THE LOST SONS OF OMAHA The Tragic Deaths of Jake Gardner and James Scurlock in a Fractured America

Dion Graham renders this taut and disturbing audiobook with a deliberate cadence and a thoughtful tone that suit its tragic events. He performs the many voices and points of view carefully and clearly. The audiobook presents conflicting versions of what led to two deaths that played out in Omaha shortly after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Jake Gardner, a former Marine and bar owner, killed an African American man, James Scurlock, in an altercation during a Black Lives Matter demonstration. First exonerated but later indicted, Gardner took his own life right before he was to face his indictment. This work portrays a city and a nation with deep wounds and lasting divisions. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2023]