>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <023b01bf2039$baee3020$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: Fw: Very disturbing >Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:11:30 -0700 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Peter McWilliams >To: >Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 7:24 PM >Subject: Very disturbing > > > > I haven't read this book, but I do not for a moment doubt its >authenticity. > > Kirkus Reviews, by the way, is one of the most respected book reviewing > > organizations in the publishing industry. > > > > Take care, > > > > Peter > > > > ------ > > > > > > Update: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 > > > > The true and complete story > > By Linda Ives > > > > In August 1987, the body of my 17-year-old son, Kevin, who had been > > murdered, was left on a railroad track near our home to be dismembered by >an > > oncoming train. His best friend, also murdered, was placed on the track > > beside him. The mutilation was a savage attempt to destroy evidence of the > > murders. Other futile attempts to thwart an investigation quickly > > followed--first in our county, then in our state, and finally during >federal > > investigations. Even now, twelve years later, the FBI refuses to open its > > files on this case. > > > > Many news outlets over the years, including Dateline, the Wall Street > > Journal, and the New York Times Magazine, have run stories on the murders. > > But until now, there has been no comprehensive, definitive book. The Boys >on > > the Tracks, by Mara Leveritt will be released by St. Martin's Press on > > November 1. It is the true and complete story of how my son died and how >law > > enforcement at every level did its best to sabotage justice. > > > > Mara is one of Arkansas's most highly respected journalists, a reporter >who > > has devoted her career to investigating criminal justice issues. When she > > told me she wanted to write this book I gave her my unreserved >cooperation, > > opened my files to her, and welcomed her interviews. Having followed her > > work for quite some time, I knew that her reporting would be accurate and > > her writing would be vigorous. I have read the book. I am well pleased. > > > > If you have followed the story of my son's murder, read The Boys on the > > Tracks. It will fill in every detail you might have missed. If you know > > nothing about this case, read The Boys on the Tracks. It is a complete > > telling of the tale. And if you've doubted, even for a second, the >rationale > > behind our country's "war on drugs," read The Boys on the Tracks. And see > > how the war has been on us. > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >-- > > ---- > > > > > > > > The Boys on the Tracks > > > > > > From Kirkus Reviews > > > > Award-winning investigative reporter Leveritts debut is a wrecking-ball >tale > > of tragedy, malfeasance, and machine politics that resembles an all-true > > Arkansas Confidential. In 1987, Linda Ives suffered a parental > > worst-nightmare when her son and a friend were run over by a train, whose > > crew observed them supine and covered with a tarp before impact. Local law > > enforcement attributed the deaths to a massive overdose of marijuana and > > dismissed the crews tale as optical illusion, in the first of many > > suspicious official fumbles. Ives compelled a series of investigations >that > > began promisingly yet were inexplicably stifled by such malign forces as >the > > states notoriously incompetent medical examiner (protected by >then-Governor > > Clinton) and an admired local prosecutor who championed her cause as > > camouflage for his own criminal activities. As years passed, and more > > unsolved killings occurred, Ives assembled evidence that the boys had > > stumbled upon a diffuse conspiracy involving CIA-backed air suppliers to >the > > Contras, who ran an enormous cocaine-trafficking operation from a remote > > airport. Fanciful as this may sound, Leveritt documents how Ivess quest >for > > transparency was consistently stymied, first by local agencies, then the > > state police, finally by the FBI. A portrait emerges of state governance >as > > a deeply corrupted good-ol'-boy network, funded by drug money and >protected > > by blackmail and violence. Leveritts prose is less than taut, and she too > > often indulges in repetitive emotional rhetoric regarding the Iveses loss. > > That said, her investigatory efforts seem impeccable; little within this > > page-turner reads as implausible conspiracy theory. Unlike many works that > > have dug for the dirt of the Clinton gubernatorial era, this is an > > authentically shocking, deeply unsettling portrait of contemporary >American > > power backstopped by arrogance and callous greedand of the drug war as a > > weapon of social control from which insiders enjoy impunity. One hopes for > > sufficient outrage garnered to substitute for justice denied; also, for an > > inevitable movie adaptation that wont dilute the storys uglier civic > > dimensions. > > > > Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. > > > > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: