The Bluegrass Conspiracy - Softcover

Sally Denton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380714418 ISBN 13: 9780380714414

Publisher: Avon Books, 2001

Synopsis

In 1985 the body of Andrew Carter Thornton II, a former Lexington narcotics officer who turned to dealing drugs was found. On Thornton were about several pounds of cocaine, $4,800 in cash, two automatic weapons, several knives, rope. Why did he turn to a life of crime? That was the mystery.

About this title

About the Author:

Sally Denton is an investigative reporter, author, and historian who writes about the subjects others ignore--from a drug conspiracy in Kentucky to organized crime in Las Vegas; from corruption within the Mormon Church to the hidden history of Manifest Destiny; from one of America's bitterest political campaigns to the powerful forces arrayed against Franklin D. Roosevelt. She has an extensive background in print and broadcast journalism, including newspapers, magazines, and television, and is the author of eight books of narrative history and investigative nonfiction. While the subjects of her books at first glance seem disparate, they are actually unified by a central theme of the exploration of subjects in American history--and especially in the American West--that have been neglected or marginalized. What she has done in her 30-year career is to explore the unmentioned truths about America--what the eminent scholar Daniel Boorstin called "Hidden History." She is a Guggenheim fellow, a Woodrow Wilson public scholar, a Hoover Institute Media Fellow, a Black Mountain/Kluge fellow, the recipient of two Western Heritage Awards, and has been inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. She is a fourth generation Nevadan, where she began her journalism career in 1976, and is a longtime resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

From Library Journal:

Denton, a former investigator for Jack Anderson, relates a sordid tale of corruption in Lexington, Kentucky. Among the major players were Governor John Y. Brown; his top political aides; former policeman and blueblood Andrew Thornton, the leader of an organization known as the "Company"; and other bluebloods, rich from money originally earned in horse-breeding and racing. Ralph Ross, a Kentucky state policeman who began a crusade to catch Thornton and his associates, was eventually forced out by being framed in an illegal wiretapping charge. Yet ultimately press coverage exposed the conspiracy. A labyrinthian tale, made complex by its mix of "good guys" and "bad guys," this will be of interest to libraries with large true crime sections. Recommended.
-Sandra K. Lindheimer, Middlesex Law Lib., Cambridge, Mass.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Avon Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0380714418
• ISBN 13: 9780380714414
• Binding: Paperback