The Prince of Beers

August Busch IV had everything -- or seemed to. In 2006, Busch became the chief executive of Anheuser-Busch, the sixth member of his family to control the legendary brewery. At age 42, Busch was handsome, wealthy, married to a beautiful woman, and running one of the biggest companies in America.Two years later, Busch lost control of Anheuser-Busch. Soon he was jobless, divorced, and struggling with alcohol and drugs. Then he woke to find his girlfriend, a waitress named Adrienne Martin, dead in his bed. From prize-winning novelist and former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, The Prince of Beers is the true story of the secrets, lies, addiction, and family dysfunction behind Martin's death and Busch's shocking downfall.Amazon.com ReviewThe Fourth was no Third, and he knew it. August Busch IV, the coked up, reckless son of August III, was a man-child whose love of expensive toys, drugs, and women helped drag down the family empire, Anheuser-Busch. Alex Berenson's aggressively reported story--part murder mystery, part Shakespearean tragedy--catches up with August the Fourth two years after his doomed 18-month reign as CEO of his family's company, which ended in 2008 when the 150-year-old family business fell into the hands of its Brazilian rival, InBev. Berenson, spy novelist, former New York Times reporter, and author of the Kindle Single Lost in Kandahar, dutifully cites the works of those who've covered similar ground, but focuses primarily on a girlfriend's mysterious death, revealing how hubris, hard living, and greed led to the foreign takeover of America's beer. Ultimately, The Prince of Beers is a father and son story. The Fourth's father was Anheuser-Busch's greatest modern leader, the brains behind Bud Light and the man responsible for making Budweiser a powerhouse. Like all the Busches, August III championed a chest-thumping family culture that valued competition, guns and fishing, and women and drinking--all of which, over the years, resulted in messy divorces, squandered millions, and shattered families. Maybe it was inevitable that one Busch would go too far. Two years after losing control of the company, The Fourth was worth $100 million but was jobless, struggling to shoulder the burden of losing the family business. He indulged in expensive cars, guns, drugs, and women, one of whom died at his mansion in 2010. Berenson uses the investigation of Adrienne Martin's death to profile a flawed and doomed son, his too-tough father, and the dethroning of the King of Beers. --Neal Thompson