Thomas H. Cook's True Crime

Blood Echoes and Early Graves

Two gripping accounts of true crime and its devastating aftermath from an Edgar Award winner hailed as “a writer of poetic gifts” (Los Angeles Times Book Review).

Blood Echoes: In May 1973, three men escaped from a Maryland prison—and went on to commit one of the most horrific murders in American history, slaughtering six members of the Alday family in Donalsonville, Georgia. Their depredations were followed by a trial that only continued the nightmare for those whose loved ones were murdered.

Based on court documents, police records, and interviews with the surviving family members, this is a chilling look at a kind of blind, inhuman evil rarely seen in our world.

“[A] scorching indictment of the legal and court systems.” —Publishers Weekly

Early Graves: Alvin and Judith Ann Neelley were perfect for each other; both shared twisted urges the other could appreciate. At first playing pranks and committing vandalism, their sick ambitions grew, until they targeted thirteen-year-old Lisa Ann Millican—whose brutalized corpse was found three days later. And she was only the first to die.

Drawing on police records and extensive interviews, Thomas H. Cook recounts the killing spree of Alvin and Judith, who at nineteen became the youngest woman ever sentenced to death row.

“Strong writing . . .enhances the book’s grisly appeal.” —Publishers Weekly