PositiveThe Washington PostAn argument at the core of Evidence of Things Seen — that the ability to get justice in the United States remains woefully unequal ... The anthology attempts to move past the true-crime genre’s traditional celebration of law enforcement and its denigration of the accused and incarcerated ... This anthology aims to continue the tradition of Baldwin’s work, and it largely succeeds. Its essays take care to prioritize the stories of victims, which too often are shunted aside in true-crime narratives to focus instead on the cat-and-mouse game played between police and offenders ... A healthy antidote to “Dateline”-style sensationalist programming. The essays avoid traditional black-and-white stories and instead embrace the nuance of reporting on crime, showing the ways stories of wrongdoing often illuminate broader issues in our society.
Joel Warner
PositiveThe Washington Post\"Spanning hundreds of years and multiple countries, The Curse of the Marquis de Sade is impressive in scope. Warner admirably keeps all the storylines moving, and a list of characters included at the beginning of the book is a helpful reminder of who’s who in each timeline ... Warner excels at explaining Lhéritier’s complex — and possibly criminal — business operations in easy-to-understand language. And his depiction of France’s lively rare-manuscript community is a fascinating look at a largely hidden subculture ... at times feels disjointed and fragmented, with chapters jumping 100 years forward in the timeline and then back again. The shifting chronology creates a sense of mystery but can also make for a somewhat confusing reading experience. Still, given the breadth of the book’s subject matter, Warner admirably ties his three storylines together...\
