*SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING REESE WITHERSPOON AND COLIN FIRTH * The West Memphis Three. Accused, convicted...and set free. Do you know their story? In 2011, one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American legal history was set right when Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were released after eighteen years in prison. Award-winning journalist Mara Leveritt's "The Devil's Knot" remains the most comprehensive, insightful reporting ever done on the investigation, trials, and convictions of three teenage boys who became known as the West Memphis Three. For weeks in 1993, after the murders of three eight-year-old boys, police in West Memphis, Arkansas seemed stymied. Then suddenly, detectives charged three teenagers--alleged members of a satanic cult--with the killings. Despite the witch-hunt atmosphere of the trials, and a case which included stunning investigative blunders, a confession riddled with errors, and an absence of physical evidence linking any of the accused to the crime, the teenagers were convicted. Jurors sentenced Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to life in prison and Damien Echols, the accused ringleader, to death. The guilty verdicts were popular in their home state--even upheld on appeal--and all three remained in prison until their unprecedented release in August 2011. With close-up views of its key participants, this award-winning account unravels the many tangled knots of this endlessly shocking case, one which will shape the American legal landscape for years to come.
Industry Reviews
Henry RollinsBrutal, riveting....The true horror of Leveritt's well-written book is that this barely believable fate could potentially befall any American. Sr. Helen Prejeanauthor of "Dead Man Walking"The abuses of the criminal justice system shown here are so blatant -- and so profoundly tragic -- that they would be hard to believe were it not for the depth and even-handedness of Mara Leveritt's reporting. Sr. Helen Prejean Author of "Dead Man Walking" The abuses of the criminal justice system shown here are so blatant -- and so profoundly tragic -- that they would be hard to believe were it not for the depth and evenhandedness of Mara Leveritt's reporting. Henry Rollins "Devil's Knot" is the brutal, riveting story of the Robin Hood Woods murders and the amateur justice meted out in the subsequent trial and sentencing. The true horror of Leveritt's well-written book is that this barely believable fate could potentially befall any American. "Library Journal Reviews""Arkansas Times" investigative reporter Leveritt explores the 1993 West Memphis Three murder convictions, which have been the subject of two HBO documentaries. The book is arranged chronologically, from the crime through the trial, and dispassionately dissects the prosecution's case against three teens who were convicted of the grisly murders of three eight-year-old boys. Leveritt interviewed the principals, reviewed the police file and trial transcripts, and leads the reader to conclude from her exhaustive research (430 footnotes) that the case was botched, improperly based on a single confession from a retarded youth and the defendants' alleged ties to satanic rituals. Well written in descriptive language, the book is an indictment of a culture and legal system that failed to protect children as defendants or victims. Highly recommended. "Arkansas Times""Devil's Knot" becomes the best horror novel you've ever read, one of those that leaves you wondering what new sick dread might be lying in wait on the next page, one of those that telegraphs the frustration and fear of its characters through the cover like a chunk of iron struck with a mallet. The monster Leveritt reveals in the end, however, is more terrifying than even the fork-tailed bogeymen conjured by West Memphis police and prosecutors to fit their crime. "Brutal, riveting....The true horror of Leveritt's well-written book is that this barely believable fate could potentially befall any American."--Henry Rollins "The abuses of the criminal justice system shown here are so blatant--and so profoundly tragic--that they would be hard to believe were it not for the depth and even-handedness of Mara Leveritt's reporting."--Sister Helen Prejean "author of Dead Man Walking " Sr. Helen Prejeanauthor of "Dead Man Walking"
The abuses of the criminal justice system shown here are so blatant -- and so profoundly tragic -- that they would be hard to believe were it not for the depth and even-handedness of Mara Leveritt's reporting.
