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The Boys on the Tracks: Death, Denial, and a Mother's Crusade to Bring Her Son's Killers to Justice
The Boys on the Tracks is the story of a parent's worst nightmare, a quiet woman's confrontation with a world of murder, drugs, and corruption, where legitimate authority is mocked and the public trust is trampled. It is an intensely personal story and a story of national importance. It is a tale of multiple murders and of justice repeatedly denied.
The death of a child is bad enough. To learn that the child was murdered is worse. But few tragedies compare with the story of Linda Ives, whose teenage son and his friend were found mysteriously run over by a train. In the months that followed, Ives's world darkened even more as she gradually came to understand that the very officials she turned to for help could not, or would not, solve the murders. The story of betrayal begins locally but quickly expands. Exposing a web of silence and complicity in which drugs, politics, and murder converge, The Boys on the Tracks is a horrifying story from first page to last, and its most frightening aspect is that all of the story is true.
Mara Leveritt has covered this story since it first broke back in 1987. Her approach is one of scrupulous reporting and lively narrative. She weaves profiles and events into a smooth and chilling whole, one that leads the readers to confront, along with Linda Ives, the events' profoundly disturbing implications. A powerful story reminiscent of A Civil Action and Not Without My Daughter, The Boys on the Tracks is destined to become one of the most powerful works published in 1999.
The death of a child is bad enough. To learn that the child was murdered is worse. But few tragedies compare with the story of Linda Ives, whose teenage son and his friend were found mysteriously run over by a train. In the months that followed, Ives's world darkened even more as she gradually came to understand that the very officials she turned to for help could not, or would not, solve the murders. The story of betrayal begins locally but quickly expands. Exposing a web of silence and complicity in which drugs, politics, and murder converge, The Boys on the Tracks is a horrifying story from first page to last, and its most frightening aspect is that all of the story is true.
Mara Leveritt has covered this story since it first broke back in 1987. Her approach is one of scrupulous reporting and lively narrative. She weaves profiles and events into a smooth and chilling whole, one that leads the readers to confront, along with Linda Ives, the events' profoundly disturbing implications. A powerful story reminiscent of A Civil Action and Not Without My Daughter, The Boys on the Tracks is destined to become one of the most powerful works published in 1999.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1999
222 people are currently reading
2774 people want to read
About the author
Mara Leveritt
6 books138 followersMara Leveritt is an Arkansas reporter best known as the author of Devil’s Knot (Atria 2002) and Dark Spell, (Bird Call Press 2013), 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, 18 years later--and after pleading guilty--were abruptly set free. A 2013 feature film staring Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon and Stephen Moyer is based on Devil's Knot. Leveritt’s earlier book, The Boys on the Tracks, (St. Martin’s Press 1998, republished by Bird Call Press, 2011) focused on the political intrigue surrounding the still-unsolved murders of two Arkansas teenagers.
Leveritt is a contributing editor at Arkansas Times, where she has written extensively about the prosecution of Tim Howard, an African-American man, for the murder of his best friends, who were white. After Howard spent almost 15 years on death row, a court found that state officials had not released potentially exculpatory evidence to his defense lawyers at trial--a violation of law. A new trial has been scheduled for September 2014.
Leveritt also blogs on her website about law, police, courts, and prisons. She has won several awards for her writing and posts the photo here of herself in cap and gown because she is so unabashedly proud of her honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
As Leveritt is new to Goodreads, she has started by adding books that influenced her to her bones.
Leveritt is a contributing editor at Arkansas Times, where she has written extensively about the prosecution of Tim Howard, an African-American man, for the murder of his best friends, who were white. After Howard spent almost 15 years on death row, a court found that state officials had not released potentially exculpatory evidence to his defense lawyers at trial--a violation of law. A new trial has been scheduled for September 2014.
Leveritt also blogs on her website about law, police, courts, and prisons. She has won several awards for her writing and posts the photo here of herself in cap and gown because she is so unabashedly proud of her honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
As Leveritt is new to Goodreads, she has started by adding books that influenced her to her bones.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
September 19, 2018
I had already heard about this case going in because they covered it on My Favorite Murder podcast. But I was not prepared!
Okay first off, this book has a lot of problems. It's far too long and repeats itself a lot. It's written both like a factual report and something your friend is casually telling you about in a terribly unorganized way, jumping around a lot to make points. It's not written well exactly, but provides an exhaustive collection of details. Details that are both infuriating and shocking. All the corruption! And still no answers! This case is not solved. There are so many people involved in this narrative it's difficult to keep them all straight while reading. It's an emotionally charged and biased report (mostly written from Kevin's mother's accounts and legal documents) but that's set up from the beginning and you expect it. I almost wish that the mother actually wrote the book herself instead of having this third party so I could feel more connected to it. But it's a VERY thorough account of the case. Almost too thorough, I'd say.
Okay first off, this book has a lot of problems. It's far too long and repeats itself a lot. It's written both like a factual report and something your friend is casually telling you about in a terribly unorganized way, jumping around a lot to make points. It's not written well exactly, but provides an exhaustive collection of details. Details that are both infuriating and shocking. All the corruption! And still no answers! This case is not solved. There are so many people involved in this narrative it's difficult to keep them all straight while reading. It's an emotionally charged and biased report (mostly written from Kevin's mother's accounts and legal documents) but that's set up from the beginning and you expect it. I almost wish that the mother actually wrote the book herself instead of having this third party so I could feel more connected to it. But it's a VERY thorough account of the case. Almost too thorough, I'd say.
January 13, 2014
An interesting story but the book got very tedious. I do not recommend this book.
September 30, 2018
The Story: Fascinating! The murder of two boys, Don Henry and Kevin Ives.
This book: reads worse than a boot-leg textbook. I got my ebook delivered directly from amazon to my kindle and it was littered with errors and segments that appeared to be out of place. This small errors do reduce the authors credibility.
For example, the line “Chief among them was Arkansas Attorney General Winston Bryant, the state’s attorney general.” Or in another instance, the grocery chain Piggly Wiggly is typed as Piggy Wiggly. Most blogs and reddit comments are produced to a higher standard of copy editing.
There are instances where the errors serve to confuse to reader. Towards the end of the book in the 1990s, the author cites that Linda had started taking notes on phone calls “last year” however, earlier in the book Linda (Kevin’s mom) is described as beginning to take these notes in the 1980s. Most confusingly, there is a passage where it is casually mentioned that a foot was found by the tracks after the bodies had been sent to the state medical examiner. It is only several pages later that the lost foot found by the tracks is introduced and explained, as if the author hadn’t already introduced it without context.
My issues don’t end with editing (although seriously I have concerns over whether or not a single person proof read the document). The content of the book quickly leaves the murders of Kevin and Don and the book instead becomes the saga of the racketeering of Dan Harmon.
Don Henry’s family fades from the picture, with no explanation. The author makes little attempt to explore what the Henry’s were doing while Linda was on her murder crusade, and we as readers are left with no idea what the Henry’s think happened to the boys.
Instead, the author focuses on drug task forces in the confusing timeline of when Linda found out about them. New characters are continuously introduced. Several events are explained in excruciating detail with no relevance to Kevin and Don’s deaths. The only way the author can tie it back together is to exclaim “Linda was horrified to learn about this!” The sections on drug trades should have been carefully edited and summarized.
Worst of all, the book only explores the murder from Linda’s perspective. It seems that the author only relied on Linda’s research and didn’t do any outside work. If Linda reached a dead end, so did the book. If there were other theories to consider, we didn’t hear about them.
Skip this and read a good blog post about the murders instead.
This book: reads worse than a boot-leg textbook. I got my ebook delivered directly from amazon to my kindle and it was littered with errors and segments that appeared to be out of place. This small errors do reduce the authors credibility.
For example, the line “Chief among them was Arkansas Attorney General Winston Bryant, the state’s attorney general.” Or in another instance, the grocery chain Piggly Wiggly is typed as Piggy Wiggly. Most blogs and reddit comments are produced to a higher standard of copy editing.
There are instances where the errors serve to confuse to reader. Towards the end of the book in the 1990s, the author cites that Linda had started taking notes on phone calls “last year” however, earlier in the book Linda (Kevin’s mom) is described as beginning to take these notes in the 1980s. Most confusingly, there is a passage where it is casually mentioned that a foot was found by the tracks after the bodies had been sent to the state medical examiner. It is only several pages later that the lost foot found by the tracks is introduced and explained, as if the author hadn’t already introduced it without context.
My issues don’t end with editing (although seriously I have concerns over whether or not a single person proof read the document). The content of the book quickly leaves the murders of Kevin and Don and the book instead becomes the saga of the racketeering of Dan Harmon.
Don Henry’s family fades from the picture, with no explanation. The author makes little attempt to explore what the Henry’s were doing while Linda was on her murder crusade, and we as readers are left with no idea what the Henry’s think happened to the boys.
Instead, the author focuses on drug task forces in the confusing timeline of when Linda found out about them. New characters are continuously introduced. Several events are explained in excruciating detail with no relevance to Kevin and Don’s deaths. The only way the author can tie it back together is to exclaim “Linda was horrified to learn about this!” The sections on drug trades should have been carefully edited and summarized.
Worst of all, the book only explores the murder from Linda’s perspective. It seems that the author only relied on Linda’s research and didn’t do any outside work. If Linda reached a dead end, so did the book. If there were other theories to consider, we didn’t hear about them.
Skip this and read a good blog post about the murders instead.
August 20, 2014
At the core of the book is a pair of rather grisly murders. Two teenage boys are run over by a train. The plot revolves around the attempt of the mother of one of the two victims to find out the truth of the matter. At first, it’s considered an accident. The boys got stoned, and then fell asleep on the tracks and the train ran over them. But as the plot develops, it’s not an accident; it’s murder, and the boys were already dead, well before the train hit them.
This is unlike the usual crime novel in two ways, first of all it’s not a novel; it’s all true. Secondly, the crime isn’t solved. So I nearly put the book down after reading just a dozen or so pages. Why torment myself with this sort of stuff, when you don’t even get to find out “who dunnit” in the end?
Even more depressing than the violence is the absolute indifference and hostility of the authorities to finding out the truth of the matter. As the mother continues her struggle, the web of corruption and indifference actually expands, from the county level, to the state level, and finally to the national level. The real story is not the crime story, but the story of a struggle against corruption.
At the end, you’re left asking — is this really what our country has been reduced to? How can this thing actually happen in America? How can the stunning indifference of so many people in power actually be tolerated, at all? And it goes to the VERY TOP of both political parties. This is a book which creeps up on you and has a denouement which goes in a completely different direction than the one you probably picked up the book expecting to find. It’s not about the crimes as such. It’s really about the corruption which the author uncovers in telling the story.
At the same time, the book also convinced me that in the middle of this corruption was a core of goodness, of people who doggedly pursued the truth, no matter what the cost. This paradox defined the book. On the one hand, there was the minority of corrupt, probably mentally ill officials who were being manipulated by another minority who had all the money. In the book, it is drug dealers who seem to be running the show, including the government. On the other hand there was the majority of people who were simply ordinary people, doing basically honest things.
Is our society really this corrupt? What are we going to do about this? Is there nothing that we, as Americans, can agree on? The kind and sensible people of the world need to be aware of this general problem and asking how we are going to sort this all out when our corrupt government is unable to deal with the REAL problems we have, like climate change and peak oil. I think there is hope here, but not in the general direction that the book is taking us. We need to be ready.
This is unlike the usual crime novel in two ways, first of all it’s not a novel; it’s all true. Secondly, the crime isn’t solved. So I nearly put the book down after reading just a dozen or so pages. Why torment myself with this sort of stuff, when you don’t even get to find out “who dunnit” in the end?
Even more depressing than the violence is the absolute indifference and hostility of the authorities to finding out the truth of the matter. As the mother continues her struggle, the web of corruption and indifference actually expands, from the county level, to the state level, and finally to the national level. The real story is not the crime story, but the story of a struggle against corruption.
At the end, you’re left asking — is this really what our country has been reduced to? How can this thing actually happen in America? How can the stunning indifference of so many people in power actually be tolerated, at all? And it goes to the VERY TOP of both political parties. This is a book which creeps up on you and has a denouement which goes in a completely different direction than the one you probably picked up the book expecting to find. It’s not about the crimes as such. It’s really about the corruption which the author uncovers in telling the story.
At the same time, the book also convinced me that in the middle of this corruption was a core of goodness, of people who doggedly pursued the truth, no matter what the cost. This paradox defined the book. On the one hand, there was the minority of corrupt, probably mentally ill officials who were being manipulated by another minority who had all the money. In the book, it is drug dealers who seem to be running the show, including the government. On the other hand there was the majority of people who were simply ordinary people, doing basically honest things.
Is our society really this corrupt? What are we going to do about this? Is there nothing that we, as Americans, can agree on? The kind and sensible people of the world need to be aware of this general problem and asking how we are going to sort this all out when our corrupt government is unable to deal with the REAL problems we have, like climate change and peak oil. I think there is hope here, but not in the general direction that the book is taking us. We need to be ready.
July 29, 2012
Must read. True story. I used to live in Arkansas and I'm well acquainted with this.
February 20, 2025
I would give this book 2.5 stars. I rounded up because there were some interesting things in the story. The book I received from the library was a paperback that was reprinted in 2021. It was a decent sized thick book. When I opened it, the font was like 6 pts, it was single spaced and it felt like there was 5000 words on each page. I got a majority of the story through search histories and wound up skimming through the book a lot because it was very very very wordy and a lot of it distracted from the story itself in my opinion.
February 19, 2025
Very slow read for me, but interesting information about our government back in Clinton days.
February 1, 2011
In 1987, two boys, Kevin Ives and Don Henry, in Saline County, Arkansas, are run over by a train. The emergency workers on the scene felt the bodies were wrong and that the boys may have been dead when placed on the tracks. But the state medical examiner ruled their deaths as accidents due to “marijuana intoxication.” Yes, the state medical examiner thought they’d inhaled so much marijuana that they passed out and couldn’t hear the train whistle.
The parents didn’t believe this conclusion and were appalled at how the investigation was handled. The investigation work was shoddy from the start, the scene wasn’t secured and witness accounts were dismissed.
Kevin’s mother, Linda, questions everything about her son’s death and eventually a local attorney, who has quite a few person problems, steps in an helps her family and gets a grand jury to determine that the boys’ death were homicides and not accidents.
But even this, does not result in a real murder investigation. And, every time it looks like something will break the case – the investigation is blocked, by the authorities charged with investigating the case.
The Iran-Contra affair seems to be connected to the boys’ deaths and a number of other unsolved murders that happened during the same time period. A lot of drug running was going on in Arkansas during this time. Former president Bill Clinton was the governor at the time and he didn’t seem to care that the people doing the investigations were incompetent. Later on, when Mike Huckabee was governor, he was also unwilling to help with the investigation.
I read this book partly because I believe the Ives family is a distant relative and because I wanted to find out why this case was so difficult to solve. It is very well written and some fairly complex twists and turns are presented in a manner that allows you to keep track of who is who and what is going on.
The story really made me angry – this family just wants justice. A solid investigation into who murdered their son. But it would seem that in Arkansas the good old boys network is the law and the law breakers.
The parents didn’t believe this conclusion and were appalled at how the investigation was handled. The investigation work was shoddy from the start, the scene wasn’t secured and witness accounts were dismissed.
Kevin’s mother, Linda, questions everything about her son’s death and eventually a local attorney, who has quite a few person problems, steps in an helps her family and gets a grand jury to determine that the boys’ death were homicides and not accidents.
But even this, does not result in a real murder investigation. And, every time it looks like something will break the case – the investigation is blocked, by the authorities charged with investigating the case.
The Iran-Contra affair seems to be connected to the boys’ deaths and a number of other unsolved murders that happened during the same time period. A lot of drug running was going on in Arkansas during this time. Former president Bill Clinton was the governor at the time and he didn’t seem to care that the people doing the investigations were incompetent. Later on, when Mike Huckabee was governor, he was also unwilling to help with the investigation.
I read this book partly because I believe the Ives family is a distant relative and because I wanted to find out why this case was so difficult to solve. It is very well written and some fairly complex twists and turns are presented in a manner that allows you to keep track of who is who and what is going on.
The story really made me angry – this family just wants justice. A solid investigation into who murdered their son. But it would seem that in Arkansas the good old boys network is the law and the law breakers.
June 10, 2008
Just started this true-life crime novel. Two teens, Kevin Ives and Don Henry, are killed mysteriously in rural Arkansas. Their parents are completely baffled by the shoddy investigation, so they take matters into their own hands. I'm only 1/5 of the way through it, but the utter disregard for the truth is mind-boggling.
Okay, now I am 1/2 way and the treachery, betrayal, and utter irresponsibility of public officials is mind-boggling. But Linda Ives (mother of Kevin) is a modern-day hero! She stands up to anyone, even a guy who screams at her, "Don't you know who I am?!"
I finished the book--I'd like to say it is a "good" book, but it's more of an upsetting and frustrating book. The author did a wonderful job detailing the idiocracy of government, from the local level to the federal level. Linda Ives, from whose perspective this book is told, is a wonderful woman. She never, ever backed down--believe me, most people would have given up as soon as they discovered people could be killed for what they knew about her son's murder.
Okay, now I am 1/2 way and the treachery, betrayal, and utter irresponsibility of public officials is mind-boggling. But Linda Ives (mother of Kevin) is a modern-day hero! She stands up to anyone, even a guy who screams at her, "Don't you know who I am?!"
I finished the book--I'd like to say it is a "good" book, but it's more of an upsetting and frustrating book. The author did a wonderful job detailing the idiocracy of government, from the local level to the federal level. Linda Ives, from whose perspective this book is told, is a wonderful woman. She never, ever backed down--believe me, most people would have given up as soon as they discovered people could be killed for what they knew about her son's murder.
January 9, 2025
Interesting book but extremely detailed and somewhat repetitive which made it tedious to the point I wanted to put it down several times. I did finish it and am glad that I did. The corruption that took place to cover up the murders of the boys was incredible and extremely believable because of the details provided. Everything fit together as a huge cover up to hide the drug problem that was pervasive in that county. Tough read but worth it.
June 4, 2024
This story is very confusing and chaotic and I think the author did a good job tying up as much as she could along the way. The copy I had desperately needed better editing though, lots of stupid little errors. It is well documented and researched though and the story is just bonkers enough to make you doubt your sanity a little but smacks of truth throughout, albeit a muddy disappointing and dark truth.
February 27, 2018
Readers should know three things before undertaking this book. One, the story of the deaths of Kevin Ives and Don Henry is much more complicated that you may be prepared for. Two, there will be no neat and tidy resolution to the mystery found here, as the case has never been solved. And third, it is damn good reading, and incredibly thorough. Mara Leveritt is to be commended.
February 27, 2013
just too much detail about political corruption for me. interesting base story of two boys run over by a train but my brain couldn't handle or enjoy the details that followed. The Clinton information (if it is to be believed) was pretty shocking however.
February 4, 2016
More twists and turns in this real life murder story then any I've ever read before.
July 24, 2016
This book was interesting at first but really got bogged down toward the end. I only skimmed the last 100 pages.
July 25, 2021
I will always recall the case of Don Henry and Kevin Ives (the boys on the tracks) case from Unsolved Mysteries because it just so creepy--two boys getting run over by a train after being drugged and murdered. After listening to the ladies from the Resolved Mysteries podcast, where one of the ladies stated that she'd read the book for research, I got curious for more information about the case. Thankfully I got this book out of the library, because I feel like, while it did give me more details on the case, it was a little too detailed in my opinion. The book almost needed some kind of flow chart to keep everyone straight. And also, if you feel the need to put bullet points to remind people about what's going on in your book, then you have too many threads that didn't tie together very well.
Kevin and Don lived in Bryant, Arkansas a town near the state capital of Little Rock. They were headed into their senior year of high school in August, 1987. They were spending time together, and were going out "spotlighting," which a form of hunting where they'd shine a light in the animal's eyes and is apparently illegal in the the state of Arkansas. The next thing we know, a train is coming down upon the two boys, literally lying on the tracks not moving. I'll always feel bad for the train engineers, trying their best to not run the two boys over but unfortunately couldn't stop in time.
The investigation was clearly botched from the start. The police tried to gaslight the train engineers by telling them that the boys weren't covered with a tarp when they clearly had been covered with one (yet another reason I feel badly for the train guys). Then we get to the medical examiner, who was clearly incompetent but no one did anything about it, so screw Dr. Malak in this case. Both the Henry and the Ives families needed to beg to get any kind of investigation into the case, realizing that there may have been some kind of conspiracy going on in that area of Arkansas. However, after reading the book I don't really know if this so-called conspiracy goes as deeply as the author claims (which included nods to then governor Clinton). I understand that there have been some kind of drug thing and that Clinton kept the incompetent medical examiner in his position....but I don't know, it just felt like a little much in my opinion.
While this case is interesting, and I want it to be solved for the families' sakes, I found the writing to drag on for too long.
Kevin and Don lived in Bryant, Arkansas a town near the state capital of Little Rock. They were headed into their senior year of high school in August, 1987. They were spending time together, and were going out "spotlighting," which a form of hunting where they'd shine a light in the animal's eyes and is apparently illegal in the the state of Arkansas. The next thing we know, a train is coming down upon the two boys, literally lying on the tracks not moving. I'll always feel bad for the train engineers, trying their best to not run the two boys over but unfortunately couldn't stop in time.
The investigation was clearly botched from the start. The police tried to gaslight the train engineers by telling them that the boys weren't covered with a tarp when they clearly had been covered with one (yet another reason I feel badly for the train guys). Then we get to the medical examiner, who was clearly incompetent but no one did anything about it, so screw Dr. Malak in this case. Both the Henry and the Ives families needed to beg to get any kind of investigation into the case, realizing that there may have been some kind of conspiracy going on in that area of Arkansas. However, after reading the book I don't really know if this so-called conspiracy goes as deeply as the author claims (which included nods to then governor Clinton). I understand that there have been some kind of drug thing and that Clinton kept the incompetent medical examiner in his position....but I don't know, it just felt like a little much in my opinion.
While this case is interesting, and I want it to be solved for the families' sakes, I found the writing to drag on for too long.
January 30, 2019
I struggled with this one. While the breadcrumbs of this story were riveting and enjoyable to follow, my brain had a lot of trouble holding all of the details, persons of interest, and accusations, especially knowing that they were not going to "add-up" in the way a novel would. The flip side of that though is how much detail and research was poured into this project. Although I only listened to one podcast that recounts this story while reading the book, I couldn't imagine that any other telling of these events would be as complete as Mara Leveritt's.
Staggering amount of details (and grand jury convenings) aside, Leveritt does a good job of bringing some themes to the fore, namely, the corrupting influence of money and drugs in power, how influential certain stopgaps of justice can be (here: prosecutors), how every day people and media can keep the notion of justice and truth alive when our elected officials fail us, and how politics and bipartisanship so seriously color what "truths" come to light. Read for those themes and you will have a lot to mull over.
Staggering amount of details (and grand jury convenings) aside, Leveritt does a good job of bringing some themes to the fore, namely, the corrupting influence of money and drugs in power, how influential certain stopgaps of justice can be (here: prosecutors), how every day people and media can keep the notion of justice and truth alive when our elected officials fail us, and how politics and bipartisanship so seriously color what "truths" come to light. Read for those themes and you will have a lot to mull over.
March 7, 2018
I read this book because it's back in the news in Arkansas, after 30 years.
In 1987, two boys were run-over by a train in Saline County. The mother of one has been trying to get answers every since. She has faced corruption on every level of government.
I always have thought that these two boys, stubbuled onto a drug deal and were killed for what they saw. After reading this book, I believe that even more. People that have said they knew something about this case have ended being killed. This book shows how much corruption there is in government from local all the way up to federal.
I hope some day the families will find out what really happened that night and those responsible will be held accountable.
In 1987, two boys were run-over by a train in Saline County. The mother of one has been trying to get answers every since. She has faced corruption on every level of government.
I always have thought that these two boys, stubbuled onto a drug deal and were killed for what they saw. After reading this book, I believe that even more. People that have said they knew something about this case have ended being killed. This book shows how much corruption there is in government from local all the way up to federal.
I hope some day the families will find out what really happened that night and those responsible will be held accountable.
May 8, 2025
Well researched and meticulous reporting from this author. I've heard stories through the years about this case, the coverups, corruption from the local police, state police, Governor Clinton and even the CIA. It's not shocking either that the greed and drug trade was behind this and other murders. This poor mother and her family still are waiting for justice. This book was very informative but it was very dry and in parts, and even boring. I know the author was attempting to share the mountain of evidence, sources, interviews, etc. but at times it was difficult to focus.
November 13, 2019
I started off excited about this book. Lots of tidbits connecting Clinton’s to the drug drug trafficking in Arkansas. But no through lines. For you conspiracy theorists this books for you. The last six chapters started to appear to repeat facts from previous chapters. It is hard fathom how Arkansas was a hot bed of drug trafficking and Salina County was a big hot mess and it went over looked for years.
January 19, 2023
Being from the area where this book is set, I had an interest reading Mara Leveritt’s debut investigative novel. I was very familiar with the author and the case. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the style and depth in which the murders and the atmosphere around it were explored. If you like reading non-fiction and/or enjoy true crime give this a try. The level of police corruption in such a small town makes quite the page turner.
March 9, 2018
Fascinating book about an unsolved Arkansas mystery. It's the kind of story every investigative journalist hopes to write someday, but it's also a disillusioning glimpse at the corruption that's too often endemic to the political powers that be -- from the locals to the feds -- regardless of political party.
August 8, 2020
This book does a great job getting into the details of these horrible murders and the coverup after. It does get tedious at times but overall it was really well done and doesn’t leave anything out. It’s frustrating knowing what happened but not being able to do anything about it. I hope Linda Ives has found peace.
August 31, 2020
Man, this Book is a depressing read. Very well done and well documented, but if you still have an ounce of trust in government, prepare to lose it. The corruption in this book is astounding, and to this day more that 30 years later Linda Ives still doesn’t have answers. Upsetting but worthwhile book.
February 24, 2022
Great story. Very heartbreaking true unsolved murder.
The book itself is very repetitive and tried to include too much information that seems unrelated to main case. Distracts from main story and attempts to draw conclusions that are not necessarily there (or if they are get lost in the redundancy of information presented in the book.)
The book itself is very repetitive and tried to include too much information that seems unrelated to main case. Distracts from main story and attempts to draw conclusions that are not necessarily there (or if they are get lost in the redundancy of information presented in the book.)
October 16, 2022
I watched a lot of videos about this case before I bought the book. Wendigoon and Carnage on Ice, so I didn't really get any new information from reading this, but it was nice to have it laid out in front of me like this.
Overall a much more pleasant, conspiracy tinged read compared to the usual nonfiction reads for Mr Mason.
Overall a much more pleasant, conspiracy tinged read compared to the usual nonfiction reads for Mr Mason.
November 10, 2022
Easily one of the best books I've ever read. It seems like a long book but it's really not, it's just packed wall to wall with extensive information. I had the pleasure of corresponding with the author and she's super nice and clarified a few questions i had. I'd be shocked if you weren't shocked reading this insane story.
May 25, 2017
The incident of the boys on the track and the drug correlation behind it is interesting but the book wasn't able to pull it altogether for an enjoyable read.
September 17, 2018
Good story - long read
The details in this book are immense. While there is value in that, it can lead to a tedious read.
The details in this book are immense. While there is value in that, it can lead to a tedious read.
January 8, 2019
It’s very dense and full of information. Well-researched.
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