New Releases by Jeff Benedict

The first definitive biography of basketball legend LeBron James, by the acclaimed author of Tiger Woods. LeBron is unquestionably the greatest basketball player of the 21st century. Off the court, LeBron''s political activism, outspoken stance on racism and social injustice have helped build a social media presence that includes 117 million followers on Instagram and 51 million followers on Twitter. He is an international brand worth billions of dollars. He doesn’t just have huge endorsement deals with some of the biggest corporations in the world; LeBron sits on boards of directors and has an equity stake in the companies he sponsors. He has forged a close friendship with President Barack Obama and clashed publicly with President Donald Trump. As a child, LeBron was a lost little boy living in a public housing project in Akron, Ohio. His mother, who had LeBron when she was just sixteen, would disappear for days at a time. Scared and alone, LeBron rarely attended school. He was dirt poor and fatherless. And he had never played organised basketball. Yet he would become the most successful and most popular athlete that the United States has produced this century, bringing success to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. To tell this epic story, Benedict has done exhaustive research, digging through thousands of pages of primary source documents, articles, books and hundreds of hours of video footage. He’s also conducted hundreds of interviews with the people who were intimately involved with LeBron from the beginning of his life to the present. He shows the initial slow rise of a star that suddenly transformed into a speeding comet during his senior year of high school. It is a unique and unmissable insight into one of the world''s greatest athletes.

Presents an account of the E. coli outbreak involving hamburger meat from the Jack in the Box fast food chain, including coverage of the subsequent lawsuit and interviews with executives, researchers, lawyers, and the victims'' families.

"The definitive inside story of the New England Patriots dynasty"--

#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

Tito Momen was raised to observe the strict and radical teachings of Islam but later he was introduced to Christianity and baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a decision which lead to estrangement from his family and imprisonment.

"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.

With compelling detail, Without Reservation tells the stunning story of the rise of the richest Indian tribe in history. In 1973, an old American Indian woman dies with nothing left of her tribe but a 214-acre tract of abandoned forest. It seems to be the end of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. But it is just the beginning. Over the next three decades, the reservation grows to nearly 2,000 acres, home to more than 600 people claiming to be tribal members. It has also become home to Foxwoods, the largest casino in the world, grossing more than $1 billion a year. Without Reservation reveals the mysterious roots of today''s Pequot tribe, the racial tension that divides its members, and the Machiavellian internal power struggle over who will control the tribe''s funds. Author Jeff Benedict brings to us the deal makers, the courtroom machinations, the trusts and betrayals. Now, with remarkable new information, the paperback brings us up-to-date on these revelations, which lead to state and federal investigations and calls for congressional hearings.

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.