CHAINED BIRDS: A True Crime Memoir by Carla ContiMy rating: ✨✨✨✨
True crime has long been an interest of mine. From watching documentaries with my mum as a kid, to discovering a massive interest in serial killers in my teens, and then developing a wider interest in all areas of criminality as I've grown up, it's always been in me to find intrigue in the illegal. Hell, even my job is in criminal justice...so it all goes without saying that Chained Birds was undoubtedly going to scratch a scandalous itch.
Following the ten year advocation for Kevin Sanders, a federal inmate in America's prison system, Chained Birds exposes flaws, danger, and mistreatment on multiple levels. Horrific conditions are detailed, and the fight to help get Kevin back into society eventually culminates in the closure of an experimental program at FCI Lewisburg in Pennsylvania.
I've read a bunch of true crime memoirs, and it's no exaggeration when I say that Chained Birds has catapulted to the top of the faves list. Some can be boring, overlong, and get swamped by the facts and figures and dates and footnotes; Chained Birds was the polar opposite of this. It was gripping from the beginning, and was written in a very novelistic manner which only served to strengthen the book. Conti's writing is engaging, and her background in journalism clearly influences the flow of the book, keeping it riveting and entertaining throughout.
In fear of dishing spoilers I'll leave this right there, but I implore you to get your hands on Chained Birds if you're interested in true crime. Peering behind the curtain of the American 'justice' system was an eye opener, and the frustration is REAL as you follow Kevin's journey to freedom. Is it achieved? Go find out...
Chained Birds is available now. I’d like to extend many great thanks to NetGalley and WildBlue Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.
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