About The Pale-Faced Lie

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A violent ex-con forces his son to commit crimes in this riveting memoir about family and survival.

Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his three siblings idolized their dad, a self-taught Cherokee who loved to tell his children about his World War II feats. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ex-con with his own code of ethics that justified cruelty, violence, lies—even murder. Intimidating David with beatings, Thurston coerced his son into doing his criminal bidding. David’s mom, too mentally ill to care for her children, couldn’t protect him.

Through sheer determination, David managed to get into college and achieve professional success. 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. 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.

Raw and palpable, The Pale-Faced Lie is an inspirational story about the power of forgiveness and the strength of the human spirit.

Praise

“Crow’s work delivers a truthful and ultimately empowering missive about the long shadow cast by an abusive parent.”—Publishers Weekly

“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 . . . an empowering memoir.”—New York Journal of Books

“Crow’s memoir is cinematically gripping. . . . An extraordinary remembrance that’s both gut-wrenching and inspiring.”—Kirkus Reviews

“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

The Pale-Faced Lie by David Crow is one of the most enlightening and entertaining true stories I have ever read. . . . Every page brings new action and excitement, delivered with easy dialogue and sincerity. If you’re looking for an absorbing and touching read, grab The Pale-Faced Lie today.”—Readers’ Favorite (5 stars)

“A compellingly and graphically written memoir about a supremely dysfunctional family.”—David Steinberg, Albuquerque Journal

“Let me tell you, The Pale-Faced Lie is a hard and brilliantly insightful look into dealing with the hand we’re dealt and improving it.” —Joe R. Lansdale, award-winning author of over 40 novels, including Paradise Sky and Cold in July

“[Crow] has considerable wisdom to impart and an unexpected ending that will linger in memory. I promise that you’ve never read a book quite like this one.”—Jeff Guinn, New York Times best-selling author

AWARDS

2020 Spur Award, Best Western First Nonfiction Book
2020 Spur Award, Best Western Contemporary Nonfiction, Finalist
IPPY Silver Award, Memoir, Coming of Age
Next Generation Indie Book Award, Best Memoir, Overcoming Adversity
International Book Awards, Best True Crime
Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal, Nonfiction, Drama

About the Author

David Crow spent his early years on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. Through grit, resilience, and a thirst for learning, he managed to escape his abusive childhood, graduate from college, and build a successful lobbying firm in Washington, DC. READ MORE