Author David Crow

Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his three siblings idolized their dad. Tall, strong, smart, and brave, the self-taught Cherokee loved to tell his children about his World War II feats. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ruthless ex-con with his own code of ethics that justified cruelty, violence, lies—even murder. Intimidating David with beatings, Thurston coerced his son into doing his criminal bidding. David’s mother, too mentally ill to care for her children, couldn’t protect him. One day, Thurston packed up the house and took the kids, leaving her homeless and destitute. Soon he remarried, and David learned that his stepmother was just as vicious and abusive as his father. Through sheer determination, and with the help of a few angels along the way, David graduated from college and achieved professional success. When he finally found the courage to refuse his father’s criminal demands, he unwittingly triggered a plot of revenge that would force him into a deadly showdown with Thurston Crow. David would have only twenty-four hours to outsmart his father—the brilliant, psychotic man who bragged that the three years he spent in the notorious San Quentin State Prison had been the easiest time of his life. The Pale-Faced Lie is a searing, raw, palpable memoir that reminds us what an important role our parents play in our lives. Most of all, it’s an inspirational story about the power of forgiveness and the strength of the human spirit.