The Devil's Best Trick

Praise for The Devil’s Best Trick:

“A master class in the difficult art of first-person, narrative nonfiction…The prose has wonderful momentum even when he’s writing about arcane debates in the early Christian church. Each chapter is a turn, a surprise. The writing is never clichéd, nor is the thinking. Sullivan knows a great lede, and he’s just as good with cliffhangers.” Clancy Martin in The New York Times Book Review

“A gonzo and sometimes chilling account… The book’s most entertaining writing is memoiristic… with self-deprecating humor, but whatholds it all together is a sincere yearning to understand evil. It’s a dizzying plunge into darkness in search of moral clarity.”–Publishers Weekly

“A compelling journey into the heart of darkness with an articulate, capable guide.”–Kirkus

“The devil does exist, though his best trick is to convince us he does not, Sullivan believes. His well argued book will intrigue both skeptics and true believers.” –Booklist

Praise for Randall Sullivan:

“A strikingly rendered tale of the hard and lasting costs of courage.”–Kirkus (starred review)

“Sullivan thoroughly details a case fraught with tension, complexity, and many key figures … Intensive, engaging investigative journalism.”–Library Journal on Dead Wrong

“Sullivan has done what every aspiring true-crime writer hopes to do: He has crossed the line from titillation into cultural history.”–Los Angeles Times on The Price of Experience

“The most thorough examination of these much-publicized events. Exhaustively researched, the book methodically weaves a disturbing story of corruption, intimidation, and murder.”–Boston Globe on LAbyrinth

Randall Sullivan was a contributing editor to Rolling Stone for over twenty years. He is the author of Graveyard of the Pacific, The Curse of Oak Island, Dead Wrong, The Price of Experience, LAbyrinth, The Miracle Detective, and Untouchable. His work has been published in, among many other places, Esquire, Outside, Men’s Journal, Washington Post, and the Guardian. He lives in Oregon.