' One of the best books I've read this year Just astounding'
- Paula Hawkins author of The Girl on the Train Law student Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich working on a retrial for death-row convicted murderer & child molester Ricky Langley finds herself thrust into the tangled story of his childhood As she examines the minute details of Ricky's case she is forced to face her own history to unearth long-buried family secrets & to reckon with how her own past colours her view of his crime When Alexandria begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana & sees Ricky's face flash on the screen as she reviews old tapes & hears him speak of his crimes she is overcome with the feeling of wanting him to die Shocked by her reaction she digs deeper & deeper into the case realizing that despite their vastly different circumstances something in his story is unsettlingly uncannily familiar As enthralling as true-crime classics such as In Cold Blood & Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil & broadcast phenomena such as The Keepers Making a Murderer & Serial The Fact of a Body is a groundbreaking heart-stopping investigation into how the law is personal composed of individual stories & proof that arriving at the truth is more complicated & powerful than we could ever imagine