First published 2021
Jeffrey Epstein's predatory behavior was well known among Palm Beach and Manhattan elite for years. When Trump nominated Alexander Acosta as Labor Secretary in 2017, Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown began asking hard questions about Acosta's role in Epstein's lenient 2008 plea deal. Brown spent months tracking down court documents and locating victims across the country, often working in dangerous conditions. She discovered that Epstein operated a global sex trafficking operation, targeting vulnerable teenagers from broken homes and forcing them to recruit other girls. Brown's explosive three-part series revealed how the justice system failed these young women while powerful men looked the other way. Her reporting triggered Epstein's arrest, Ghislaine Maxwell's eventual capture, and Acosta's resignation. The story follows Epstein's rise from college dropout to billionaire financier with connections to Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and Bill Clinton. Brown chronicles her investigation into a system that protected wealth and power at the expense of justice for trafficking victims.
Genres: abuse, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, true-crime, investigative-journalism
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, powerful-vs-powerless
Setting: Manhattan, Palm Beach
Period: 2017, 2008
432 pages · Hardcover · Dey Street Books
Content warnings: child-abuse, sexual-assault, trafficking