Synopses & Reviews
"Gripping and finely crafted . . . a powerful and important book, one that poses tough questions about whether America can ever suture the rift between its races." -The Denver Post On June 7, 1998, a trio of young white men chained a black man named James Byrd, Jr., to the bumper of a truck and dragged him three miles down a country road. From the initial investigation and through the trials and their aftermath, A Death in Texas follows the turns of events through the eyes of Sheriff Billy Rowles and other townspeople trying to come to grips with the killing. Drawing on extensive interviews with key players, Dina Temple-Raston brings to life a cast of remarkable characters: the unrepentant baby-faced killer, Bill King; Jasper's white patriarch and former Jack Ruby defense attorney, Joe Tonahill; the hard-drinking victim, James Byrd Jr.; the determined district attorney, Guy James Gray; and Sheriff Rowles, who held them together. 16-pp b&w insert; 1 map
Review
Praise for
A Death in Texas:
"Temple-Raston has created an intense and beautifully crafted narrative that achieves something rare in journalism: a sober account that does not stop at the psychology of the killers but carefully considers the historical and social context of the murder."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
"A Death in Texas is likely to be a classic, unforgettably chilling and precise. This is a book that leaves fingerprints on the mind."--Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman
"Gripping and finely crafted . . . a powerful and important book, one that poses tough questions about whether America can ever suture the rift between its races."--The Denver Post
Jay Strafford - Hallie Ephron - Daniel Mallory - Robert Charles Wilson - Cory Doctorow - Ellen Kanner - Orson Scott Card - L.E. Modesitt, Jr. - Kevin J. Anderson - Katherine Kurtz - David Farland - Janet Maslin - Harlan Coben, author of No Second Chance - Andrew Klavan, author of True Crimes - Robert B. Parker, author of Back Story - Nelson DeMille, author of Up Country - Lisa Scottoline, author of Dead Ringer - Daniel Silva, author of The Confessor - Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson - Patrick Anderson - Sharon Sala, New York Times bestselling author of Out of the Dark - Lori Foster, New York Times bestselling author of Say No to Joe? - Publishers Weekly - Mystery News - Chicago Tribune - Washington Post - Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal - New York Daily News - Publishers Weekly - The Dallas Morning News - The Guardian [UK - ] - The New York Times - The Times [UK - ] - Library Journal - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) - The New York Times - Entertainment Weekly (A-) - USA Today - People Magazine - New Orleans Times-Picayune - Library Journal, Starred Review - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) - Romantic Time Bookclub Magazine - Bookpage - Rocky Mountain News - Booklist - Publishers Weekly - USA Today - Pages Magazine - Booklist - Publishers Weekly - Fangoria - Romantic Times - El Paso Herald-Post - Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, USA Today bestselling authors - Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal - Max Evans - Norman Zollinger - Publishers Weekly - Richard Wheeler - Rocky Mountain News - Tony Hillerman - Tulsa World - The Washington Post - Library Journal - Booklist - Entertainment Weekly - Boston Globe - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Review
Praise for
A Death in Texas:
"Temple-Raston has created an intense and beautifully crafted narrative that achieves something rare in journalism: a sober account that does not stop at the psychology of the killers but carefully considers the historical and social context of the murder."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
"A Death in Texas is likely to be a classic, unforgettably chilling and precise. This is a book that leaves fingerprints on the mind."--Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman
"Gripping and finely crafted . . . a powerful and important book, one that poses tough questions about whether America can ever suture the rift between its races."--The Denver Post
Synopsis
On June 7, 1998, a trio of young white men chained a black man named James Byrd, Jr., to the bumper of a truck and dragged him three miles down a country road. From the initial investigation and through the trials and their aftermath,
A Death in Texas follows the turns of events through the eyes of Sheriff Billy Rowles and other townspeople trying to come to grips with the killing. Drawing on extensive interviews with key players, Dina Temple-Raston brings to life a cast of remarkable characters: the unrepentant baby-faced killer, Bill King; Jasper's white patriarch and former Jack Ruby defense attorney, Joe Tonahill; the hard-drinking victim, James Byrd Jr.; the determined district attorney, Guy James Gray; and Sheriff Rowles, who held them together.
About the Author
Currently a producer for CNN-FN,
Dina Temple-Raston has worked as a foreign correspondent in China and Hong Kong, a White House reporter for
Bloomburg Business News, and a correspondent for
USA Today. She lives in New York City.