The Boys on the Tracks: Death, denial, and a mother's crusade to bring her son's killers to justice

by Mara Leveritt

Overview

Two Arkansas teenagers are run over by a train. The state medical examiner rules they smoked themselves into a "marijuana-induced stupor" before lying down, side by side, on the tracks. He rules the deaths accidental. Case closed. Except that when the parents of one get the bodies exhumed, new autopsies point to murder. That launches the mom of one of the boys on a journey that will lead her into a dark world of drugs and political corruption. In 2001, after this book's release a US Court of Appeals wrote: "The record in this case reads like a John Grisham novel." Unfortunately, this story is not fiction.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940149472055
Publisher:	Bird Call Press
Publication date:	05/30/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	370
Sales rank:	228,674
File size:	802 KB

About the Author

Mara Leveritt is an Arkansas reporter best known as the author of "Devil's Knot" and "Dark Spell," the first books of her intended Justice Knot trilogy about three cub scouts who were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas and the case of the three teenagers who were convicted of the murders, and then, eighteen years later -- and after pleading guilty -- were abruptly set free. A 2013 feature film starring Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, and Stephen Moyer is based on "Devil's Knot."

Editorial Reviews

" A wrecking-ball tale of tragedy, malfeasance, and machine politics. Authentically shocking, deeply unsettling. A page-turner."

Kirkus Reviews

"The new crime journalism at its best -- understated though bizarre, carefully documented, full of twists and surprises, and devoid of the flights of fancy that mar so much 'true crime.' I wish I'd written this fine book."

Author of "Hastened to the Grave" - Jack Olsen

"If this Arkansas murder tale weren't a true-crime thriller by an established investigative journalist, it would be too crazy, complicated, and bizarre to believe."

Publisher's Weekly