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Matt Birkbeck

Goodreads Author

Born

Brooklyn , The United States

Website

http://www.mattbirkbeck.com

Genre

Nonfiction, Crime, Biography

Member Since

February 2013

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Matt Birkbeck (born Brooklyn, N.Y.) is a bestselling author and journalist.
His debut work of fiction, The Wicked, was published in August 2025.

He is best known for his nonfiction books A Beautiful Child, which told the tragic story of "Sharon Marshall" and Franklin Delano Floyd, and the sequel Finding Sharon, which is a memoir about his ten-year effort, along with the FBI and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, to find Sharon's true identity.

Both books were adapted by Netflix for the hit 2022 film Girl in the Picture, which Matt served as executive producer.

He is also known for The Life We Chose, about William "Big Billy" D'Elia, the former head of the Bufalino crime family; Deconstructing Sammy, about the life of Sammy Davi ...more

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Matt Birkbeck’s books

Average rating: 4.01 · 6,149 ratings · 521 reviews · 11 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Beautiful Child 4.14 avg rating — 2,577 ratings — published 2004 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Life We Chose: William “Big Billy” D’Elia and the Last Secrets of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Family 4.14 avg rating — 893 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino 3.81 avg rating — 891 ratings — published 2012 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Deadly Secret: The Bizarre and Chilling Story of Robert Durst 3.81 avg rating — 765 ratings — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Finding Sharon 4.40 avg rating — 409 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Deconstructing Sammy: Music, Money, and Madness 3.72 avg rating — 442 ratings — published 2008 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	'Till Death Do Us Part: Love, Marriage, and the Mind of the Killer Spouse by Robi Ludwig (Goodreads Author), Matt Birkbeck (Goodreads Author) 3.24 avg rating — 174 ratings — published 2006 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wicked 3.93 avg rating — 15 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bookie by Art Manteris, Matt Birkbeck (Goodreads Author), Mike Ortego (Narrator) it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Without a Trace 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Matt Birkbeck's Blog

A Debut Novel That Will Steal Your Breath

From the author of A Beautiful Child comes a heart pounding new thriller.
By Alan R. Warren

Matt Birkbeck, best known for his gripping nonfiction bestsellers like 'The Life We Chose', 'Deconstructing Sammy', and the haunting 'A Beautiful Child' (which was adapted by Netflix for its acclaimed Girl in the Picture), makes a stunning leap into fiction with The Wicked—and what a leap it is.

The novel op Read more of this blog post »

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Published on August 12, 2025 04:48

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Matt’s Recent Updates

Matt Birkbeck liked Kim McCabe's review of The Wicked: "As a huge fan of Matt Birkbeck’s nonfiction work, I eagerly read his first work of fiction, The Wicked. He did not disappoint! The Wicked is a rollercoaster ride—fun, exhilarating, scary, stimulating, surprising (even educational)—all wrapped up with" Read more of this review »
Jun 17, 2026 06:50PM · see review
Matt Birkbeck liked that Heather entered a giveaway The Wicked by Matt Birkbeck (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 09, 2026 06:31AM · see giveaway · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Wicked by Matt Birkbeck. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Wicked by Matt Birkbeck <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Matt Birkbeck is now following Kim McCabe and Lisa Garrett
Dec 08, 2025 02:06PM
Matt Birkbeck liked Jaelyn Wingard's review of A Beautiful Child: "such a sad story and I feel awful for Tanya and Michael but DNF bc I don’t care about the abuser"
Aug 11, 2025 03:38PM · see review
Matt Birkbeck liked yourlittlereader's review of A Beautiful Child: "I really enjoyed this book and it gave me a great full in depth view of the crime. The timeline was also explained extremely well in this book for such a complex case. "
Aug 11, 2025 03:38PM · see review
Matt Birkbeck made a comment on Trelana Daniel’s review of A Beautiful Child " Hi Trelana, Tough story but glad you liked it. The characters in the book wanted to talk about Sharon/Suzanne, which was a big help. My next book, The ...more "
Aug 11, 2025 03:38PM · see review
Matt Birkbeck joined the group Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers
Aug 04, 2025 09:53AM · like
Matt Birkbeck wants to read The Wicked by Matt Birkbeck (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 29, 2025 05:04AM · like

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Polls

Ok Ladies - time for the Nov/Dec nonfiction book poll. We have an abundance of choices this month. We bypassed our mandatory 10 books almost overnight. So be sure to get in there and vote for your choice.

This poll will stay open until the end of the day on October 23rd.

Good luck to all the nominators...

(PS if you haven't already and it is still open be sure to vote for the Members Choice tie breaker too! Thanks )

If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood