"Since its release in fall 2017, the "Dirty John" podcast--about a con man who terrorizes a Southern California family--has been downloaded more than 20 million times, and will soon premiere as a scripted drama on Bravo starring Connie Britton and Eric Bana. The story, which ran as a print series in the Los Angeles Times, was familiar terrain to its writer, Christopher Goffard. Over two decades at newspapers from Florida to California, Goffard has reported probingly on criminals and their victims, the desperate and the obsessed. For the first times, this book gathers together "Dirty John" and other selections of his best work. A young public defender's rookie year in the legal trenches, a PTA mom framed by her fellow parents, a man wrongly imprisoned for rape, train-riding runaways in love: these pieces show people at their most brave, vulnerable, and flawed and are a must-read for fans of both true-crime and first-rate narrative nonfiction"--Container.

A collection of newspaper stories by award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard--including "Dirty John," the basis for the hit podcast and the upcoming Bravo series. "Dirty John" is a story about a conman who terrorizes a Southern California family. It originated as a podcast and also ran as a print series in the Los Angeles Times. It wasn't unfamiliar terrain to its writer, Christopher Goffard. Over two decades at newspapers from Florida to California, Goffard has reported probingly on the shadowy, unseen corners of society. This book gathers together for the first time "Dirty John" and the rest of his very best work. "The $40 Lawyer" provides an inside account of a young public defender's rookie year in the legal trenches. "Framed" offers an unblinking chronicle of suburban mayhem (and is currently being developed by Netflix as a film). A man wrongly imprisoned for rape, train-riding runaways in love, a Syrian mother forced to leave her children in order to save t