First published 2018
Aaron Hernandez stood at the peak of professional football. The former college All-American had become the NFL's youngest player and reached the Super Bowl as a tight end for the New England Patriots. His Pro Bowl selection seemed to confirm a brilliant career ahead. But Hernandez harbored secrets that would destroy everything he had built. Between 2012 and 2013, violent incidents began connecting to his name. The trail led to Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who dated the sister of Hernandez's fiancée Shayanna Jenkins. Lloyd's death would trigger a murder investigation that exposed the hidden life Hernandez had concealed behind his athletic success. Patterson examines how a player with unlimited potential ended up convicted of first-degree murder in a maximum-security prison, where his own life would meet a shocking end.
Genres: biography, crime, non-fiction, true-crime
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: downfall, true-crime
Setting: New England Patriots, Super Bowl
Period: 2012-2013
400 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: murder, violence