My newest true crime book, Scout Camp: Sex, Death, and Secret Societies Inside the Boy Scouts of America is finally here! Find it at your local bookstore or online here.
If you live in Cleveland and would like a signed copy, drop by Loganberry Books or order directly from them here.
In this timely and deeply personal true crime memoir, acclaimed journalist, author, creator of the True Crime This Week podcast, and former Boy Scout James Renner, explores the dark side of an American institution, its pervasive culture of sexual abuse, and the traumatic—even deadly—repercussions of its long-buried secrets.
In the summer of 1995, at the largest Boy Scout camp in Ohio, a night of sexual violence ended with one counselor dead and another hospitalized. The death was ruled “accidental.” It wouldn’t be the last death associated with Seven Ranges Reservation.
James Renner, too, was a counselor at Seven Ranges that year. He was always sure there must be more to the story of Mike Klingler’s death, because Renner also knew firsthand that the 900-acre camp was not the safe getaway it was portrayed to be. On Friday nights the boys were ushered into the woods for a frightening ceremony in which they learned the rules for becoming good young men—and, above all, that keeping secrets was a scout’s duty. No matter how dark the secrets were.
Determined to face his demons, Renner embarks on a journey back to that tumultuous summer and exposes a clandestine society that left indelible scars on the scouts and the staff who were there. For Renner himself, it meant opening up about his twisted upbringing, his issues with trust and sexuality, and a lifetime of self-medication. The result is a deeply personal, no-holds-barred, and vitally important true crime memoir.
Your newest book has healed something.
You can live your whole life in the Akron area and never hear about Suffield, but that is where I grew up. I only ever learned to hide the shame. I was a good little girl and I still hold many things I have never said out loud.
Though our experiences are different, I want to thank you for this book. It’s odd to feel thankful for a book like this while also wishing you had never had the experiences to write it. I am so deeply sorry your life has comforted mine.
Thank you again for being so brave.
I have been a fan of yours for a while . I am only a casual fan of true crime, but your books are the best and the only true crimes I collect, as well as your novels. Until I gave all my Stephen King books to my daughter, your books sat on the shelf between his and the Margaret Atwoods.
This Friday I will get to see you. I’m honestly not sure if it’s abook signing or more of a lecture. I will be there with my favorite book, True Crime Addict.
Thank you so much, this means a lot to me. I hope the book works this way for others. Happy to share shelf space with those two! Please say hi at B&N!
It is a wonderful, authentic book. As to the topic of addiction;; I am right now detoxing from Benzodiazepines and Ritalin. It’s the first time where I don’t tell my friends: “ Don’t expect too much.” This time I said: “I will get clean.” This time I don’t only want to be sober, this time I am willing to GET sober. Stay strong Renner. We can actually make it.