Behind The Door

by Mandy Wiener, Barry Bateman

The news of the successful model Reeva Steenkamp's fatal shooting by her boyfriend and global sporting star Oscar Pistorius stunned the world. Over the ensuing weeks, as Pistorius appeared in court and applied for bail, every detail that emerged was analysed, debated, justified and digested. South Africa and the world were haunted by the events as they were repeated and discussed at length. Public perception vacillated from version to version and from hour to hour.

Behind the Door is a compelling narrative, which unpacks the story as revealed in the courtroom and beyond during the murder trial of Pistorius and as told to the authors in several exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes briefings. It looks at the characters involved, relates the courtroom interactions and dramas, the construction of each side's argument, the analysis of forensic and circumstantial evidence and exchanges between the personalities, as well as broader look at violence and criminal justice in South Africa. Vivid and gripping, insightful and authoritative, Behind the Door is the book to read on the Oscar and Reeva story.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

568 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2014

About the author

Mandy Wiener is an award-winning journalist for Eyewitness News and Talk Radio 702.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this door-stop of a book. The detail is incredible. For the first time, after reading Barrie Roux's closing argument, I thought Oscar just could be telling the truth. (I quickly got over myself though). Loved the fact that one of our dear friend, Claudine's, family members are mentioned in the book.

[Mariaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think i expected too much of this book. I so loved the Brett Kebble book by mandy Wiener. This was just too factual for me. Sort of a word by word court transcript. Still very interesting if you did not follow the trial day by day on television.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this brick of a hardback in Poundland of all places for......yes, only a quid !! However, I've only been reading it outside in the sunshine and since we keep losing garden weather it's taken a while !! It's just easier to manhandle with a handy garden table.
Sadly I couldn't see this trial on TV as I was working at the time so missed it all, the same thing happened back in 1995 with OJ. Typically, when I'm between jobs nothing gruesome is being live streamed !!
At the start we learn that poor Reeva, on top of everything else was pretty much needing to support her parents !! Goodness knows why they're so hard up but it sounded very stressful and I thought it very selfish of her mum, especially, keeping after her to lend them money. Mum June even mentions that on the night Reeva died that she'd been after her to pay their cable TV bill. It didn't endear me to her in the least. She said her death meant they no longer had a source of financial assistance.....poor cow !! I find this appalling and she comes across as someone on the make. Not nice.
Even this printed version had the odd apostrophe mistakes, usually an e-book staple, poring was spelled pouring then this line-"Some of these will turn on the her opinion...." then "many in court were" as opposed to "many were in court". Defence council needs no further explaining aside from the fact it's sloppy.
I didn't really "get" why they also brought up and charged Oscar over the outdated firearms' incidents at the same time as his trial for killing Reeva.
It was very interesting to read more about Judge Masipa, who's a really fascinating character alone. I'm in agreement with her regarding the case-I always thought it was a tragic, horrible accident. I don't believe his remorse and terrible bouts of sickness, etc..in court were an act at all. It's the behaviour of someone who made the worst mistake he'll ever make in his life.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Behind the Door" is the Pistorius trial in a book. It combines an essentially unchallenged sequence of events, a fairly mild survey of Pistorius' background before the murder, a look into the victim's own history as a tribute, and a through, minute-by-minute take on the original trial. The book's strongest elements are its reconstruction of the last day before Reeva's murder and its close eye to the legal movements up to the trial. The weakness is simply the excess of legal information by the end--it's hard to know the point of it all, when there's no authorial argument one can find behind this section. (Compare this to a Bugliosi retelling of a trial, for example--you'll see a much more prominent author point of view in analyzing the legal maneuverings.) I haven't read much on the Pistorius crime, but I imagine this will be seen as a foundation book for that area, one with a great deal of excellent references and details--but not *the* defining book on the murder.

[Ranjit Gedhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there was an option to give half stars I would have given this book three and a half. It is a monster of a book and takes a long time to plough through. Whilst this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you do have do be the kind of person who is dedicated to finishing a book no matter what.

Most true crime novels read like a work of fiction and a good one will make you feel totally involved with the narrative. This book is good in that it just relays the facts. There is never any attempt by the authors to express their opinions. So if you want only facts about the case, it is good. There’s lots of details about the court case and it is mainly set in the court room.

However, as it is a lengthy book and the subject matter can be very technical at times, it isn’t always easy to follow and can make for tedious reading.

I’ve given it three and a half stars for the sheer effort that must have gone into writing it.

[Dasha Destrukt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know where to start. Firstly, I am not happy that this tragedy occurred. But if a book were to be written, I am glad that it was written by this duo. The way that the story was pieced together, it just made sense. I, for one - awaited this book ever so patiently and it did not disappoint. Many people are passing remarks about how this is in such bad taste and its capitalizing on the death of Reeva. I strongly disagree. What I liked about the way it was written, was that it did not have bias against either point of view regarding circumstances of that tragic morning. During the time I was reading it, however, my opinion did shift a few times as I progressed through the book. So, it does allow space for your mind to wander, but in a good way. All in all - I do strongly recommend that if you want to read a book on this topic - CHOOSE THIS ONE :-)

[Melissa Windisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one very interesting book! It has kept me intrigued & captivated throughout. I really love Mandy Wiener's writing style. The book was like a word for word court transcript but with a story telling flair. It's also a very helpful guide to navigate your way through the case & trial, if you haven't followed the trial each day on television.

I've read some of the reviews on here & feel they are way too critical. It's a brilliant book & shouldn't be undermined just because it had a few spelling mistakes & grammar issues - nothing too big to take away from the brilliance of the book.

It was also very interesting to read about Judge Masipa & her assessors as well as magistrate Desmond Nair. The insight into all the other characters was refreshing.

A very compelling story/novel. Overall, it was a well structured book & an easily enjoyable read. Not good but great!

[Frederick Hansford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have family in South Africa who frequently come to Oxford and Bristol for summer courses and as a consequence I have gleaned a great deal about the state of crime in that country. I was mesmerised by this book - as I was by the actual court case when it was taking place.

The book is put together in a matter-of-fact way to allow the high drama to speak for itself. The author is refreshingly removed from the book and doesn't intrude with her own personality or comments. She lets the characters take centre stage and the background becomes the state of the country in its dealing with male chauvinism, patriarchy, the treatment of women, and, of course, violence.

It all makes for a very steamy pot and for fascinating reading.

[Marty James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Oscar Pistorius is a very dramatic one. High drama. Character with a bloated ego who flies too close to the sun. Rise from adversity and fall from the very topmost heights. Everything to make for an exciting novel.

But this is not it. This is too much like the newspaper reports we've already seen. I wanted a little more by way of creative fiction to act as the cement for the real-life bricks here.

Not bad, but not great.

[Theresa Theron · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many books on the subject but this one is probably the best. I found it very objective. The writers obtained comments and opinions from top experts like law prof James Grant. The book discloses many facts not reported by the media. I am sure the writers will receive a few awards for this one.

[Adrienne Coates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overall in many ways, but also a bit disappointing, really. I followed the court case quite closely and I was really looking forward to reading this. But somehow it doesn't arise above the level of court reporting. I was hoping to get a real complex drama out of this terrible story and its really painful story of a hero going wrong.

[Rodney Haines · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the most incredible case to see in the news reports and I was looking forward to seeing the book. When will the movie be coming out, I wonder? I expected more, to tell the truth. There was a lot of dry stuff in here that could have been trimmed. But still, it was a very interesting thing to read and it certainly had its moments of high drama.

[Isobel Weeks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite nice but I was expecting more of a novel. This reads like a pasting together of the newspaper reports of the time. Anyway, it is still a very compelling story and has enough in it to excite one at various points. Perhaps knowing what was going to happen undermined my appreciation of it. But I'd have loved to see characters fleshed out a little more.

[Nancy Corby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I followed this case when it was in court and I was fascinated. Maybe I was expecting more, but I found the book a little too repetitive of the court case. I thought the characters could be developed so that we could see more of the emotional and psychological dimensions. Anyway, it's still a good book to read.

[Henrietta Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrific story. The narrative is well put together, but I have in mind, still quite fresh, the newspaper reports of the trial and it is interesting to see the relationship between this narrative and my memory of those events. In other words I didn't really concentrate on the book itself so much as the subject matter.

A good read, this was.

[David Blatsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I followed this in the media and I was appalled. But this is even better. This is a dramatic and scary story. The fall from grace of a one-time hero has all the ingredients of greek tragedy, and the author skilfully reveals all of the guy's failings without making too much of a straw dog out of him. Very good.

[Brian Bradford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing story. I had to read it after reading about the case in the newspapers and online reports. It's chilling, really. What a fall from grace. Very thought provoking. The country has some weird criminal cases before the courts.

[Elsabee Hofmeyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing story, but a trifle disappointing in this telling of it. I was hoping for a novel-like experience instead of the court reporting that I followed so avidly when it happened. Anyway, the fall of a hero always makes for good, exciting things. Quite nice in many ways.

[Patricia Cuffley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this, though i had followed the court case so carefully that I spoilt it for myself. It was like reading all the journalistic reports again. Nevertheless, is was still gripping and fascinating to read.

[Kobus Koopmans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Christmas present and I must say I enjoyed it. Fascinating to read about the criminal investigation, the forensics and the details. I followed the court case but it was good to read this all in one package. Intriguing.

[ALAN KINCAID · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable. I followed the court case and it was good to read this gtio see how it all came together.

Nice writing, nice exciting case. Weird character at the centre of it all.

Well worth the read.

[Hillary Bont · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went on holiday to South Africa at the end of last month and was terrified of the crime stories there. I remember hearing about this case so got the book. Well written and very scary. How the mighty have fallen. What a page-turning thrill this was.

[Beatrice Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. I read all about this at the time of the trial but it was lovely seeing this put together in a dramatically evolving novel. It was well structured and easy to read.

A dark story, indeed.

[Ronald Gumede · Rating 4 out of 5]

I followed the court arguments very closely and so it was a pleasure to read this. It is well put together and very fascinating and provides a good insight into the leading characters. Very good to read.

[Nonthando Selibe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very troubling story. I read about the court case(s) and wondered where it would all end up. This book gives a very detailed account of the people involved and it makes for a very good read. Fascinating how people fall from grace.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read.. Have been following the trial since the begining was good to know what happened between breaks and when the cameras stopped.

[Claire Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

murdering scum..!!!!!!!

R.I.P Reeva. <3

[Dolly Madibane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I thought the trial itself would lead to a better novel. Anyway, still an interesting story about a very mixed up young man.

[Janine Blowder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this. I had followed the case as it unfolded on the news but it was good to get the extra insights from this book. Most enjoyable.

Sad man, Oscar.

[Marianne Bezuidenhout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice gripping tale, but I followed the court case avidly and wanted more by the way of a story with the characters fleshed out a little more. But still, very well written and exciting to read.