Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin

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Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin

4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 · rating details · 3,123 ratings · 549 reviews

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Edgar Award Nominee
One of the Best Books of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine, Time, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, San Francisco Chronicle

From the acclaimed bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder, a taut, intense narrative about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the largest...more

Hardcover, 459 pages

Published April 27th 2010 by Doubleday (first published January 1st 2010)

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Christian Science Monitor's Best Nonfiction Books of 2010

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Apr 15, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, crime

What could have been an utterly gripping account of the assassination of Martin Luther King was marred, for me, by an attention to detail that bordered on the lunatic. In this account, Martin Luther King wouldn't vist a shop on the High Street to by some gum, for example. Oh no. That would be far too general. The author would more likely write, "Dr King pushed through the swing doors of the Woolworths on 365A High Street and took out his Sears Wallet to extract one of the three five dollar bills...more

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Nov 29, 2010 Pete daPixie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychotics

I was recently introduced to 'Hellhound on his Trail', when the book was featured as the BBC Radio 4 'Book of the week', where excerpts are read over five days. Last week I bumped into the book on the shelves of the local town library. Published this year, I was the first person to take the book out. I'm sure I will not be the last. Hampton Sides has written a great account of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis on April 4th 1968.
King's killer was a stalker, who pursues his vi...more

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Oct 18, 2012 ♥Bella★✰ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: true-crime, history, library-book, non-fiction

This book opens with the escape from Missouri State Penitentiary “Jeff City” at Jefferson City of Prisoner #416J on April 23, 1967. Through out the book we follow his travels to Mexico, where he is going by the name Eric Starvo Galt. We follow him as he travels north to California, then west to New Orleans, Atlanta and Memphis. He bought a gun using the name Harvey Lowmeyer and rented a room in Mrs. Brewer’s rooming house as John Willard. From the bathroom of the rooming house he shot Martin Lut...more

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Feb 28, 2010 MK Brunskill-Cowen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wish I could give this book 6 stars - it deserves it. This book reads like a psychological thriller where the reader follows the hero and the villain as the move towards their fateful meeting. He captures the time, place and feelings of those involved, and we can feel the tension as JE Ray checks into the flophouse from which he fires the gun while Dr. King relaxes with his associates. He portrays Dr. King as a real human, warts and all, which only intensifies the importance of his mission. Li...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Davidg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An extremely exciting and well-researched read.

The opening section begins with the escape of an unnamed prisoner before telling the stories of an Eric Galt and the last months and days of Martin Luther King. There is the inevitable tension, building up to what we know occurs on a hotel balcony in Memphis. I found it gripping and moving. (I should reveal my advanced age and say that I remember this hittling the news, and, as an 8 year old Brit, thinking, "who would want to kill such a good man?")...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Tyler rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those parts of history that the previous generation is very familiar with but is not taught or even talked about in many places in contemporary culture. I knew nothing of this incident which I find odd since it is so fascinating. It's weird that this is one of the only books on this incident. MLK Jr. in now one of most celebrated figures of the past 100 years but his real history is rarely discussed other than on PBS or something. There was a movie for this but that never took off...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Diane Kistner rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was 15 when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. My 46-year-old father, dead a month later, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Soon thereafter Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, and I completely shut down. I missed so much of what was going on during those times because it was just too unbearable for me to pay attention. I left home at 17, and then things got even crazier.

The Sixties and their aftermath were very frightening and tumultuous for teens and young adults, a time that onl...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is definitely an interesting book, and I liked it. I did have some issues with it, though. One main problem that irked me throughout my reading is how Sides tries to write the story almost like it's a mystery, and yet, we all know how it will end. So a lot of the foreshadowing and "hints" and all the "something is about to happen!!" are a little silly because we all know what's going to happen.

Part of this problem stemmed from the interviews he did/read that informed his telling of the sto...more This is definitely an interesting book, and I liked it. I did have some issues with it, though. One main problem that irked me throughout my reading is how Sides tries to write the story almost like it's a mystery, and yet, we all know how it will end. So a lot of the foreshadowing and "hints" and all the "something is about to happen!!" are a little silly because we all know what's going to happen.

Part of this problem stemmed from the interviews he did/read that informed his telling of the story -- Hindsight is 20/20, so many people who have been interviewed in the years since the assassination have obviously taken it upon themselves to recall seeing lots of signs that suggested that this would happen.

In the build-up to the assassination, I started feeling a bit like I was reading the DaVinci Code with its overly dramatic cliffhangers and bash-you-over-the-head hints of things to come.

This meant that, surprisingly, my favorite parts of the book came after the assassination, during the manhunt part of the story. I found details about Ray's past particularly enlightening, and as I was not already aware of the exact circumstances of his capture, its telling actually was like a mystery or thriller to me.

One thing that surprised me about the book (and my surprise probably stems only from my own ignorance) is how down on Jesse Jackson it seemed. I don't know much about Jesse Jackson other than his present-day activities, so I actually didn't even know he was there in Memphis with MLK at the time of the assassination. And if the stories of his activities are indeed true, then yeah, he was being hella lame. But it was interesting that whereas most of the other characters were complex and neither wholly good nor wholly bad (even James Earl Ray and MLK), Jesse Jackson was portrayed as purely negative.

Similarly, showing my ignorance once again, I didn't realize MLK was such a notorious philanderer. I thus found the description of his and Coretta's marriage very interesting, as well as all the emphasis Sides put on how strangely composed Coretta was after the assassination.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend the book, as I think it tells a well-known story in a rather interesting way, and includes a lot of details that many people probably aren't aware of. But it's not, like, you know, the best thing ever.(less)

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May 21, 2012 Converse rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, crime, history

The author tells how Martin Luther King came to be in Memphis Tennessee in April 1968 as well as how James Earl Ray murdered King and remained free for about 50 days. James Earl Ray was a career criminal whose two skills seem to have been making up alias and escaping from prison. About a year before the killing he had escaped from a maximum security prison in Missouri by hiding in the box that carried the bread the he had just helped bake to prisoners who worked outside the prison walls on a far...more The author tells how Martin Luther King came to be in Memphis Tennessee in April 1968 as well as how James Earl Ray murdered King and remained free for about 50 days. James Earl Ray was a career criminal whose two skills seem to have been making up alias and escaping from prison. About a year before the killing he had escaped from a maximum security prison in Missouri by hiding in the box that carried the bread the he had just helped bake to prisoners who worked outside the prison walls on a farm. Before he shot King he doesn't appear to have actually used violence, though since he last previous arrest had been for armed robbery the threat of violence was present in at least that instance.

King was in Memphis to support a strike by the cities garbage workers, who wanted to get the city to recognize their union. He probably took time out of his overly busy schedule (he was organizing a poor peoples march on Washington) in part because he was getting a more enthusiastic crowd in Memphis than in much of the rest of America, where he was being out-flanked by Black Power advocates. A earlier visit (a few weeks before the killing) to Memphis by King had not gone well, as it was the first time he had led a march during which the marchers had instigated violence, as opposed to being the target of violence.

Why James Earl Ray decided to kill King is not entirely clear to me, beyond his strong prejudice against blacks. In the year he had been out of prison he had covered a lot of ground, spending time in Mexico (where he was thinking about getting into the pornographic film business), in Los Angeles (where he graduated from bar tending school and took dance lessons), and he also made visits to New Orleans. Although he usually lived in flophouses, he seems to have always had money to do what he wanted to do.

Ray did carefully pick the flophouse that he stayed in in Memphis carefully, as it had a clear sight line to the Lorraine Motel where King was staying. He shot King with a 30 caliber hunting rifle, using a soft-tipped bullet designed to do maximum damage to quickly kill game animals. He doesn't seem to have thought clearly about escaping, and had to ditch the bundle that contained the rifle and other possessions in the entrance to a store in order to avoid trying to walk past the police to his car while carrying a large suspicious object. There were several witnesses in the flophouse who heard the noise of the shot, and he left marks in the communal bathroom from which he fired the round, as well as finger prints on the weapon.

However, comparing fingerprints against recorded prints was no easy task in the 1960s, before computer techniques were available. And Ray had used a large number of alias. He ditched his pale yellow Mustang in Atlanta and took buses to Canada. Trusting Canada let anyone who swore they were how they said get a passport, and he got to Britain, which a short trip to Portugual and back to Britain.

Still, the FBI eventually figured out who he was (his graduation picture from bar tending school was important evidence), and this allowed the Canadians to figure out under what false name he had gotten a passport. When he attempted to fly from London to Brussels, apparently hoping to learn in Brussels how he could become a white mercenary in southern Africa, he was arrested and returned to the United States.

in June 1977 Ray managed to escape from the prison he was held at in Tennessee, but was captured a few days later. He died in the 1990s.

(less)

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Mar 10, 2012 Susan Odetta rated it 4 of 5 stars

MLK was assassinated on my 20th birthday in 1968. Washington, DC and other cities were torched in anguished response. I remembering fearing anarchy and civil war; the times were deeply paranoid, with the Vietnam War, J. Edgar Hoover and his use of the FBI in his personal vendetta against MLK, not to mention Watts, George Wallace, Stokely Carmichael et al. But reading this account made me realize those times were even worse than I ever knew. This story is not so much about MLK, although it contai...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Alfredo rated it 4 of 5 stars

I began reading this book as a filler between fiction books... Alas, I picked the wrong non-fiction book to take a break from thrillers.

Hampton Sides writes an eminently readable account of the MLK murder. He alternates between the viewpoint of MLKs last weeks and the saga of his murdered as he escapes prison and makes his way to Memphis. It is amazing how a good writer can build suspense in a story that the reader already knows and Sides accomplishes this.

I have to add that I THOUGHT I knew ab...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Tommy Bat-Blog Brookshire rated it 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book a lot. I mean, it's sort of 2 biographies in one! I've always known that Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis but never really knew too many details. This book is about his killer, James Earl Ray. It covers all the details leading up to the famous event, everything that went on during & after. But the story doesn't stop there. Another part of the book is how Jones fled from the crime & how it turned into the largest man-hunt ever carrie...more

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Aug 26, 2011 James Cridland rated it 5 of 5 stars

Spotted in a US airport bookstore, and bought on the Kindle thanks to the barcode-remembering magic of Google Goggles. This is a wonderful, wonderful book. Really fascinating.

I ought to preface this by saying that I had no idea of the story of either Martin Luther King or his killer. I didn't know the killer's history, whether he was captured, or whether he lived to tell the tale. This is probably quite bad - but then, I wasn't born when this happened, but it was recent enough (and remote enough...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh! My God! What a book! I am from Alabama, live in DC, and work in housing law -- so I often feel like I am pacing along in the vague shadow of MLK's legacy. This book did an amazing job of explaining that legacy alongside the odd trivia that makes his murder so eponymous.

James Earl Ray curled himself up in a tiny ball and escaped from a Missouri prison in the bottom of a bakers bin. He drove around the country in a white Mustang. Shot some porn. Took some salsa classes. And what ensued next i...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Neil Pierson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The mystery of James Earl Ray will never be solved. Not whether he murdered Dr. Martin Luther King. Of course he did. But why?

Ray was a dead-bang loser. He was pretty good at two things: (1) Getting into jail; (2) escaping from jail. It seems to have never occurred to him to make an honest buck. He settled on armed robbery to pay the bills and aspired to direct pornographic movies. And he was a racist.

But there were (and are) a lot of racist, career criminals around, and they didn't assassinate...more

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May 26, 2011 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This would be worth reading just for the story of James Earl Ray, starting with his escape from prison in 1967 to his capture months after killing King after traveling everywhere from Porto Vallarta to Lisbon. What a warped, disturbed, cunning, inventive, pathetic product of a hate-filled society...

But the book contains at least two other narrative threads, which Sides expertly returns to in alternating chapters. First is the story of Dr. King in the late 60s, trying to regain the momentum of a...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Pam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hampton Sides reveals an amazing collection of details about James Earl Ray (Eric Galt, Ray's alias that Sides uses throughout most of the book)and Martin Luther King during the days that led up to King's assassination. Having lived through this heart wrenching and sobering period of time, I was surprised at how many of those details I didn't know or didn't remember. He tells Ray's story with precision and a touch of revulsion; he tells King's story with dread and compassion. Sides is not object...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Jay rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was attracted to this book by the topic, understanding the background and circumstances of the individual that killed Martin Luther King and the time period in better detail. I had previously read a Hampton Sides book and I thought the previous book, Ghost Soldiers, was well-written and informative.

In terms of Hellhound on His Trail, I am unabashed fan of the book. It is well-written, well-researched and documented in a manner that does not the narrative form and the fluidity of the book. Fasc...more

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Jun 06, 2010 Bakari rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-books-read, biography

As an Amazon.com Vine reviewer, I get a monthly newsletter of books to choose from and review. Most of them are novels and religious/spiritual books, but occasionally there are one or two technical, biographical, or political books that peek my interest. Hampton Sides’s Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther, Jr. and the International Hunt for his Assassin.

I had seen the book advertised or reviewed somewhere on the net, but my first thought was why read it? The assassination of Ki...more As an Amazon.com Vine reviewer, I get a monthly newsletter of books to choose from and review. Most of them are novels and religious/spiritual books, but occasionally there are one or two technical, biographical, or political books that peek my interest. Hampton Sides’s Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther, Jr. and the International Hunt for his Assassin.

I had seen the book advertised or reviewed somewhere on the net, but my first thought was why read it? The assassination of King was not even a passing thought compared to the visions, ideas, and roaring march for justice that King and the civil rights movement stood for. As the old saying goes, you can kill the revolutionary but you can’t so easily kill the revolution. It lingers as long as people strive for justice and equality.

But because I have only read in the past a couple of books about King (I May Not Get There with You: the True Martin Luther King, Jr., by Micheal Eric Dyson and another early biography which I can find or remember the title), as well as a few of his own books and speeches, namely Where Do We Go From Here, Stride Toward Freedom, and The Strength to Love (which I think should be required reading in schools across America), I thought I’d see what might be useful in reading Sides’s book.

Hellound on His Trail is a straight forward narrative of the James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated King. It’s clear that Sides wanted to reach broader audience with his book, for it’s not waited down with footnotes and too much tedious detail. Though it contains over fifty pages of sources (mainly other biographies and first hand accounts by people in and outside of the movement), it doesn’t have an index, which I find kind of odd. (I read a bound galley of the book so the final printing may include the index.)

For the most part, I found the book pretty interesting in some areas, while in others I don’t think he went deep enough. Sides paints a picture of many of the leading characters of the time, including of course King and leading members of his SCLC organization, J. Edgar Hoover, and James Earl Ray himself.

What I found awkward though is that Sides told the story using three of Ray’s alias, namely Eric Galt. If you didn’t know that King’s assassin was was named James Earl Ray, you wouldn’t find out until around the end of the book. It almost reads as if Sides were trying to rewrite history. But understandably, I guess, he was simply trying to let the story unfold in terms of how Ray used aliases to disguise himself for several years.

I also think the book doesn’t help readers understand the magnitude of King’s vision. At times he seems to focus more on King’s contradictions (his affairs with other women, and the mistakes he made in the movement) than about the serious racial and class injustices that King and the SCLC were standing up to. He doesn’t overshadow what King was trying to do, but he doesn’t make the time period of that struggle visual enough, in my opinion. There are only few quotes from King’s famous speeches, and there’s nothing about his philosophical views, of which he had many.

Also, the characters in this book seem to be described in the same way—all tragic and incased by their own failures. While for a chapter two you mourn as a reader for the death of King and the impact it had on his family, you’re lead right back to Eric Galt.

Toward the end of the book, you get a description of Ray’s (or is it Galt?) racial hatred of Black people, but you never get a sense of who this man was? You don’t get a deep psychological profile. Sides never gets in his head and makes you understand how Ray was a deep reflection of the racist culture of this country. Indeed Ray comes across as a tragic figure—a tragic nobody, that by the end of the book you could care less about. And yet, what does his ability to pull off the assassination say about the time period and the history of this country? Reflect on that and you might start to get some insight into the racial vitriol thrown at Obama, who ironically is supposed to be a reflection of King’s dream.

Is Hellhound worth reading? Yeah, I would say so if you’re curious about the subject. However, I would strongly recommend reading at least two books and several of speeches by King himself before reading this one. In fact, this book is best read by those already very familiar with the movement and the time period. (less)

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Terry Hildebrand I was 13 years old when Dr. King was assassinated in 1968 and recall the grief of my father and other people around me. The culpability of James Earl...more I was 13 years old when Dr. King was assassinated in 1968 and recall the grief of my father and other people around me. The culpability of James Earl Ray in the murder was doubtful from the beginning, but I did not really begin to wake up and begin to think and ask questions and read up on the horrific political assassinations of the 1960's and the covert operations of our country's national security apparatus until about the time of the Supreme Court's election of George Bush to the presidency in 2000.

I have yet to submit a formal review of the book on GoodReads, but I have at Amazon.com, and I gave the book 1-star, only because it is as low as they will allow anyone to rate a book. I regard it as pure FBI propaganda. If you have not read Ward Churchill's book yet, I recommend that you do so - also a companion book published by South End Press by activist attorney Brian Glick entitled War at Home: Covert Action Against U.S. Activists and What We Can Do About It.

I also recommend William F. Pepper's book, An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. He was the attorney representing the family of Dr. King in a 1999 wrongful death civil lawsuit, Family of Dr. King vs. Loyd Jowers, et al. Jowers was the owner of a diner located across the street from the Lorraine Motel who admitted to participating in the plot to assassinate Dr. King with members of the Memphis Police Department and other government people, and a mafia boss who probably paid Jowers for his assistance. Also key among the main plotters was an African-American military intelligence operative named Marrell McCollough, who later joined the CIA after the successful assassination of Dr. King. The transcript of the civil trial is available in a book format, entitled The 13th Juror, The Official Transcript of the Martin Luther King Assassination Conspiracy Trial.

Several score witnesses testified in the case over the period of a couple weeks. It took but about an hour of jury deliberation to decide in favor of attorney William Pepper and the King family. Jowers was determined by the judge to be 30% culpable and the other government defendants (City of Memphis, state of Tennessee, and federal government including the FBI) the remaining 70 percent. The corporate-owned mainstream news media naturally has given virtually no attention to the trial or its outcome, not surprisingly.(less)
Apr 13, 2013 02:56am

Bakari Terry, thanks for the feedback. I just recently heard about the William Pepper's book, and I will definitely check it out. I also think the U.S. govt...more
Apr 13, 2013 08:25pm

May 17, 2010 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a page-turner and I could not put it down. Hampton Sides recounts the efforts to find and arrest the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., James Earl Ray. Sides, born in Memphis, tells about the garbageman strike and the efforts to move the Memphis mayor to make the work safer and to give the workers a small raise. He shifts to MLK and his involvement in the strike. Then Sides shifts to James Earl Ray escaping prison in Missouri and becoming Eric Galt out in Las Angeles. The book entrance...more

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May 15, 2010 Spencer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Kathy and I went to hear the author give an interview about this book at Minnesota Public Radio last Monday. It was a great event about a fascinating topic, and it was really fun to meet the author. This book covers the lead up to the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and the far-reaching hunt for James Earl Ray afterwards. This is a fascinating, fast-paced story and I couldn't put this book down. Starting with the individual stories of MLK and Ray, the narrative continues to that fateful day...more

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Apr 21, 2010 Tripp rated it 5 of 5 stars

The new Hampton Sides book, Hellhound on His Trail, is not only great, it compares well to his incredible Ghost Soldiers. His earlier book told a little known tale of a joint Army Ranger/Filipino guerrilla operation to liberate US servicemen from a Japanese prison camp. He took a fresh story and told it incredibly well. Hellhound on His Trail, also describes a lesser known aspect of a terrible event. His new book is about James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the center of th...more The new Hampton Sides book, Hellhound on His Trail, is not only great, it compares well to his incredible Ghost Soldiers. His earlier book told a little known tale of a joint Army Ranger/Filipino guerrilla operation to liberate US servicemen from a Japanese prison camp. He took a fresh story and told it incredibly well. Hellhound on His Trail, also describes a lesser known aspect of a terrible event. His new book is about James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the center of the book and the driver of the narrative, it is a little odd that we do not see the name James Earl Ray until page 321 of the book. In his preface, Sides alludes to Shelby Foote's belief that historians should borrow the novelist's way of writing. Sides takes that advice and writes like the very best of the crime novelists. Ray, who Sides depicts as a criminal driven by his angry racism, his shattered family life and a peculiar desire to lead others on chases, was given to creating multiple fake identities. So for the first 3/4 of the book, Sides refers to him as Eric Galt, the name Ray took after breaking out of prison.

Sides' use of novelistic technique of pacing, and building suspense makes the non-reveal of Ray's true name feel like a big reveal. Reading how the FBI manages to piece together his history and his past, I felt a bit of vicarious triumph when they found out who he really was.

The other major character, of course, is Martin Luther King, Jr, who at the start of the book is flagging and flailing, looking for a way for the Civil Rights movement to gain momentum. He is anxious to being a poor person's movement in DC, but becomes involved in a garbage worker's strike in Memphis. Sides provides enough background to show the tensions within the movement without slowing down the brisk pace of the story. We are all aware of the terrible symbolic and social impacts of King's death, so Sides focuses on the things we might forget. With mounting dread, we see him joking with friends as he prepares for a dinner, all while Ray readies his rifle. We also see his young children try to grapple with what has happened to them.

The focus here though is on Ray. I was unaware of his flight across the country and then into many more. He was under the belief that he could find ideological sympathizers who would help him join up with the Rhodesian military.

Don't look for conspiracy theories in the book. The only one of note is related to a St Louis lawyer named Sutherland who is believed to have put a bounty on King's head. Focusing on the Ray's actions leaves space for the conspiracy minded to fill in motive and assistance if desired.(less)

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Dec 05, 2012 Emmett J. rated it 5 of 5 stars

I remember the night in 1968 when Martin Luther King was shot. My brothers and I stood out in front of our Brooklyn, NY home and looked at the hot night sky, lit up by mercury vapor lamps giving off their peculiar blue tinge to an already awful pall. My hands went up to the top of my head, an expression of incomprehension; my father came out and held my hand and said, "It'll be okay, Butsy."

It was okay only because I was 9 at the time and didn't fully understand who King was and what he represen...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-history

I've never really known very much about the Martin Luther King assassination. I wouldn't have even been able to name his killer. I literally knew nothing about the manhunt for James Earl Ray after he shot King in Memphis in 1968. But I could not put this book down, not for a minute.

Sides begins with Ray's escape from Jefferson City Prison in 1967 and follows him across the United States to Mexico and back again. Each chapter alternates between King and Ray, and he gives an excellent look at the...more

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Jun 20, 2010 Garry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hampton Sides is an incredibly talented writer. The phrase, "impossible to put down," is a cliche, but for this book, for me, this cliche was true. Sides brilliantly tells the story of "the stalking of Martin Luther King Jr and the international hunt for his assassin" and in doing so captures a dark, sad moment in American history and provides insight to a whole decade of turmoil and upheaval. At times the book reminded me of Manchester's Death of a President -- both have detailed behind-the-sce...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Derek Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the most detailed studies of a crime, the perpetrator, the victim and the context that you could possibly find. Every step of the stalking, killing and aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination is covered in minute by minute, almost second by second detail. It's exhaustive and, at one level exhausting. Do we need to know the color of every object that James Earl Ray touched? The make, origin and cost of every article of clothing? Waiting breathlessly for "what happens next" you find...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hellhound On His Trail certainly held my interest as I followed James Earl Ray on his travels throughout Mexico, California, and The South as he tracks Martin Luther King down. It was an interesting character study of both James Earl Ray and Martin Luther King telling me probably more about Martin Luther King's private life than I really wanted to know. After his assassination, Hampton Sides continues with the effort to capture James Earl Ray as he travels to Canada, England, Portugal, and back...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: july-aug-2010

While he breaks no new ground, Sides succeeds in bringing these two contradictory men and their troubled era vividly to life. Meticulously researched and compulsively readable, Hellhound "reads like nothing so much as a novel" (Oregonian), and Sides's sharp historical focus, forceful prose, evocative details, and short, crisp chapters create a sense of urgency and suspense worthy of any top-notch crime novel. Sides does not presume to understand Ray's motives, and he only briefly discusses the a...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook

I had forgotten so much about the hunt for an MLK's killer that it was truly one of those stranger than fiction stories. Highly recommended with many twists and turns and interesting historical details--Like the fact that several wealthy Klan Organizations had well known bounties placed on MLK's head and how J Edgar Hoover had sent him anonymous letters urging him to commit suicide.

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Oct 25, 2011 Jax rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: already-finished, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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title link	preview: Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7624086-hellhound-on-his-trail?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320491132l/7624086.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7624086-hellhound-on-his-trail?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin by Hampton Sides[/url]

Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin

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