Damien Echols

I don't even have words. It's sickening and unbelievable that within my lifetime people were sentenced to death for participating in Satanic rituals - and more sickening that is unbelievable, that something that destroyed peoples' lives has just disappeared out of the public consciousness. Damien Echols spent eighteen years on Death Row because the local cops were obsessed with the idea of Satanists; he not only survived but became the living embodiment of "what doesn't kill you makes you show more stronger." His strength and compassion and intelligence absolutely pour out of the pages of this book. This isn't a book about the West Memphis Three; it's just about Damien Echols and his unbelievably shitty life and the amazing things he's done with it in spite of everything. I can't recommend it strongly enough. show less

"In 1993, teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.—who have come to be known as the West Memphis Three—were arrested for the murders of three eight-year-old boys in Arkansas. The ensuing trial was marked by tampered evidence, false testimony, and public hysteria. Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life in prison; while eighteen-year-old Echols, deemed the “ringleader,” was sentenced to death. Over the next two decades, the WM3 became known worldwide as show more a symbol of wrongful conviction and imprisonment, with thousands of supporters and many notable celebrities who called for a new trial. In a shocking turn of events, all three men were released in August 2011.

Now Echols shares his story in full—from abuse by prison guards and wardens, to portraits of fellow inmates and deplorable living conditions, to the incredible reserves of patience, spirituality, and perseverance that kept him alive and sane while incarcerated for nearly two decades. In these pages, Echols reveals himself a brilliant writer, infusing his narrative with tragedy and irony in equal measure: he describes the terrors he experienced every day and his outrage toward the American justice system, and offers a firsthand account of living on Death Row in heartbreaking, agonizing detail. Life After Death is destined to be a riveting, explosive classic of prison literature."
Mr. Echols' account of his unjust time in prison was not only eye opening but shocking. The horror that he experienced and learned to expect during this time is stomach churning. No one wanted to listen or help until his beautiful wife became his mirror, sword and shield from outside those walls. It is incomprehensible how he managed to keep such faith and hope for all those years. I understand that his health suffered and he was beginning to think that little light at the end of the tunnel might completely go out. I cried often while reading; I shouted often while reading but I screamed when he finally got released straight into his wife's arms where he belonged all along. show less

It’s no secret I thoroughly enjoy memoirs. I love fiction but there is something about reading someone’s story from his point of view that truly moves me. Life After Death did just that. What compelled me to read this book was my own morbid curiosity at the horror of Mr. Echols’ life. How were the workings of prison? How could he have possibly survived the terror that happened to him? How did he have the will to survive knowing he was innocent? What made him go on? I am weak and I want show more to know what makes others strong. This story is a testament of a man who could have given up. Everything was against him and yet he chooses to fight. He was strong.

My favorite reviews to write are the ones I can’t find the words for. Maybe it’s because it’s too soon, I haven’t finished processing what I read. I finished this book over a week ago and I ‘m still as perplexed as I was when began writing this. I have a feeling this is the kind of book that no matter how much time passes; it will always be too soon to write.

My biggest struggle is that I am having difficulty separating the memoir with the reality of what happened. I have written and rewritten this several times over. Each time I try, my thoughts and opinions turn to the merits of the case, of whether or not Damien Echols and the rest of the WM3 are innocent. In doing that, I look at how gifted Damien Echols is as a writer. He writes as if this is what he was born to do.

When I first began reading Life After Death, I didn’t like Damien Echols. I still can’t quite articulate what it was that troubled me. Normally I would stop reading, why would anyone want to read a book about someone they didn’t like? What compelled me to keep reading was Damien Echols himself. I may not have liked him, but I was completely captivated by his story. Here was this kid: black hair, black clothes, listening to heavy metal. I believed he would have an attitude. He would despise all authority, rebel against laws and rules. He would be jerk. In reality, I am the jerk because I convicted him without knowing the facts. I didn’t know the truth about him and who he was. I was no better than the West Memphis Police Department, the people of West Memphis, the victims’ parents, family and friends, and well almost everyone.

As I kept reading and researching this case on my own, my opinion about him changed. I realize that I am not here to debate the merits of the case and whether or not Damien Echols and the rest of the West Memphis Three are innocent. I will stop now. And that’s the thing about Life After Death, it’s difficult for me

to separate the two. He had me hooked, not only in what happened to him, but in the way it is written. The words flowed brilliantly; it was pure “magick.” Mr. Echols did such an incredible job describing his ordeal. Ordeal is almost an insult compared to what actually happened to him. It’s a tragedy, a horror. What's truly inspirational is how he overcame it.

I’m not sure if Life After Death is for everyone but I do believe it is one everyone one should read. show less

A fascinating look at Damien Echols's arduous journey through life, from his hardscrabble upbringing in the poverty-stricken South with an absent father and an abusive stepfather, to his wrongful conviction for capital murder and his subsequent years on Death Row. Echols's writing is a bit uneven -- at times, quite poetic -- but considering the book is pieced together partly from journal entries scribbled in prison over the years, some of which are incomplete due to the destruction of the show more guards, overall the project is well done. Echols does a good job expressing the gross injustices of the prison industrial complex and his anger at the personal abuse he suffered while maintaining some kind of perspective. He worked very hard over the years to save a sense of himself and to avoid being eaten alive by bitterness and hate, and this shines through in Life After Death. show less