David Kushner's Masters of Doom, which told the gripping tale of id Software's creation of Doom and the FPS genre, is perhaps the best-written video game book ever released. After exploring some topics outside of games, Kushner returns to video games with Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto.

Jacked is a well-written and exhaustively researched looked at the history of Rockstar Games and its flagship franchise. In breathless detail the book captures the company's rise to the top of the industry and the controversy it caused along the way. From the groundbreaking GTA III to the Hot Coffee scandal, every element of the Rockstar saga is told in cinematic style.

For a taste, check out this excerpt from the first chapter of the book, which explores Rockstar head Sam Houser's childhood fascination with pop culture and video games.

Jacked is on sale now in hardcover and on Kindle and Nook formats.

[Sam Houser's mother, Geraldine Moffat, seen above in Get Carter with Michael Caine]

Chapter 1: The Outlaws

Grim city. Aerial view. A man in black runs along a river as a red sports car chases after him. Suddenly, a white convertible peels up in his path. “Over here, Jack!” shouts a beautiful young British woman behind the wheel. Jack leaps into her car, and she floors it. She has long auburn hair and stylish silver-framed shades. “You didn’t know you had a fairy godmother, did you?” she asks, coyly.

“So where are we going, Princess?” Jack asks.

“To the demon king’s castle, of course.” She shifts into high gear, speeding through a parking garage to safety.

In 1971, there was no cooler getaway driver than Geraldine Moffat, the actress in this scene from Get Carter, a British crime film released that year. Critics dismissed it, saying, “One would rather wash one’s mouth out with soap than recommend it.” Yet as is often the case with anything new and controversial, the fans won out in the end.  

The scene of Moffat lounging nude in bed with Michael Caine—a Rolling Stones album propped on the nightstand beside them—epitomized how hip movies could be. Get Carter became a cult classic, and Moffat, one of London’s most fashionable stars. She married Walter Houser, a musician who ran the hottest jazz club in England, Ronnie Scott’s. 

Shortly after Get Carter’s release, Moffat and Houser welcomed their first child, Sam. The boy’s brown eyes sparkled with possibility. Every kid determines to be cooler than his parents, but when your mom’s in gangster flicks and your dad’s hanging with Roy Ayers, that’s no easy game. Sam found inspiration in movies like his mom’s. He became fascinated by gangs, the grittier the better. He’d trudge down to the local library, checking out videotapes of crime films: The Getaway, The French Connection, The Wild Bunch, The Warriors.