Furious Hours

Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

By: Casey Cep

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

One of President Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2019
Named One of the Best Books of 2019 by Time, LitHub, Vulture, Glamour, O Magazine, Town and Country, Suspense Magazine, Inside Hook
New York Times Best Seller

2019, The Baillie Gifford Prize, Short-listed

“Compelling . . . at once a true-crime thriller, courtroom drama, and miniature biography of Harper Lee. If To Kill a Mockingbird was one of your favorite books growing up, you should add Furious Hours to your reading list today.” (Southern Living)

Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend.

Sitting in the audience during the vigilante's trial was Harper Lee, who had traveled from New York City to her native Alabama with the idea of writing her own In Cold Blood, the true-crime classic she had helped her friend Truman Capote research 17 years earlier. Lee spent a year in town reporting and many more years working on her own version of the case.

Now, Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South. At the same time, she offers a deeply moving portrait of one of the country's most beloved writers and her struggle with fame, success, and the mystery of artistic creativity.

©2019 Casey Cep (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

One of Time's 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2019

One of The Washington Post's Most Notable Reads of 2019

“She explains as well as it is likely ever to be explained why Lee went silent after To Kill a Mockingbird. (The clue’s in Cep’s title.) And it’s here, in her descriptions of another writer’s failure to write, that her book makes a magical little leap, and it goes from being a superbly written true-crime story to the sort of story that even Lee would have been proud to write.” —Michael Lewis, The New York Times Book Review

“What I didn't see coming was the emotional response I'd have as I blazed through the last 20 pages of the book — yet there I was, weeping…A gripping, incredibly well-written portrait of not only Harper Lee, but of mid-20th century Alabama — and a still-unanswered set of crimes to rival the serial killers made infamous in the same time period.” —Ilana Masad, NPR

“Cep’s book is a marvel. In elegant prose, she gives us the fullest story yet of Lee’s post-Mockingbird life in New York–boozy, unproductive, modest despite her means, yet full of books and theater–and her quest in Alabama, where she grew close to Radney and his family, to tell the Maxwell story. Cep’s is an account emotionally attuned to the toll that great writing takes, and shows that sometimes one perfect book is all we can ask for, even while we wish for another.” —Lucas Wittmann, Time

Good book, Local mispronunciations

The narrator mispronunciations Opelika AL and it drove me insane. The book is basically 3 separate stories, each interesting in their own right.

Agravation

Being from Alabama, I found it infuriating how many cities and areas the narrator mispronounced. If you are going to read a book about an area....LEARN HOW TO PRONOUNCE THE CITIES!

Fascinating!!

This book is a wonderful mix of true crime, literary & cultural history, and biography. Absolutely captivating.

Almost a DNF

I almost stopped listening to this book. The actual book and content we're good. It is obvious the author put a tremendous amount of time into research. The book was written in three sections, each could have been books of their own. I enjoyed the history.
I didn't enjoy the narration. The narrator felt the need to use a fake Southern accent when quoting characters. There are numerous accents used in Alabama but this narrator didn't get any of them correct. I listened to this book while traveling to Monroe County. She doesn't sound like anyone there. She almost sounded condescending. In addition, she didn't pronounce the name of Opelika correctly. I was really glad when this book ended. This is one I wish I hadn't gotten on audio.

Amazing

but heartbreaking, I was hooked and listened to the whole book in a day and a half.

Amazing Book! Great narrator!

The book was incredible! Hope to read more from Casey Cep soon!! She is a great author!

why the rave reviews??

for the life of me I can’t figure out the rave reviews on this book….lots of tedious research and lists. the story is written in three parts, and for me, they never really come back together tied up in a bow. if you are a harper lee fan, you will cherish part three — anything and everything you would ever want to know about her.
nice narration.

My 1st AUDIBLE book.Due to some health problems it has become more & more difficult to hold a book.

This was my Book Club book. I was pleased with this experience and even mentioned that it was superior to reading it myself. I enjoyed the reader, I wasn't looking for things to criticize but was appreciative that I was able to hear the book thank you. looking forward to hearing our future Book Club selections. I already have books for the rest of 2019

Couldn’t pick just one

I didn’t know Siri/Alexa/the voicemail message voice did audiobooks. It really sounds like the narration actor read each word from the dictionary aloud as an individual audio track, and the publisher just remixed them to create the sentences from the book.
It makes it very easy to zone out, especially at times when the author delivers into the history of insurance. That said, it is a pretty interesting history.

The book is good.

Fabulous

Better than a Harper Lee biography - so well written and put together- a real joy for a non fiction reader.