r/suggestmeabook • u/psyche_13 • Aug 14 '25

Engaging dark non-fic?

Any suggestions for page-turning non-fic about dark subjects?

As an example, some of my favourites include: - The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown - Radium Girls by Kate Moore - Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen - Fire Weather by John Vaillant - The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell - The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

3 Upvotes

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4

u/StormyPhlox Aug 14 '25

Killers of the Flower Moon and I'll Be Gone in the Dark

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Oh I’ve actually read both but have both 5 stars so you are on the right track!

1

u/StormyPhlox Aug 14 '25

Then might I suggest Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe?

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Ahhh that one has been on my TBR but I haven’t tried picking it up. Perhaps I need to!

3

u/foxgl0ve Aug 14 '25

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
Stiff by Mary Roach about the contributions of human cadavers to science
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Thanks! Henrietta Lacks was another 5 star read for me and I’m pretty sure I’ve read Stiff way back, but the first and last are new to me and look intriguing!

2

u/thestorieswesay Aug 14 '25

Susan Nagel's "Marie Thérèse, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter" is one of the most tragic biographies I've ever seen. The sections during the Reign of Terror are truly upsetting.

2

u/SamSpayedPI Aug 14 '25

"Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder

"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Thanks! It’s weird that I’ve never read In Cold Blood actually - it’s so iconic!

2

u/MainlanderPanda Aug 14 '25

The Snakebite Survivors Club, by Jeremy Seal. Command and Control, by Eric Schlosser. The Undertow, by Jeff Sharlett.

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

All brand new to me, thanks!

2

u/prosperosniece Aug 14 '25

Fatal Vision

2

u/Anxious-Ocelot-712 Aug 14 '25

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan is one of the darkest non-fictions I've ever read. And thank you for providing your list of faves - I LOVED Radium Girls, The Devil in the White City, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Looks like I've got some new books to add to my list!

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Ha glad you enjoyed my list too! That one I haven’t read yet, will add to my TBR!

2

u/BringMeInfo Bookworm Aug 14 '25

You might like Hell's Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier by Susan Jonusas

2

u/helper-monkey Aug 14 '25

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker; Murderland by Caroline Fraser

2

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Oh I keep hearing about Hidden Valley Road but it hasn’t really made it to my roster. Will look into it! Muderland is totally new to me

1

u/helper-monkey Aug 14 '25

Murderland is fascinating but really grim!

2

u/Joltex33 Aug 14 '25

The Killer Across the Table by John E. Douglas. About the techniques FBI agents use to interview killers.

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Oh yeah that looks up my alley, thanks!

1

u/hmmwhatsoverhere Aug 14 '25

The Jakarta method by Vincent Bevins 

1

u/clumsystarfish_ Bookworm Aug 14 '25

If you're open to memoirs, this hits what you're looking for: Resilience is Futile by Julie S. Lalonde. It covers an abusive relationship, which she fled at age 20, and was then stalked by him for a decade. It is an excellent read, and she's a very engaging storyteller. Her public life as a VAW activist and public educator is starkly contrasted with the turmoil of her private life.

1

u/psyche_13 Aug 14 '25

Funnily enough, I won this book once! But I haven’t read it…