Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness and Murder

After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed ‘The Angel ofDeath’ by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favourite son, husband, beloved father, best friend, and celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in Americanhistory. Cullen’s murderous career in the world’s most trusted profession spanned sixteen yearsand nine hospitals across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Investigative journalist Charles Graeber’s portrait of Cullen depicts a surprisingly intelligent andcomplicated young man whose promising career was overwhelmed by his compulsion to kill, andwhose shy demeanor masked a twisted interior life hidden even to his family and friends. Were itnot for the hardboiled, unrelenting work of two former Newark homicide detectives racing to puttogether the pieces of Cullen’s professional past, and a fellow nurse willing to put everything atrisk, including her job and the safety of her children, there’s no telling how many more lives couldhave been lost.

In the tradition of In Cold Blood, The Good Nurse does more than chronicle Cullen’s deadly careerand the breathless efforts to stop him; it paints an incredibly vivid portrait of madness and offersan urgent, terrifying tale of murder, friendship and betrayal.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Imprint: Atlantic Books UK
Publication date: 20/10/2022