by Dick Lehr
First published 2021
In spring 2016, three members of a militia called the Crusaders watch their Kansas farming town fill with Somali refugees. Complaints and direct threats no longer satisfy them. They plan something bigger. The men design a bombing attack on the local mosque, hoping to kill hundreds and trigger a wave of anti-Muslim violence across America. They agree to wait until after the presidential election to avoid damaging Trump's campaign. For eight months, an FBI informant moves among them, recording their conversations and mapping their conspiracy. Dick Lehr reconstructs this case of domestic terrorism through the secretly recorded planning sessions, the FBI investigation, and the trial that followed. The story unfolds in a remote Kansas community not far from where Truman Capote set In Cold Blood. Lehr shows how racist fears transformed into a concrete plan for mass murder, and how law enforcement prevented hundreds of deaths.
Genres: american-fiction, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, true-crime, political-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: conspiracy, investigative-journalism, real-events
Setting: Kansas, United States
Period: 2016
416 pages · Hardcover · Mariner Books
Content warnings: racism, violence