I just picked this book up the other day. I’m not much of a book reader -text that isn’t back lighted hurts my eyes after a short time- but I found it hard to put this book down.
I thought it was well written, to the point, and covered a lot of ground. I know the author worked a great deal on her research getting this book ready. It shows.
I am in the camp that does not know if these kids are innocent or guilty because I do not beleive they were allowed a fair trial. After reading the book, I’m even more so in this camp. Pretty scary stuff.
My only complaint is the footnotes at the end of the book -the book is just over 400 pages long and 50 of those are footnotes. As the book deals with so many facts and references, everytime I came across a footnote marker, I’d jump to the back of the book to find out more. I have two bookmarks in the book because of this. I would have prefered having the footnotes on the bottom of the same page.
I’ve read other people made a copy of the footnotes to save time jumping around in the book.
Anyone else read this book. What were your thoughts on it?
I haven’t read this particular book but it is on my list. I have read other pieces about them and have seen the 2 documentaries (Paradise Lost and Revelations).
I too agree these boys didn’t get a fair trial, and were convicted on less evidence than set OJ free but that’s another issue entirely.
It’s sad to think these boys may never see a fair trial, or the truth of what exactly happened may never be known (as Damien, one of the three boys and the one some believe is the ring leader) is up for his final appeal this year.
I hope to read the book as I have heard a lot of good press about it. If you want another interesting music related read, Henry Rollins just recently released a book about when he descided to make the tribute album for the WM3, how he got all the bands together and performed live. Some of the parents of the victims even met with him. It’s pretty interesting. It’s called Broken Summers.
I’ve read this and the other book written on the case (Blood of Innocents , which has some info not in Devil’s Knot but on the whole is far inferior) and I’ve corresponded with the author and with Echols’ wife, Lorri Davis. This is the most botched abortion of justice imaginable and I can’t imagine why it isn’t more high profile considering the documentaries (which at first I thought were probably biased in the defendents’ favor but based on everything I’ve read since I’m convinced aren’t) and the celebrity activists (most notably Henry Rollins and Trey Parker). While I can’t say for certain that they are innocent (though I certainly believe them to be) I can say for certain that they were never proven guilty. That a boy can be put on death row when there is absolutely NO physical evidence connecting him to a crime, when he had no motive, and when the lead prosecution witnesses included a teenaged girl who admitted she lied, a kid who changed his story constantly, the confession of a harassed retarded boy, and an “occult expert” who got his Ph.D. from a mail order school that has since been forced to close by the USDE is just sickening beyond words, and that Bill Clinton refused to even speak in their defense after watching the tape and stating his belief in their innocence is yet another reason to dislike him.
BTW, the case is being made into a motion picture next year with Michael Pitt, Ricky Lake and Donal Logue (ER) among others. Hopefully it will generate some publicity that will get them a new trial, but I’m not holding my breath.