Can a murderer be redeemed? This is Mullane’s central theme in her revealing book of five murderers who all served lengthy sentences in California’s notorious San Quentin Prison, now seeking to live out the remainder of their tainted lives without condemnation or reproach. Without any attempt to excuse their crimes, Mullane, a producer for Public Radio International’s This American Life, offers a highly charged exposé of this quintet of hopeful ex-cons—Eddie Ramirez, Donald Cronk, Phillip Seiler, Jesse Reed, Richard Rael—battered by a wicked tangle of red tape and penal regulations, along with an unsympathetic outside world that refuses to either forget or forgive their transgressions. With their fates in the hands of the governor and the parole board, very few lifers are released, Mullane writes, and often wait up to 15 years between parole hearings. Boasting gripping, top-notch journalism, Mullane pierces the myth of the unredeemable killer with these portraits of troubled men in a society that fears and reviles them. Agent: Gail Ross Literary Agency. (June)
A radio journalist immerses herself in the lives of five murderers incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison in California. NPR reporter and producer Mullane received remarkable cooperation from the prison staff as well as her subjects as they sought parole for good behavior and changed character…. An impressive investigative work with interesting findings that tend to contradict conventional wisdom.”
Publishers Weekly
“Can a murderer be redeemed? This is Mullane’s central theme in her revealing book of five murderers who all served lengthy sentences in California’s notorious San Quentin Prison, now seeking to live out the remainder of their tainted lives without condemnation or reproach. Without any attempt to excuse their crimes, Mullane offers a highly charged exposé of this quintet of hopeful ex-cons battered by a wicked tangle of red tape and penal regulations, along with an unsympathetic outside world that refuses to either forget or forgive their transgressions. With their fates in the hands of the governor and the parole board, very few lifers are released, Mullane writes, and often wait up to 15 years between parole hearings. Boasting gripping, top-notch journalism, Mullane pierces the myth of the unredeemable killer with these portraits of troubled men in a society that fears and reviles them.”
Columbia Journalism Review
“[Mullane’s] account manages to put human faces on people who are too often demonized by the media—and then forgotten. As its title suggests, Life After Murder makes a strong argument that a sane sentencing policy should address the reality that, long after even the most terrible sins of youth, people can change.” Relevant
“The Last Hunger Season is a beautiful story, and readers will find themselves pulling for these farmers to make it…. Thurow makes it clear this is the solution for Africa’s repeated food crises. There are challenges—training a whole continent of farmers, adequate storage for grains, better seeds, and transportation to bigger markets—but they are all surmountable with the will and resources. These farmers have experienced their last hunger season. There is no reason why the rest of the world’s one billion hungry people can’t do the same.”
Ebony
“Fascinating.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“As Mullane shows through her immersion reporting into the lives of five murderers - before they killed, while imprisoned and after their parole - nothing is simple.”
Baltimore City Paper
Michelle Alexander, legal scholar and author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
“Life After Murder challenges us to do the unthinkable––view those accused of horrible crimes as worthy of our concern. Nancy Mullane, a white woman who was once just as ignorant about the real world of crime and punishment as the typical television viewer, takes us on a remarkable journey behind bars. Through the stories of five unforgettable men, we are reminded of the power and possibility of redemption, as well as the nearly unforgiveable crime our nation has committed: treating some human beings as disposable.”
“Life After Murder is as much a study of jarring re-entries as it is a chronicle of redemption and hope. But it’s also the story of Mullane’s own transformation from frightened observer to cheerleading sympathizer. The Nancy Mullane who dines easily with parolee Reed, invites convicts home for dinner with her family, and finds herself emotionally invested in their triumphs is a far cry from the woman who approached San Quentin with such quavering timidity in the opening chapter—a woman acutely aware both of her own vulnerabilities and the imperviousness of surroundings which were, for her, only temporary…. Reading along—at home, out and about, somewhere you choose to be—you may find yourself undergoing a similar change.”
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“It's the relationships Mullane builds, and the stories she tells -- particularly those of the five paroled murderers who compose the central focus of the book -- that move the book beyond policy analysis and into something profoundly human…. Their stories are complicated and compelling. When these men meet obstacles, as they surely do, you will be shocked by your desperation to turn the pages and learn that things work out for them.”
Amy Bach, author of Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court and executive director, Measures for Justice
“What happens when men who have committed heinous crimes are released from prison? Nancy Mullane first met her five characters while they were serving life sentences for murder. She persuaded corrections officials to give her unheard of access to the inmates. Then, in an extraordinary turn of events, Mullane documented their unexpected release back into society. Her remarkable on-the-ground reporting should elicit soul-searching from the Left, Right, and Center. If these five former inmates can lead responsible, productive lives after decades in maximum-security prisons, can they show us the way toward a new policy that combines fiscal responsibility, public safety, and genuine remorse? Read this unusual story, and let the debate begin.…”
KirkusReview
Readers coming to this book expecting vicarious thrills and insight into the minds of evildoers will soon be disappointed: though all five men interviewed here were imprisoned for murder, only two (if you believe their accounts) killed intentionally, and one of those in self-defense. Readers will also leave the book disappointed, as it reveals the sorry state of California law: how it keeps virtually all lifers in prison regardless of whether they have been granted parole—more often than not, until they die. Freelance reporter and producer Mullane, who has been featured on This American Life, effectively describes the tragic injustice of excessively lengthy incarceration and the difficulties the few lifers who are paroled have in readjusting to life "on the outside" (think The Shawshank Redemption). Occasional inconsistencies in interviewees' accounts and elsewhere are disruptive but rare. Mullane uses case studies to comment on incarceration, but she focuses more on its role in rehabilitation than in deterrence, public safety, or punishment, since her subjects are largely sympathetic. VERDICT Recommended for readers interested in criminal biographies and for anyone living in California.—Ricardo Laskaris, Toronto
A radio journalist immerses herself in the lives of five murderers incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison in California. NPR reporter and producer Mullane received remarkable cooperation from the prison staff as well as her subjects as they sought parole for good behavior and changed character. Though the parole process is long and complex, the decisions can be overturned by the governor without detailed explanation. However, for obvious reasons, most governors tend to reject parole requests from murderers even when prison officials and parole board members favor release. Mullane was surprised to learn that of the approximately 1,000 convicted murderers paroled in California in the last 21 years, not one has murdered again. The accounts of the five prisoners--Don Cronk, Ed Ramirez, Rich Rael, Phillip Seiler and Jesse Reed--interweave throughout the book, making the narrative difficult to track at times. The author examines their young lives before the murders, the circumstances of their crimes, their prison terms and their attempts to readjust to the world outside prison. She recounts interviews with family members, lovers and friends, but does not approach those close to the murder victims, a conscious editorial decision that certainly spared suffering for those loved ones but detracts from the book's emotional impact. Nonetheless, Mullane demonstrates clearly that each of the five men was to some extent a caring person who made a terrible decision on an especially bad day and has spent years trying to sincerely atone for the murder. The author believes in rehabilitation and second chances, and her accounts are unusual in their optimism about inmates living productively behind bars and after their release. Occasionally uneven, but overall an impressive investigative work with interesting findings that tend to contradict conventional wisdom.
Life After Murder provides a revealing glimpse into the prison system in California, where even if the parole board recommends an inmate's release, the governor has the authority to overrule the decision…Mullane…builds a convincing case for a reexamination of parole policies for reformed inmates. She shows that a reconsideration is not only humane but economic…
—Steven Levingston
