“A compellingly and graphically written memoir about a supremely dysfunctional family.” - David Steinberg, Albuquerque Journal If you’re looking for an absorbing and touching read, grab The Pale-Faced Lie today.” Readers’ Favorite Every page brings new action and excitement, delivered with easy dialogue and sincerity. The Pale-Faced Lie by David Crow is one of the most enlightening and entertaining true stories I have ever read. “A hard-hitting, gut-punch memoir that should be on any reading list about family relationships and abuse, true crime, and Native American culture and interrelationships.” -Midwest Book Review An extraordinary remembrance that’s both gut-wrenching and inspiring.” - Kirkus Reviews “Crow’s memoir is cinematically gripping. an empowering memoir.” - New York Journal of Books “For fans of Tara Westover’s Educated, The Pale-Faced Lie: A True Story is a disturbing yet captivating memoir of how one man’s psychopathic delusions can imprison an entire family. “Crow’s work delivers a truthful and ultimately empowering missive about the long shadow cast by an abusive parent.” - Publishers Weekly

Most of all, it’s an inspirational story about the power of forgiveness and the strength of the human spirit. The Pale-Faced Lie is a searing, raw, palpable memoir that reminds us what an important role our parents play in our lives.

David would have only twenty-four hours to outsmart his father-the brilliant, psychotic man who bragged that the three years he spent in the notorious San Quentin State Prison had been the easiest time of his life. When he finally found the courage to refuse his father’s criminal demands, he unwittingly triggered a plot of revenge that would force him into a deadly showdown with Thurston Crow. Through sheer determination, and with the help of a few angels along the way, David graduated from college and achieved professional success. Soon he remarried, and David learned that his stepmother was just as vicious and abusive as his father. One day, Thurston packed up the house and took the kids, leaving her homeless and destitute. David’s mother, too mentally ill to care for her children, couldn’t protect him. Intimidating David with beatings, Thurston coerced his son into doing his criminal bidding. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ruthless ex-con with his own code of ethics that justified cruelty, violence, lies-even murder.

Tall, strong, smart, and brave, the self-taught Cherokee loved to tell his children about his World War II feats. Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his three siblings idolized their dad.

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