Stephen Singular's first book, Talked to Death,
set the tone for his journalistic career. Published in 1987, it chronicled the assassination
of a Denver Jewish talk show host, Alan Berg, by a group of neo-Nazis known as The
Order. The book was nominated for a national award -- the Edgar for true crime --
and became the basis for the 1989 Oliver Stone film, Talk Radio.
Talked to Death explored the timeless American themes of racism, class,
violence, and religious intolerance, and the critics had been alerted to a new author
and an important subject:
"The book works at every level, from melodrama to murder mystery to sociology. Singular
has much to tell us here, and all of it is disturbing."
Philadelphia Inquirer
"Mr. Singular offers a microcosm lesson in the workings of a violently racist mind...
It is the story of how broadcast communications is evolving in our era and what
it has cost us."
The New York Times
"A chilling examination of American-born right-wing terrorism."
Chicago Tribune
Since 1987, Singular has published 17 more non-fiction books that reflect
a wide range of interest and diversity of styles. Twice a New York Times
best selling author, he's written three books about sports, including collaborations
with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and controversial NFL superstar Terrell Owens,
and biographies of Hollywood power players Michael Ovitz and David Geffen. True
crime remained the focal point of his work, but he'd begun writing less about individual
crimes and more about social crimes. His 1995 study of the O.J. Simpson case, Legacy of Deception, went beneath the media hysteria surrounding
these murders and connected the violent bigotry of The Order with the racist corruption
inside the Los Angeles Police Department. Singular's 1999 book, Presumed
Guilty: An Investigation into the JonBenet Ramsey Case, the Media, and the Culture
of Pornography, performed a similar role for the infamous child killing
in Boulder, Colorado. Again, the critics were impressed:
"Veteran crime journalist Singular (Talked to Death, 1987, etc.) offers an original
perspective on the sadly epochal killing of JonBenet Ramsey. Singular was in Boulder,
Colo., for much of the investigation, and he methodically details its progress,
acutely portraying a volatile situation. He depicts many key players, from DA Alex
Hunter and various investigators to talk-radio rabble-rousers and Globe scandalmongers;
he asserts that the latter parties bear great responsibility for confusing the public
perception of the case and for inflaming tensions among the DA, the cops, and other
factions to the point where the investigation may be stalemated. He focuses on the
carnivorous mode of the mass media, particularly their lurid, immediate indictment
of the Ramsey parents. Singulars perceptive exploration of the near-universal call
for the Ramseys' heads reveals the gritty power struggles and class schisms that
underlie the shiny, comforting facade of the Boulder region. Unlike his dirt-chasing
peers, he gives nuanced attention to an unsettling aspect of the case that he considers
overlooked yet central: the gray area in which the mainstreamed commodification
of childrens sexuality collides with the abuse of child pornography. JonBenet was
merely one of many little girls leeringly displayed as things of beauty by the pageant
industry, whose evil twin is the underground of child porn producers and collectors,
hugely expanded because of the Internet. Although the author claims at points to
have uncovered voluminous evidence, he incorporates few of the particulars, giving
his odyssey its own patina of conspiracy theory. Singulars ultimate scenariothat
neither parent personally murdered JonBenet, but one parents unwitting involvement
led to attempts at concealmentbears consideration, but like this subtly rendered
book, may well go unheard in the collective din. Without fully lighting the dark
corners of an unappealing realm, Singular has produced a balanced, detailed, thoughtful
consideration of an incident usually reduced to cultural dissonance."
Kirkus Reviews
"The best writing about the Colorado murder case."
USA Today
"Novel, interesting, and a great read... Presumed Guilty opens the Ramsey case to
a larger phenomenon [and] a shocking, disturbing aspect of American life."
The New York Post
"Presumed Guilty is as close to the truth as we'll ever get in this baffling case."
The Arizona Daily Star
In 2001, Singular brought out The Uncivil War: The Rise of
Hate, Violence, and Terrorism in America documenting the increasing dangers
of the nation's deepening cultural war. The book was published well before terrorism
struck the United States on September 11, 2001, and the country had plunged into
a bitterly divisive conflict in Iraq. The same themes the author had first uncovered
in Talked to Death - Fundamentalist religion and intolerance,
racism and violence - were re-examined in this book, but now the stakes were much
higher and the stage was global. Singular was probing not just the violence itself,
but its underlying emotional and spiritual causes. His new book,
Unholy Messenger: The Life & Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer, goes
even deeper into the convergence of distorted religious beliefs and bloodshed.
Each of his nine books about crime has described a piece of one of the most
unsettling developments of our time. Taken together, they go to the roots of much
violence and offer a new way of thinking about these critical issues.
More about
Stephen Singular at SimonSays, official publisher's site.
Husband and Wife Team
Since 1991, my wife, Joyce Jacques Singular, has worked closely with me on
many of the true crime books. When we met 15 years ago, we both had an intense interest
in the psychological aspects of murder and we had unconventional views of spirituality.
Over time, this combination filtered into our work together. Many of the cases we've
written books about have had a strong religious component. We've been intrigued
with the place where darkness meets the light -- and with looking at certain crimes
not just from a legal, forensic or sociological point of view but from a spiritual
angle as well. This is especially true when killers have committed acts of violence
in the name of God.
In her work on the books, Joyce has attended legal proceedings, visited inmates
in prison, interviewed witnesses, studied forensic data, and been involved in developing
ideas for stories, photo selection, editing, creative suggestions, and re-writing.
We've also done several TV and movie treatments as a team. The use of both a male
and female perspective has added a unique dimension to the true crimes books, three
of which have been about women who committed murders. These include
A Killing in the Family which was an NBC-TV mini-series entitled
Love, Lies, and Murder; Sweet Evil, about
a young Colorado Springs wife and mother who killed another woman; and
Charmed to Death, which became a FOX-TV movie titled "Legacy of Sin."
In Anyone You Want Me to Be, the story of the Internet's
first known serial killer, Joyce was especially insightful in understanding how
women were drawn into online romances that ended with their deaths.
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