Ben Crump says 'Worse Than a Lie' is a legal thriller wrapped in Black culture

Ben Crump says 'Worse Than a Lie' is a legal thriller wrapped in Black culture

From NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

June 3, 2026 · 10 min

About this episode

Ben Crump discusses his debut novel 'Worse Than a Lie', a legal thriller that explores themes of justice and Black culture.

In his debut novel, the civil rights attorney Ben Crump imagines a horrific crime that feels all too real. In Worse Than a Lie , a Black ex-police officer is shot 10 times by white officers in Chicago. The book’s hero Attorney Beau Lee Cooper must find out what actually happened in order to seek justice. In today’s episode, Crump joins NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe for a conversation about writing a “legal thriller wrapped in Black culture.” To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

People in this episode

Host: Ayesha Rascoe

Guest: Ben Crump

Topics covered

  • legal thriller
  • Black culture
  • civil rights
  • justice
  • crime

Keywords

  • Ben Crump
  • Worse Than a Lie
  • legal thriller
  • Black culture
  • civil rights
  • justice
  • crime

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Worse Than a Lie

Places: Chicago

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