The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
Mark Bowden
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
Mark Bowden
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
... a stirring, suspenseful, thoughtful story that, miraculously, neither oversimplifies the details nor gets lost in the thicket of a four-decade case file. This is a cat-and-mouse tale, told beautifully. But like all great true crime, The Last Stone finds its power not by leaning into cliché but by resisting it — pushing for something more realistic, more evocative of a deeper truth.
The Last Stone is a rigorous documenting of the 40-year journey taken by Montgomery County detectives and the cold-case team that interrogated Lloyd Welch. It's a riveting, serpentine story about the dogged pursuit of the truth, regardless of the outcome or the cost. And it's a useful reminder that in an age of science, forensics, and video and data surveillance, the ability of one human being to coax the truth from another remains the cornerstone of a successful investigation..
On the one hand, the wealth of transcripts and recordings allows Bowden to re-create scenes and conversations in great detail and with (one presumes) near-perfect fidelity. But for a writer perhaps more obsessed with his subject than his readers will be, there is such a thing as too much material to work with. Bowden takes us through endless permutations of Welch’s ever-changing story, leading us down every blind alley of obfuscation and pulling us into every whirlpool of internal contradiction.
... Mr. Bowden painstakingly reconstructs how the earnest detectives inched closer and closer to the truth. I wish I could say that this approach works. It doesn’t. In fairness, the problems derive more from the material that Mr. Bowden has chosen than from anything he does to shape it. For starters, the book lacks suspense.
Bowden returns to the story that catapulted his career with a horrific portrait of a sociopath and honors the dedicated officers who were determined to get justice for two innocent girls and their grieving family..
... mesmerizing.
Although the legal denouement is frustratingly opaque and leaves behind many unanswered questions, Bowden expertly maintains suspense as long as possible, re-creating the detectives’ painstaking efforts via the documentation of their bedeviling focus on Welch. A keen synthesis of an intricate, decadeslong investigation, a stomach-churning unsolved crime, and a solid grasp of time, place, and character results in what is sure to be another bestseller for Bowden..
Bowden... delivers a narrative nonfiction masterpiece in this account of fiercely dedicated police detectives working to close a cold case.