Tremors in the Blood

Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector

By: Amit Katwala

Narrated by: Matt Reeves

‘A wonderful book’ - Guardian

Truth, murder and the birth of the lie detector

Henry Wilkens burst through the doors of the emergency room covered in his wife’s blood. But was he a grieving husband, or a ruthless killer who’d conspired with bandits to have her murdered?

To find out, the San Francisco police turned to technology, and a new machine that had just been invented in Berkeley by a rookie detective, a visionary police chief, and a teenage magician with a showman’s touch.

John Larson, Gus Vollmer and Leonarde Keeler hoped the lie detector would make the justice system fairer – but the flawed device soon grew too powerful for them to control. It poisoned their lives, turned fast friends into bitter enemies, and as it conquered America and the world, it transformed our relationship with the truth in ways that are still being felt.

As new forms of lie detection gain momentum in the present day, Tremors in the Blood reveals the incredible truth behind the creation of the polygraph, through gripping true crime cases featuring explosive gunfights, shocking twists and high-stakes courtroom drama.

Touching on psychology, technology and the science of the truth, Tremors in the Blood is a vibrant, atmospheric thriller, and a warning from history: be careful what you believe.

©2022 Amit Katwala (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Katwala manages to bring history alive in this riveting delve back into the archives, placing you right at the heart of one of the most consequential – and controversial – inventions in criminal history." (Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom and YouTubers)

"A gripping, forensically detailed account that reads more like a mystery than history." (Angela Saini, author of Superior and Inferior)