The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder

"The best book(s) I read this year" (top ten books, EW) --Stephen King

Registered nurse Charlie Cullen was dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 400 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history. Now, in a riveting piece of investigative journalism nearly ten years in the making, Charles Graeber gives us the unbelievable true story.

The Good Nurse weaves an urgent and terrifying tale of madness, humanity and heroism, utilizing previously unseen police records, wire-trap recordings, interviews, and jailhouse conversations with Cullen himself--all provided by the homicide detectives who worked around the clock, and the nurse who had to choose between protecting her colleague and stopping a potential serial killer.

For years Cullen continued to work and kill, shielded by a hospital system that, by accident or design, successfully protected the institution while failing to protect patients. The Good Nurse is a searing indictment of a crushing and dehumanizing for-profit medical system, and an inspiring human story of the previously unknown individuals who chose to risk their jobs and lives to do the right thing.

Mesmerizing and irresistibly paced, this book will make you look at hospitals and the people who work in them in an entirely different way.

Edgar Award Nomination, Mystery Writers of America BBC (Top Ten Books of the Year)

"The Best Journalism of the Year." --The Daily Beast

"The most terrifying book published this year. It is also one of the most thoughtful ... call it literary true crime ..." --Kirkus Reviews ("Best Books of the year")