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King of Freaks
True crime's rising stars Nick van der Leek and Lisa Wilson, fresh from the success of three trilogies dedicated to the unsolved JonBenét Ramsey case, have cast about for a new challenge.
In the West Memphis Three case, they find a heart of darkness to rival the webs of shadowy intrigue bedeviling Boulder Colorado in 1996.
“Having written about the unsolved Ramsey case,” writes van der Leek, “I was looking for a challenging case to rival and to sharpen the true crime saw even further. The West Memphis Three saga does precisely that.”
But where the Ramsey case was a murk of sophisticated smoke and mirrors and legions of chummy, high-powered lawyers working behind the scenes, as we’re about to see, this story is quite different. In Arkansas, at the heart of America’s crime infested capital, very little makes sense. Out of the woods a slew of unsophisticated folks emerge, each floundering in a self-made soup of blood, mud and twisted psychology.
“The irony, for me,” adds Wilson, “was how many supposedly sophisticated folks could be duped by the artless performances of the impoverished and the uneducated, and Echols’ especially.”
Getting stuck in the muddiness of our own sick minds, it turns out, is a fate common to rich and poor, genius and imbecile alike. King of Freaks navigates how and why this “getting stuck” happens, and the way through it when it does…
In the West Memphis Three case, they find a heart of darkness to rival the webs of shadowy intrigue bedeviling Boulder Colorado in 1996.
“Having written about the unsolved Ramsey case,” writes van der Leek, “I was looking for a challenging case to rival and to sharpen the true crime saw even further. The West Memphis Three saga does precisely that.”
But where the Ramsey case was a murk of sophisticated smoke and mirrors and legions of chummy, high-powered lawyers working behind the scenes, as we’re about to see, this story is quite different. In Arkansas, at the heart of America’s crime infested capital, very little makes sense. Out of the woods a slew of unsophisticated folks emerge, each floundering in a self-made soup of blood, mud and twisted psychology.
“The irony, for me,” adds Wilson, “was how many supposedly sophisticated folks could be duped by the artless performances of the impoverished and the uneducated, and Echols’ especially.”
Getting stuck in the muddiness of our own sick minds, it turns out, is a fate common to rich and poor, genius and imbecile alike. King of Freaks navigates how and why this “getting stuck” happens, and the way through it when it does…
168 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2017
33 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2021
Great book.. been a Nick follower a few years
Great book, good read. I find it sad that he didn't at least finish Freaks in the forest.. Until I discovered him on YouTube videos I had stopped buying any of his book due to the let down of no follow up as promised in this book.. Since I feel I now have a better understanding of his view points and his reasoning why he didn't I have since started back buying his books.. I find him to be well researched and worth the price.
Great book, good read. I find it sad that he didn't at least finish Freaks in the forest.. Until I discovered him on YouTube videos I had stopped buying any of his book due to the let down of no follow up as promised in this book.. Since I feel I now have a better understanding of his view points and his reasoning why he didn't I have since started back buying his books.. I find him to be well researched and worth the price.
April 15, 2020
It was ok
The author tries to hard which in turn makes it a harder read. If you can get past that then i would suggest reading this but if your easily sidetracked then this isnt the read for you.
The author tries to hard which in turn makes it a harder read. If you can get past that then i would suggest reading this but if your easily sidetracked then this isnt the read for you.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews