Don’t Say a Thing
In June 2023, Tamara published her first book, Don’t Say a Thing: A Predator, a Pursuit and the Women Who Persevered. Within one month it ranked on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller list as well as five separate Amazon #1 Bestseller lists.
Die Angst geht um
In January 2024, Tamara's book was released internationally - and translated into German. It immediately became an international bestseller, ranking #1 in three different Amazon categories.
Don’t Say a Thing
In April of 1999, Tamara awoke to an active crime scene outside her Arizona apartment. Her neighbor had just been sexually assaulted and somehow a piece of evidence ended up in her apartment. A local crime reporter at the time, she began an investigation that would eventually lead to a 20-year obsession, culminating in her speaking to the predator and forcing her to confront her own dark secret.
Tamara spent two decades writing “Don’t Say a Thing” - an investigative, true-crime memoir - that follows a duplicitous serial rapist and the women affected by him.
Her work explores the harrowing journey of the women who survived – and the impact this crime had on their mental health — painting an intimate, raw picture of the immediate and long-term effects of violence against women.
As she investigates his heinous crimes, she struggles to understand her own
personal monster.
"This title will satisfy readers who seek out true crime written from a personal angle like Erika Krouse’s Tell Me Everything (2022), and those who appreciate precisely detailed and unflagging police and journalistic work in search of justice, like Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (2018).”
- Heather Booth
“Reporter and narrator Tamara Leitner provides listeners with a unique true-crime narrative in this audiobook.… This audiobook explores the way survivors of sexual violence in general are treated in the U.S. and how these particular survivors took back their lives. Leitner narrates her own work, giving listeners the experience of hearing her frustration with the justice system and her empathy for the survivors. Her strong performance gives their stories an opportunity to be heard, even if the message is a difficult one.”
Library Journal
“Emmy- and Peabody-winning journalist Leitner uses an emotionally charged tone when narrating her memoir about the investigation of Claude Dean Hull II, a serial rapist who sexually assaulted hundreds of women across the U.S., including the author’s neighbor.… Although she is clinical when reporting details about each highlighted case, there is an edge to her words that hints at the PTSD she developed because of the investigation."
Future Appearances
San Diego – May 11, 2024 - Cover to Cover Authors Luncheon
Past Appearances
PBS: AZ Journalist Writes True Crime Memoir Featuring AZ Ties
