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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