful for academics, practitioners, and students in several fields, including sociology, psychology, gender studies, law, sport management, educational administration, violence against women, and family violence. Written in an engaging style, the general reader will also find this book accessible and enlightening.

A hard-hitting look at the darker side of sports and the all-too-infrequent prosecutions of famous athletes for crimes against women.