Searching for Patty Hearst

Fifty years on from her legendary kidnapping, the definitive novel has finally been written. On the night that Patty Hearst was kidnapped in 1974, journalist Roger D. Rapoport was a short drive away in his Bay Area home. He quickly became one of the primary reporters covering the saga as it unfolded in real time. His reporting gave local and national readers a window into one of the most bizarre and polarizing crimes in U.S. history. Now, fifty years later, he has written a novel that draws us back to that time. In this compelling new book, he explores alternative theories of the crime and delves into the complex psychology of many of the key actors in a drama that kept the country riveted. Using the techniques of fiction, Rapoport gives voice to much of the story that fell outside of the bounds of journalistic coverage. With Rapoport's wry sensibility and insider knowledge Searching for Patty Hearst is able to go beyond the tabloid headlines to tell the story in depth. Why did Patty participate in the kidnapping of a high school student hours before six of the SLA kidnappers were killed in a firefight with the Los Angeles police department? Did celebrity coroner Thomas Noguchi mishandle the autopsies of six SLA victims? Why did Patty's lawyers dump her fiance Steve Weed as a key witness at her trial at the last minute?Does the city of Stockholm having anything to do with this? It's often said that fiction can offer insights into the truth that reporting can't. If that is the case, the story of Patty Hearst, the SLA, and the kidnapping that carved them into the American psyche just may be told here for the first time.--James Sparling