Books
& Other Media

All my books are nonfiction.

Devil’s Knot (2002, Atria) details the deeply problematic trials of the teenagers who became known as the West Memphis Three. Because the prisoners attracted international support while their case was on appeal, I was asked to write about the impact of that attention for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review. A feature film titled Devil’s Knot, starring Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon, premiered in Toronto in October 2013. In 2019, the New York Times Review of Books listed Devil’s Knot as one of the “classic—and completely terrifying—real-life stories” in its “50 States of True Crime.”

The Boys on the Tracks (1998, St. Martin’s Press) explores murder and prosecutorial corruption in Saline County. Interest in the book remains strong, in part due to a 2018 episode of the popular podcast, My Favorite Murder.

Dark Spell (2014, Bird Call Press) chronicled the post-conviction ordeal of Jason Baldwin, the youngest of the West Memphis Three. After Jason was freed, he co-founded Proclaim Justice, a nonprofit that tries to assist other wrongfully-convicted prisoners. One of those PJ helped was Tim Howard, a death-row inmate about whom I’ve also written. Happily, Tim was also freed, and in 2020 he and Jason appeared together in a fundraising film for PJ.