First published 1988
Kyle rose from Tennessee mountain poverty to become a decorated Marine fighter pilot, then a wealthy Texas businessman with stakes in a Hollywood studio. On July 22, 1983, gunshots shatter the quiet of his Bel-Air mansion. Kyle lies dead. His older son suffers minor wounds and tells police that burglars broke in and attacked them both. The story seems straightforward until the son changes his account. He admits he pulled the trigger himself. The courtroom becomes a battlefield where years of family secrets spill into public view. Testimony reveals Kyle's pattern of physical and verbal cruelty toward his son. Witnesses describe his treatment of multiple wives. The case forces a jury to weigh a father's abuse against a son's ultimate act of rebellion. Behind the wealth and success lay a family destroyed by violence and control.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Bel-Air, Hollywood, Texas, Tennessee
Period: 1983
313 pages · Paperback · St Martins Press
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence, physical-abuse