The final months of King's life are vividly recreated. He had operated in more than one reality for so long that it didn't occur to him that he'd basically confessed. He didn't see anything contradictory in this. The most humorous moment of the book is when Sneyd asks to call his brother - Jerry Ray. When Sneyd is caught in London, two months after the assassination, he firmly denies being James Earl Ray. It isn't until the FBI sifts through these various names and learns the true identity of the killer that Sides uses Ray's name. First Ray is known by his prison number, then by his main pre-assassination alias of Eric Starvo Galt and, finally, as Ramon Sneyd.
I thought this was a bit gimmicky when he mentioned it, but was surprised that the sleight of hand works. Sides said in his talk that because of these aliases, he didn't refer to Ray by his true name until after page 300 of the book. He picks up and drops off a half dozen names throughout his fugitive days. In a goodwill mission, he also drives from Los Angeles to New Orleans to retrieve two children for a girlfriend. In the months leading up to the assassination, he takes dance lessons, goes to bartending school, enrolls in a locksmithing correspondence course and dabbles with the idea of making pornography.
His tale of James Earl Ray's exploits starting with his 1967 jail break and ending with his abbreviated escape 10 years later is meticulously detailed, unrelentingly suspenseful and magnificently written. Why read 400 pages when a well-written review would give me all the nefarious details of James Earl Ray's horrendous deed? After Sides' talk, I couldn't resist dipping into the book despite my natural aversion to true crime.Įight days and several sleep deprived nights later, I finished the book and sure am thankful that Sides convinced me to pick it up. It was probably just another magazine article extended to a full-length book. I figured Hellhound would be no different.
Most nonfiction books I absorb through reviews, New Yorker pieces, N PR and dinner table conversations. Before the meal, I had no intention of reading Sides' account of Martin Luther King's assassination. Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Hampton Sides, the author of Hellhound on His Trail, in Sante Fe at a bookseller lunch.
0 kommentar(er)
