Name: Devil's Knot
ISBN: 9780743417600

Mara Leveritt

The award-winning investigative journalist takes readers deep inside the 1993 slayings of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, revealing the overzealous prosecution that may have improperly convicted three teenagers. Reprint.

The True Story of the West Memphis Three

Devil's Knot

Ryan Mateyk

Devil's Knot is to books as Making a Murderer was to television... wholly engrossing and wildly frustrating.

Based on a true story, this edition of Devil's Knot will tie-in to a major motion picture starring Academy Award winners Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth. This riveting portrait of a small Arkansas town recounts the all-too-true story of a brutal triple murder and the eighteen-year imprisonment of three innocent teenagers. For weeks in 1993, after the grisly murders of three eight-year-old boys, police in West Memphis, Arkansas, seemed stumped. 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 that included stunning investigative blunders, the teenagers, who became known as the West Memphis Three, 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. In Devil's Knot, award-winning investigative journalist Mara Leveritt presents the most comprehensive, insightful reporting ever done on this story - one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American legal history. In-depth research, meticulous reconstruction of the investigation and close-up views of its key participants unravel the many tangled knots of this endlessly shocking case.

Lamia Hajani

** spoiler alert **
           I think maybe I was at an advantage reading this book, having never even heard of the case despite my interest in true crime. It was funny to me how at times, I was too frustrated to keep reading this book, simply because of the conduct of the "officials" involved - the judge, the prosecutors, the detectives. It was all frustrating. 

Leveritt does a great job of breaking down the case from beginning to end. By pointing out every flaw in the case and by painting a picture of an alternative suspect, she brings to light the miscarriage of justice in the case of the West Memphis 3. I especially love how she ties everything back to the fact that not only 3 children were hurt, but 6. It's easy to forget that Damien, Jessie, and Jason were children during this time, but they were.

I think the book starts faltering after the initial trials end, and things get muddled. It's not easy to write about and the focus shifts to public reaction, which... I don't care much for. I'd rather have known more about the boys' lives in prison, but perhaps others liked the decision Leveritt makes here.

Regardless, I think the book does a wonderful job of depicting the lack of justice done and leaves me hanging with the question: who got away with this horrendous crime?

I'm still reeling from this story. And I know it's biased, but oh my goodness, this is crazy. Satanic panic wss real, and that is so sad.

Definitely a recommendation for those who want to read true crime, and cases where the system failed miserably.

Alli Sweeney

Carissa 

Savanna Carroll

Kathy Rodger 

Christina M Masters

Lynse Butson

From the prize-winning investigative reporter who has had the inside track on the story since it first broke in 1993 comes the definitive chronicle of the notorious child murders in West Memphis, Arkansas. of photos.

Julianne

*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.

Devil's Knot The True Story of the West Memphis Three

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