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  • Devil’s Knot

  • The True Story of the West Memphis Three
  • Written by: Mara Leveritt
  • Narrated by: Lorna Raver
  • Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

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Devil’s Knot cover art

Devil’s Knot

Written by: Mara Leveritt
Narrated by: Lorna Raver
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Publisher's Summary

“Free the West Memphis Three!” - maybe you’ve heard the phrase, but do you know why their story is so alarming? Do you know the facts?

The guilty verdicts handed out to three Arkansas teens in a horrific capital murder case were popular in their home state - even upheld on appeal. But after two HBO documentaries called attention to the witch-hunt atmosphere at the trials, artists and other supporters raised concerns about the accompanying lack of evidence. Now, award-winning journalist Mara Leveritt provides the most comprehensive look yet into this endlessly shocking case.

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 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 tried and convicted. Jurors sentenced Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to life in prison. They sentenced Damien Echols, the accused ringleader, to death. Ten years later, all three remain in prison. Here, Leveritt unravels this seemingly medieval case and offers close-up views of its key participants - including one with an uncanny knack for evading the law.

Mara Leveritt has won several awards for investigative journalism, including Arkansas’s Booker Worthen Prize for her book The Boys on the Tracks. A contributing editor to the Arkansas Times, she lives in Little Rock.

©2002 Mara Leveritt (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What the critics say

Devil’s Knot…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. What Leveritt reveals to us is the most horrible fiend a rational person can imagine when matters of life and death are at stake: the Specter of Doubt.” ( Arkansas Times)

What listeners say about Devil’s Knot

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A Justifiable cause-célèbre

Hollywood actors, professional athletes, and musicians were correct to bring attention to the unjust conviction of Jesse Misskelley, Jason Baldwin, and Damien Echols. Widely-seen HBO documentaries about the "West Memphis Three" prompted the movement and very nicely laid out the outrageous circumstances in the investigation and trials - and I recommend you watch them. The misconduct by Police and Prosecutors presented in those films - and expanded in this book - varies from jaw-dropping (ludicrous assumptions based on clothing and musical tastes) to infuriating (recanted testimony and outright railroading). 'Devil's Knot' - compiled by Little Rock reporter Mara Leveritt - is exhaustive.. it painstakingly documents the contentions presented in the films in a less-limiting format. It's well-written, well-paced, and logically presented.
[The approach is admittedly quite 'scattergun' - throwing every possible point of contention and seeing what sticks (honestly who cares if someone might have changed the Case Number to include the numbers "6-6-6"? That's supposed to be significant!?!).. but Leveritt largely stays on-point].

My biggest problem with the audiobook is the narration. Lorna Raver reads disinterestedly, attempts laughable Arkansas accents at times, and delivers a plodding pace (I had to speed playback to 1.25X to render her narration tolerable). Occasionally she noticeably wheezes through sentences - to the point that I actually suspect that Raver is a heavy smoker.

This is a captivating story, and despite the  "overwhelm 'em with absolutely everything" kitchen-sink approach, this is an 8.5 star book.. It's worth a Credit.. but because of the brutal narration, I give this audiobook version 6.5 stars out of 10. You're not crazy to give it a listen, but maybe try the Paper Copy if you're thirsty for a pinpoint accurate account and every conceivable controversial detail. Otherwise, seek out the 'Paradise Lost' documentaries.

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The book covers a lot of material.

The narrator can be slightly irratating after a while. The book is a little repetative, at time.

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