Among the Bros: A Fraternity Crime Story

Among the Bros (2023) is a non-fiction account of the 2016 College of Charleston drug bust and the murder of Patrick Moffly. It is Max Marshall’s debut book. Marshall, an American journalist and writer, belonged to a fraternity during his college years at Columbia University. In Among the Bros, he explores fraternity culture in the United States and how it has evolved over the years to incorporate increasingly intense hazing rituals. He looks at frats’ history of racism and members’ positions of social privilege. He also examines the rise in drug trafficking at frats, including the popularity of benzodiazepines like Xanax. These factors sometimes come together in tragic ways. In 2022, it was announced that the as-yet-unreleased book would receive a film adaptation.

This guide uses the 2023 Dean McMillan Marshall eBook edition. 

Content Warning: The source text includes discussions of anti-Black racism, drug dependency, murder, sexual assault, and violent hazing rituals.

Summary

Among the Bros primarily follows Mikey Schmidt, a young man who arrives at the College of Charleston (C of C), South Carolina, in 2013. Mikey will later be arrested in a major drug bust in 2016, prompting writer Max Marshall to visit C of C to learn more.