{"product_id":"the-setup-isbn-9781940363318","title":"The Setup","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe pitch went like this\u003c\/b\u003e: Chris Butler, a retired cop, ran a private investigator firm in Concord, California. His business had a fascinating angle—his firm was staffed entirely by soccer moms. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn fact, Butler employed PI Super Moms: attractive, organized, smart, and trained in investigative techniques, self-defense, and weaponry. \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e host Ira Glass described them as “MILF: Charlie's Angels.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen this story came across Pete Crooks's desk when he was working at \u003ci\u003eDiablo\u003c\/i\u003e magazine in 2010, he was instantly hooked. He'd heard a little bit about Butler and his super moms in the news; they'd been featured in \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and on \u003ci\u003eDr. Phil\u003c\/i\u003e. What Butler's publicist was offering was too tantalizing to pass up: an opportunity to ride along with Butler and a few of his sexy PIs as they prepared to start filming a reality TV show.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut after the ride-along—and after he started receiving mysterious emails from one of Butler's employees—Crooks started to realize something didn't seem right. After doing a little digging, he discovered the “sting\" he'd seen only had one real victim…him. The PI bust had been a setup.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCrooks wasn't a hardboiled crime reporter. He did lifestyle pieces for a regional magazine. The more he learned about Butler's operation, the more he realized he was in far over his head. But swallowing his fears, he decided he was going to write an expose on Butler and his entire organization. He soon found himself deep in the underbelly of fake sting operations, wannabe celebrities, police corruption, drug-dealing, reality television, double-crossing employees, and more twists and turns than a dozen crime thrillers.\"\u003ci\u003eThe Setup\u003c\/i\u003e tells one of the most popular stories we've ever had on \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e, with fascinating details you can't fit into a one-hour radio show. Pete Crooks was set up as a mark in this true-life caper, until he out-detectived the detectives. His chatty, lively account of what happened is a jaw-dropping tale of ambition, crime, and reality TV.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Ira Glass, Host of public radio's \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Journalist Pete Crooks has very carefully reported a tale of people who believed that reality television was the fastest pathway to the fame they so desperately wanted . . . A unique insight into a house of cards constructed to lead to media fame—and to discover more sinister behavior that was occurring just behind the curtain, when the cameras weren't shooting.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Joe Kenda, retired police detective and subject of Discovery Television's \u003ci\u003eHomicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Setup\u003c\/i\u003e is most certainly a riveting real-life thriller. But the book is also much more than that . . . This deeply-layered crime and corruption story is the ultimate ‘truth is stranger than fiction' scenario for a celebrity-obsessed culture. Once I started reading, I could not put \u003ci\u003eThe Setup\u003c\/i\u003e down.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Louise Fletcher, Academy Award-winning actress in \u003ci\u003eOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A true crime story about a delusional suburban detective trying to sell a reality show about soccer moms? Yes, you are going to laugh \u003ci\u003ea lot\u003c\/i\u003e but because Crooks treats his subjects respectfully and like the fallible humans we all are; the absurdity isn't mean-spirited. Only a true noir fan could have done such a bang-up job.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Beth Lisick, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eEverybody Into the Pool\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ePete Crooks\u003c\/b\u003e is a Bay Area-based journalist, and the author of the seminal investigative story about one of the Bay Area's most sensational crime and corruption stories in recent history. For the past 14 years, Crooks has been one of the editors of \u003ci\u003eDiablo\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, and was on assignment for the magazine when he broke the incredible crime scandal detailed in \u003ci\u003eThe Setup: A True Story of Soccer Moms, Dirty Cops, and Reality TV\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCrooks's reporting on this stranger than fiction story about reality show wannabes, duplicitous soccer moms, and a conspiracy involving corrupt cops and a sociopath private investigator received national acclaim, inspiring episodes of the award-winning radio program \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e48 Hours\u003c\/i\u003e on CBS news, for which Crooks served as an official consultant.","brand":"BenBella Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301297180901,"sku":"NP9781940363318","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781940363318_bf2fc99d-3509-4e29-8ed5-4de50d9b501e.jpg?v=1742923783","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-setup-isbn-9781940363318","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}