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James Renner is an award-winning journalist, and author of True Crime Addict, the definitive book on the Maura Murray disappearance. He also hosts the podcast, The Philosophy of Crime. In 2019, he founded The Porchlight Project which raises money for new DNA testing and genetic genealogy for Ohio cold cases. In May, 2020, James Zastawnik was arrested for the murder of Barbara Blatnik, thanks to the work of genealogists funded by the Porchlight Project.

True Crime Addict Getting TV Adaptation!

Some fantastic news! True Crime Addict is being adapted for television by some great people. Johnny Depp’s company is producing. Richard Price is writing. And I’ll be an executive producer. Looks like some small details are changing. Here’s the synopsis.

Published last year, Renner’s True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself In The Mysterious Disappearance Of Maura Murray, which had been compared to David Fincher’s Zodiac, follows investigative journalist Jimmy Hunter. His lifelong obsession with cold cases leads him to research feverishly the whereabouts of a popular college student whose car was found abandoned in rural upstate New York. While Jimmy’s all-consuming quest for the truth begins to devour him body and soul, he must also strive to keep it from tearing apart his young and fragile family.

Check out the full article at Deadline.

The Great Forgetting is a Picador Paperback!

The Great Forgetting is now available in paperback!

A blend of mystery and fantasy, The Great Forgetting shows you a world not too different from out own, where we have chosen to forget the worst parts of history… at our own peril.

“If you like your fiction tidy and predictable, look elsewhere.” The Washington Post

The Great Forgetting is blasphemous, riveting, insane, and glorious.” Andy Howell (Copernicus), Ain’t It Cool News

“A fascinating concept . . . worth the read.” Kirkus Reviews

“Packed with thrills.” Publishers Weekly

“A tale you won’t forget.” New York Post

Pick up a copy at your local neighborhood bookstore, today, or order online.

The Man from Primrose Lane Has a New Home at Fox!

Make room on your DVR for The Man from Primrose Lane! My debut genre-bending detective novel has found a home at Fox. Here’s the skinny:

In Working Title Television’s first development season since Andrew Stearn joined as president, the company, a joint venture with NBCU International Studios, which is overseen by Michael Edelstein, and Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, has set up three broadcast drama series projects; an adaptation of James Renner’s book The Man From Primrose Lane at Fox with feature director-producer Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes).

Click here to read the rest.

New York Times, on True Crime Addict

True Crime Addict appeared in the The New York Times Sunday Book Review last week. Marilyn Stasio called me “shamelessly entertaining”!

“Renner, the author of The Serial Killer’s Apprentice, is just plain fun to read. Noting that Maura lived in Melville Hall, he can’t resist mentioning that this freshman dormitory took its name from the guy who wrote the ultimate book on pointless obsession.

Read the full review and a list of other cool true crime books, here.

 

Awesome Reviews on Amazon

Here’s what Amazon reviewers are saying about True Crime Addict:

“When I finally had James book in my hands I felt childlike joy. The feeling one gets when walking into the theater to watch a new Star Wars movie was very similar. Any true mystery fan will be sure to love it.”

“By far one of the best true crime stories I’ve ever read.”

“He’s definitely fearless in his pursuit of finding out what exactly happened the her on that dark, cold road.”

“James Renner killed it with this book. He’s the next “it” author…mark my words.”

“I was captivated with his narrative way and completely riveted to the pages.”

“James Renner is a compelling writer of True Crime.”

“I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in cold cases, not just Maura Murray.”

Check Out the Early Reviews for TRUE CRIME ADDICT!

True Crime Addict comes out May 24 but you can now pre-order it anywhere books are sold!

Here’s what some early reviewers are saying:

“An entrancing, brilliant next step for fans of the podcast Serial, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and other true crime cases.” Library Journal, starred review.

“Brutally honest, no-holds-barred storytelling … Renner brilliantly covers all the bases here, unravels part of the mystery, sheds light on his personal struggles while, in the process, making us care for the victim.” New York Times bestselling author M. William Phelps

“Renner’s walk on the dark side makes for a highly compelling read.” Kathryn Casey, bestselling author of Deliver Us

“Renner’s personal involvement in the case and his self-destructive, relentless dedication to confronting the darkness at the heart of it[…is] noteworthy.” Publishers Weekly

And from Goodreads:

“If you like true crime, this book is for you. I can’t recommend it highly enough! It reads like a fictional thriller with his ease of reliability and humorous wit thrown in. I kept thinking ‘Geez, I could be friends with this dude.'”

“Absorbing, disturbing and absolutely unputdownable – this was one of the best ‘true crime’ novels I’ve ever read.”

“True crime fans should pick up this quick read. I read it in a few hours and would have finished it in one sitting had I had the time.”

“I found Renner’s narrative of fact-finding and interviewing– twisty and complex as it was– to be deeply engaging. I felt carried along in his journey.”

Goodreads Loves The Great Forgetting!

“There’s a kind of novel that always feels like a home when i come across one. i can’t articulate exactly what it is about these books except that they are paradoxically both exciting and comforting to me; my heart beats faster while my body relaxes. they have nothing in common with each other, although they frequently fall into the place where postmodern metafiction intersects with slipstream and kinda knocks you over sideways a little and has you questioning reality.”

 

“I motherf-ing LOVED this. Holy hell. Where do I begin?”

 

“Renner is a brave author who doesn’t ever make safe choices. He marches out into the badlands of crazy and bewildering, sees what he finds there, and then puts it into his story.”

 

“I want to rave about this book and explain in minute detail why you should be reading it RIGHT NOW — instead of reading this review — and yet, I so desperately do not want to ruin it for you so I can’t say anything!”

 

“Some books are special. They make you look at the world around you in a different way. They fill your heart and your mind with ‘what ifs’. They make you think of possibilities. This is one of these books.”

 

“Now and then, I come across an interview with an author where the question is asked ‘What is the book you wish you’d written?'”

 

“What. What just happened. I don’t know how to review this.”

 

Join the conversation on Goodreads!

 

Reserve Your Copy of The Great Forgetting, Today!

You can now reserve your copy of The Great Forgetting at you favorite local bookstore or online retailer! If you do it today, you can say you did it before it was “cool,” you magnificent hipster!

In The Man from Primrose Lane, James Renner fused time travel with serial-killer thrillers, resulting in what the Associated Press called “a superbly crazy and imaginative story.” Now, in The Great Forgetting, he blends science fiction and conspiracy thrillers with a touch of pure fantasy, and the result is just as crazy and imaginative.

Jack Felter, a history teacher, returns home to bucolic Franklin Mills, Ohio, to care for his father, a retired pilot who suffers from dementia and is quickly losing his memory. Jack would love to forget about Franklin Mills, and about Sam, the girl he fell in love with, who ran off with his best friend, Tony. Except Tony has gone missing.

Soon Jack is pulled into the search for Tony, but the only one who seems to know anything is Tony’s last patient, a paranoid boy named Cole. Jack must team up with Cole to follow Tony’s trail–and maybe save the world. Their journey will lead them to Manhattan and secret facilities buried under the Catskills, and eventually to a forgotten island in the Pacific–the final destination of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

When Jack learns the details about the program known as the Great Forgetting, he’s faced with the timeless question: Is it better to forget our greatest mistake or to remember, so it’s never repeated?