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College student Joe Talbert needs to write the life story of a living person for his English class. With no decent family to call upon, he instead chooses to interview Carl Iverson, a Vietnam vet who was also convicted of rape and murder of his fourteen-year-old neighbor. As he begins his research, Joe begins to realize that Carl may not be guilty of the crime and sets out to prove the legal system wrong.
It is difficult to start out with a book premise that an untrained student can solve a murde ...more
It is difficult to start out with a book premise that an untrained student can solve a murde ...more
When I sat down to read this book, I apparently skipped over the notice that it was an ITW Thriller Finalist. I was prepared to read a story about a boy who must overcome his preconceptions (and prejudice?) about the terminal post-convict whom he chooses to write about for his English class. I was prepared for moral dilemmas and shift in world view, something akin to American History X I suppose. That is not what I got.
Once Joe's violent and dysfunctional mother was introduced (and absentee fath ...more
Once Joe's violent and dysfunctional mother was introduced (and absentee fath ...more
3.5 stars
What starts as a memoir project for college student Joe Talbert progresses to far more than a good grade. Talbert's decision to interview elderly Carl Iverson, a man accused of murder. Iverson has recently been sent to a nursing home as he awaits death from pancreatic cancer seemed like a unique topic to write about. Early on Iverson declares his innocence and Talbert is quickly caught up in trying to get to the truth. I was thoroughly engaged in this quest. Talbert is young, has a lot ...more
What starts as a memoir project for college student Joe Talbert progresses to far more than a good grade. Talbert's decision to interview elderly Carl Iverson, a man accused of murder. Iverson has recently been sent to a nursing home as he awaits death from pancreatic cancer seemed like a unique topic to write about. Early on Iverson declares his innocence and Talbert is quickly caught up in trying to get to the truth. I was thoroughly engaged in this quest. Talbert is young, has a lot ...more
Dec 01, 2015
Ashley
marked it as to-read
