Swamp Kings

The Story of the Murdaugh Family of South Carolina & a Century of Backwoods Power

De: Jason Ryan

Narrado por: Joe Hempel

The stranger-than-fiction story of the now-notorious low country clan, in all its Southern Gothic intensity—by an author with unparalleled access to and knowledge of the players, the history, and the place.

The most famous man in South Carolina lives jailed in the state capital. He stands accused of a staggering amount of wrongdoing—ninety-nine crimes and counting. Once a high-flying, smooth-talking, pedigreed Southern lawyer, Alex Murdaugh is now disbarred and disgraced. For more than a decade, prosecutors claim, Alex was secretly a fraud, a thief, a drug dealer and an all-around phony. On the night of June 7, 2021, they claim, he also became a killer.

The many alleged crimes of Alex Murdaugh, revealed piecemeal over the last two years, have appalled the general public. Yet his implosion—the spectacular manner in which he has turned his vaunted family name to mud—has also proved mesmerizing. With every revelation, Murdaugh is further shown to be a man without bottom. Every new disclosure eclipses and redefines what’s already known, making this a gothic crime story for the ages.

Yet even more remarkable is the fact that none of this bad behavior is unprecedented. In Swamp Kings, Jason Ryan reveals it is only the tip of the iceberg, and that when it comes to this family, history has a way of repeating itself. For every alleged, headline-grabbing crime associated with Alex Murdaugh, mirror-image incidents have played out within his family’s past, including parallel instances of fraud, theft, trafficking, calamitous late-night boat crashes, and even murder.

Spanning a century of misdeeds and set amongst the swamps, pines, and poverty, Swamp Kings weaves together the jaw-dropping narratives of generations of Murdaughs, culminating in the trial that transfixed the nation and shining a bright light on the swamp kings of Hampton County—and their numerous victims—at last.

©2024 Jason Ryan (P)2024 Spotify Audiobooks

A long legacy of a crocked family.

I liked the whole story from the start of the family to now. This helps knowing where they all came from and how they were raised. I didnt like the strong emphasis on the dislike of hunting and guns. I can tell the author doesn't like guns or hunting. That's fine each man enjoys different things and it's definitely not a bad comment about the author. He wrote a great book and his details were very eye opening. I really commend this author for his dedication to research and interviews he has done. I have sent this to all of my family to listen/read for themselves. I have read many of new books about the murdaugh family and this one was the best.. Thank you.

Swamp King

i grew up next door to Elex and Russel so it brought back a lot of memories

Stranger than fiction

If this wasn't a true story, you wouldn't believe it. This book peers into a slice of life in a small, low-country community that is so outlandish, so beyond "normal," so surreal that you would criticize a fiction author for laying it on too thick, were this a work of fiction. The most shocking part of the book's narrative is that it is non-fiction. The story's non-linear timeline is sometimes tedious. The author dives into several generations of the Murdaugh family in order to set the table for the final scene, which is smart and makes for a satisfying end. However, the story is not always easy to follow when it skips around while describing a multitude of characters spanning the last 100 years or so. I found myself constantly asking "who is the narrator talking about," and "when did this happen?" Also, some of the narrator's voices were a little hokey. Overall, it was an entertaining book and well worth a listen.

The narrator needed to spend time in South Carolina.

The narrator pronounces so many words wrong that it’s hard to understand where he is talking about in the state.
The author bounced around so much in his story that it was frustrating to figure out which one of the Murdaugh’s he was talking about since they all seem to have the same names or similar ones.

OMG!

I've lived my entire life in the Lowcountry, and even I was saying, oh my gosh, I can't believe he included That!

ALL the dirt is out on the table.

my only complaint about the performance was the mispronouncing of certain names...Edisto, Combahee and McCloskey.

The history

I loved this book. It gave the backstory of a corrupt family in a southern town full of corruption, racism and fear.

Context!!

For those like me who followed the Alex Murdaugh trial, this excellent book offers context. Context to help explain the Murdaugh mindset. A mindset and sense of entitlement perpetuated for generations. Highly recommend.

The mighty will fall🤞

Wow what a disturbing level of unchecked Power that went on for far too long! I couldn't put it down/stop listening. I was totally hooked! Very well written!

AMAZING

I loved the history of the family, the depth you went with all of them. This is so much more than what is public.

Best Book Yet on the Murdaugh Murders

Although hardly a new literary device, author Jason Ryan's practice of going back and forth in time to tell the story of the powerful Murdaugh Family's history and present day crimes is very effective. Unlike some other works that portrayed the family as powerhouses but generally for good, this book lays the foundation for Alec Murdaugh's behavior as almost the inevitable next step in his family's evolution, albeit a horribly brutal one.

I learned more about the Murdaugh family than I cared to, but that is okay. The author was thorough and his research shows. I am happy to recommend this book to true crime fans, people interested in dynastic families and those with a desire to learn more about what life was like in the Low Country of South Carolina.