In Blood and Oil, Wall Street Journal reporters Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck perform a deep dive into the Saudi Arabian royal family and chronicle Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power.

In 2017, a number of Saudi Arabian princes and businessmen were rounded up and locked inside the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh in a widespread anti-corruption crackdown.

The startling juxtaposition between Davos in the Desert and the Ritz's transformation into a prison - and the reversal of so many extraordinarily wealthy men's fortunes - make the crackdown a singular event in recent world political and business history.

Soon, many began to wonder at the identity of the young, mostly-unknown political operator behind the raid.

Although Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince behind the manoeuvre, had seemed to emerge as a political force almost overnight, he had long been a rising star in the kingdom.

In Blood And Oil, Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck - both reporters with The Wall Street Journal - use careful research and interviews to probe MBS' background and chart where his governance might lead the kingdom in the future.

From his time as an awkward, McDonald's-loving pre-teen, to his adult years as a ruthless would-be reformer, Mohammed bin Salman has always thirsted for money and influence.

As Hope and Scheck dive deeper into his background, his more autocratic and power-hungry tendencies are revealed, and troubling new questions about the role he will play at the helm of an increasingly globalized Saudi Arabia begin to emerge.