A Death on W Street

The Murder of Seth Rich and the Age of Conspiracy

By: Andy Kroll

Narrated by: Greg D. Barnett

A true-crime story for the post-truth era

In the early hours of July 10, 2016, gunshots rang out and a young man lay fatally wounded on a quiet Washington, DC, street. But who killed Seth Rich? When he was buried in his hometown, his rabbi declared: “There are no answers for a young man gunned down in the prime of his life.” The rabbi was wrong. There were in fact many answers, way too many.

In the absence of an arrest, a howling mob filled the void. Wild speculation and fantastical theories surfaced on social media and gained traction thanks to a high-level cast of provocateurs. But it wasn’t until Fox News took the rumors from the fringes to the mainstream that Seth Rich’s life and death grew into something altogether unexpected—one of the foundational conspiracy theories of modern times.

A Death on W Street unravels this gripping saga of murder, madness, and political chicanery, one that would ensnare Hillary Clinton and Steve Bannon, a popular pizzeria in northwest DC and the most powerful voices in American media. It's the story of an idealistic twenty-seven-year-old political staffer who became a tragic victim of the culture wars, until his family decided that they had no choice but to defend his name and put an end to the cruel deceptions that surrounded his death.

This is the definitive story of Seth Rich, of those who tried to weaponize his memory in a war of words unlike any other, and of one family’s crusade to protect the truth against all odds.

©2022 Andy Kroll (P)2022 PublicAffairs

Critic reviews

“The superbly talented Andy Kroll is right when he calls the Seth Rich case a ‘skeleton key’ to a darkening political landscape. Kroll’s vivid, gripping account of the manipulation of one man’s death by conspiracy-mongers, including people in Donald Trump’s inner circle, exposes a sinister undercurrent in American life that has now taken on frightening power.”—Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost

“This is truly a sad story—because of the death of good, young person, but mostly because of the death of an idea of rational and civil discussion in our society, replaced by insane conspiracy-mongering and by constant provocation. You will understand more about how we got to this place when you finish this powerful volume.”—Bill McKibben, author of The Flag, The Cross, and the Station Wagon

“Kroll has long been a reporter to watch in Washington, but his book A Death on W Street, announces him as a masterful longform storyteller, too. He’s written a compulsive and cautionary horror story about America’s descent into conspiracies, lies, and indecency. Part murder mystery, part political thriller, Kroll exposes those behind the spread of viral falsehoods, including Fox News, and describes the awful damage these lies inflict on the individuals besmirched, as well on democracy itself.”—Jane Mayer, chief Washington correspondent, The New Yorker Magazine

elucidating

deeply and richly reported book that does justice to a massive inflection point into this political moment

absolutely captivating and terrifying

This book was so captivating yet terrfying... i couldn't stop listening to it. Just when you think things are as wild as they can be, it gets wilder.

An important read for our times.

A wonderfully written novel which examines the weaponization of journalism and media in the current political atmosphere.The story of the death of DNC employee, Seth Rich and the manipulation of his family through the use of conspiracy theories. An important read.

This was a captivating read, from cover to cover!

Mr. Kroll did a nice job telling a story that’s too easily lost in the rhetoric of the day, navigating the complexities of some big personalities and some even bigger tales, all while consistently showing a high degree of respect for journalistic integrity as well as for Seth Rich and his family. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great political thriller and is brave enough to take a peak behind the curtain at the risk of discovering The Great Oz is just a man after all.

So interesting

Really interesting, so much more to this story than I realized. And such an important story to understand everything that has happened since.

Not enough on the murder

A good murder mystery, but more conspiracies about trumpism than was needed. That said, it clearly lays out the how, who (likely) killed, and why Mr. Rich was murdered. Hint: It was not a hit man. It’s a good listen and the narrator is very good.
If reality and facts are meaningful to you you will find this A-book worth your while.

We live in strange times

Andy Kroll deserves to be praised for patiently deconstructing conspiracy theories and how damaging they can be individually. This book should be taught in civics.

What a relief

This book gave me a sense of relief that someone, in this case Andy Kroll, finally researched where the crazy conspiracy theories originated and confirmed through his dedicated research the conspiracies were not based in fact.

His compassion and respect for the victims, the Rich family, is obvious by the amount of research he conducted while at the same time using the original factual resources.

This is not a book of opinion. It is a book of facts.
Facts are objective
Opinions are Subjective

Andy Kroll did not share his opinion of the facts. He reported only the facts. Bravo! 👏

The narrator, Greg Barnett, is very good. His voice is clear, concise, easy to follow with the right amount of inflection in his voice.

Great book!

I enjoyed this book very much! It is well written and the narrator is great as well!

Worthwhile in depth examination

This was such a sad story about the death of Seth Rich and the pain inflicted on his family by the usual, awful conspiracy theory instigators supporting DJT and his blind followers. Really in depth and well researched. Some persons were shining lights in the book, like attorney Michael Gottlieb, restores one sense of balance after confronting a lot Of Bad actors.