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Editorial Content for The Man No One Believed: The Untold Story of the Georgia Church Murders

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kate Ayers

In March 1985, 12 people were attending a Bible study in Rising Daughter Baptist Church. A young white man walked into the southern Georgia place of worship. One of the ladies there asked if she could help him. He said he wanted to talk to someone and then pointed at Deacon Harold Swain. A church is supposed to be a welcoming place, so Deacon Swain didn’t hesitate to see what he could do for the man. But the conversation went all kinds of sideways, and it ended with Swain dead, along with his wife, Thelma, when she came to his aid. Read More

Teaser

In 1985, a white man walked into a South Georgia church and brutally murdered Harold and Thelma Swain, two pillars of the area’s Black community. The killer vanished into the night. For 15 years, the case remained unsolved. Then authorities zeroed in on Dennis Perry, a carpenter who grew up nearby. Convicted with devastatingly flawed evidence, Perry received a double life sentence. When award-winning journalist and South Georgia native Joshua Sharpe retraces the case, he discovers a winding path of corruption, devastating missteps and secrets. He eventually uncovers explosive evidence that helps prove Perry’s innocence. And he confronts a long-ignored suspect: an alleged white supremacist who had bragged about committing the murders. But the fight for the truth is not easily won.

Promo

In 1985, a white man walked into a South Georgia church and brutally murdered Harold and Thelma Swain, two pillars of the area’s Black community. The killer vanished into the night. For 15 years, the case remained unsolved. Then authorities zeroed in on Dennis Perry, a carpenter who grew up nearby. Convicted with devastatingly flawed evidence, Perry received a double life sentence. When award-winning journalist and South Georgia native Joshua Sharpe retraces the case, he discovers a winding path of corruption, devastating missteps and secrets. He eventually uncovers explosive evidence that helps prove Perry’s innocence. And he confronts a long-ignored suspect: an alleged white supremacist who had bragged about committing the murders. But the fight for the truth is not easily won.

About the Book

The riveting story of a 1985 double murder, a long-overdue investigation, and the fight to exonerate an innocent man.

In 1985, a white man walked into a South Georgia church and brutally murdered Harold and Thelma Swain, two pillars of the area’s Black community. The killer vanished into the night. For 15 years, the case remained unsolved. Then authorities zeroed in on Dennis Perry, a carpenter who grew up nearby. Convicted with devastatingly flawed evidence, Perry received a double life sentence.

When award-winning journalist and South Georgia native Joshua Sharpe retraces the case, he discovers a winding path of corruption, devastating missteps and secrets. Driven by the pursuit of the truth, Sharpe’s investigation takes him through dusty courthouse archives, down winding dirt roads, and into intense interviews. But he keeps knocking on doors --- even after they’re slammed in his face. Sharpe uncovers explosive evidence that helps prove Dennis Perry’s innocence. And he confronts a long-ignored suspect: an alleged white supremacist who had bragged about committing the murders.

But the fight for the truth is not easily won. When a key figure in the investigation turns up dead under suspicious circumstances, Sharpe’s sources and editors insist that he could be in danger. And even as evidence mounts of Perry’s innocence, local officials work to keep him in prison --- until Sharpe’s reporting forces the state to launch a new investigation --- 35 years after the Swains’ murders. Driven by Sharpe’s tireless reporting, THE MAN NO ONE BELIEVED tells the unbelievable story of one of the most confounding cases in Georgia history, the extraordinary fight to free an innocent man, and how state officials worked against the odds to deliver justice for the Swains after all.

Both a riveting true crime story and a searing indictment of American injustice, THE MAN NO ONE BELIEVED is a gripping work of literary journalism --- a moving examination of how we reckon with the sins of our past.

Audiobook available, read by David Sadzin

Editorial Content for Mean Moms

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Christine M. Irvin

Morgan, Frost and Belle are beautiful and wealthy women whose kids attend Atherton Academy, a private and prestigious school in New York City. They are all active in the school, helping with fundraisers and special promotions. Read More

Teaser

Meet Frost, Morgan and Belle --- a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Academy, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties. On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami, Sofia, shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Is someone at school out to get them?

Promo

Meet Frost, Morgan and Belle --- a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Academy, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties. On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami, Sofia, shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Is someone at school out to get them?

About the Book

Meet Frost, Morgan and Belle --- a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Academy, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties.

On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami, Sofia, shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Is someone at school out to get them?

Spanning the course of one eventful school year in New York, MEAN MOMS is part satire of upper-crust mom-ing and part mystery, interrogating the line between friendship and jealousy and getting at the question:

What would happen if the woman standing next to you at school pickup was actually a sociopath?

Audiobook available, read by January LaVoy 

Which of the following fiction titles releasing in September have you read or do you plan to read? Please check all that apply.

September 5, 2025, 722 voters

September 5, 2025 - September 19, 2025

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of September 5 - September 19.

September 5, 2025

It was lovely --- and much needed --- to have last week off. Talking to Tom and Francesca on Monday, I could tell that they took time to relax and kick it back a notch, which I was happy to see. The weather was spectacular, and I spent the entire week outside, which was a real delight.

I also learned that my new Fitbit does not count steps in the water. This fun fact came to me after I spent an hour walking in the water. I am on the hunt for a tracker that measures water steps. Ideas are welcome!

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Debut sensation Tessa Calloway is on a whirlwind book tour for her instant bestseller, All This Could Be Yours. In a different city every night, Tessa receives standing ovations from adoring fans while her husband, Henry, and their two children cheer her on from their brand-new dream house.

September 3, 2025

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this fall. Read more about it, and enter our Fall Reading Contest by Thursday, September 4th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LORI LOVELY? by Sarah McCoy, which is now available. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

September 2025

September's Books on Screen roundup includes the season premieres of Apple TV+'s "The Morning Show" and "Slow Horses," along with AMC's "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon"; the season finales of "Dexter: Resurrection" on Paramount+ with Showtime and "The Terminal List: Dark Wolf" on Prime Video; the conclusion of Prime Video's "The Summer I Turned Pretty"; the series premieres of "The Dead Girls" on Netflix and "The Girlfriend" on Prime Video; the continuation of STARZ's "Outlander: Blood of My Blood" and USA Network's "The Rainmaker"; the films The Long Walk, The Man in My Basement and One Battle After Another; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Jurassic World Rebirth, Superman, The Life of Chuck and Clown in a Cornfield.

September 2, 2025

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of September 1st and September 8th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.

This week, we are calling attention to our special contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com for award-winning author Suzanne Nelson’s debut novel for adults, THE LIBRARIANS OF LISBON. We are giving 25 readers the opportunity to win a copy of this captivating historical novel, which has received so much praise since its release in February. Be sure to submit your entries by Wednesday, September 24th at noon ET.

September 2, 2025

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this fall. Read more about it, and enter our Fall Reading Contest by Wednesday, September 3rd at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of APOSTLE'S COVE by William Kent Krueger, which is now available and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!