Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial

I, like many people, listened to the Serial podcast. I was captivated by the complexities of the case and horrified to see how little evidence could be used to lock someone up forever. At the conclusion of the podcast, however, I felt unsure of the defendant's guilt or innocence. This much I knew: no one should have been convicted on such flimsy data. This book, however, was extremely useful in shining a light on all the other things that went wrong in the case. The format of a book allowed the author to examine in detail everything that pertains to the case without a varnish of easily digestible entertainment. It's true that some points of the book are very dense and complicated, but the facts stand.

The author's appeal to the reader show more is very personal and emotional. But it is not only these things. I felt she did a decent job of separating herself and her biases from the facts of the case. More than that, she does not pretend to be a disinterested third party. She's known Adnan her whole life and she believes viscerally in his innocence. Still, I don't think this clouds her judgement and it certainly doesn't impede her ability to argue.

This book is disturbing for the way it puts the police themselves on trial. It's easy to convince oneself that only guilty people go to jail, but that's simply not true. I'm not sure that I can swallow how completely the case was fabricated by the law enforcement working on the case. Maybe I just don't want to believe it's true. Regardless, the man they put away was wrongfully convicted. Hopefully, he gets justice at last and the police begin working to bring justice to the victim as well. show less

Serial captured the imaginations of millions across the world. I was one of them. The podcast brought attention the wrongful incarceration of Adnan Syed, but I doubt I was alone in being left with lingering doubts and questions. There clearly were unexplored avenues, and as a brown woman, it bothered me that Adnan being profiled as a young Pakistani-American Muslim teenager didn't make it to the podcast until about six episodes in.

In Adnan's Story , Rabia Chaudry addresses these questions and doubts. She acknowledges her own bias early on. She's practically family to Adnan. But that in no way should deter a reader- thanks to Serial, there are unbiased experts and enthusiasts that have contributed to this book. Transcripts and photos, show more peppered through out the book, are used to deconstruct the State's case.

There are SERIOUS discrepancies, pointing to the evidence being manipulated, fudged and whipped out of thin air to frame Adnan. Rabia has a very powerful voice that guides the reader through this difficult read. The extent of injustice in this particular case will anger you, break your heart, and make you hope that it be reversed soon. Two young people - Adnan and Hae, and their families and communities have suffered for way too long.

Rabia's unwavering hope and faith, and Adnan's deep reserve of strength are inspiring to behold. In one section of the book, Rabia talks about how millions across the world and across religions, believers and atheists alike, have said prayers and good wishes for Adnan. I'll join too, in hoping Adnan comes back home, and Hae's killer be identified soon. show less

I laughed, I cried, and I raged at how our system has done such a disservice to an innocent man. Adnan's Story starts at the beginning with how Adnan and Hae first met with a statement from him. Rabia then moves through the crime and how and why the police focused on him. She also gives the reader a behind the scene look at Serial and how Undisclosed began. Overall, the book is beautifully written that flows with a fluid motion that moves the reader through the last 17 years.

I wasn't sure how much new information this book would contain - and if you, like me, listened to all three podcasts, the answer is not much from a case standpoint. The new information in this book comes in the form of Adnan's own words, mixed into each chapter, recalling the events from his perspective, and shedding light on his though process through this whole journey.

I don't read enough true crime to know, really, how this stacks up to other books in the genre. I just know that, despite feeling like I already know everything there could possibly be to know about this case, I found the book fascinating. Rabia is a wonderful narrator, and the glimpses she gives her reader about growing up Muslim in America, and her own personal show more journey, added even more depth to this already enthralling story. show less

Watching The Night Of, a completely unrelated HBO series short, led to friends recommending the Serial podcast. Which naturally led to this book. Serial’s coverage of the case of Hae Min Lee’s murder and the subsequent conviction of Adnan Syed was quite fascinating so knowing this book would provide further details was an obvious draw.

This book was highly engrossing for me, having not followed anything other than Serial on the case. The multitude of concerns brought up at nearly every stage of the botched investigation, Adnan’s arrest, witness manipulations, events leading up to the initial case, credible evidence either ignored or deliberately hidden, the cases themselves, and beyond - it comes as such a shock how much could show more possibly go wrong. Ms. Chaudry, even with her own biases, can clearly show there is no way Adnan Syed received a fair trial.

Despite this, events in the case are not told chronologically and instead there’s a back and forth repetition throughout on only certain details for emphasis. It felt like Ms. Chaudry had a lot to say and wanted to throw all of it out there, but the story was written in a non-linear way, so it felt a little all over the place. Ironically, this was one of the criticisms she and her fellow podcasters received after their first episode of their own podcast, Undisclosed. You’d think she’d used that same application to her book (or her editor would help her organize her thoughts better), considering how many years Ms. Chaudry invested into this case and how much she’s written, tweeted, blogged, etc.

Extraneous details about her own life where also inserted throughout, rather than structured together as a way to introduce herself and her relation to Adnan. This was undoubtedly interesting to learn too, as her background is pretty extensive as well, but placing more emphasis on her own life at times made the book’s title misleading. This book isn’t necessarily just Adnan’s Story anymore. It becomes more about Rabia Chaudry instead. We are actually privy to excerpts from Adnan’s own writings to help understand his perspective and story better but that disappears in the concluding third of the book. So in essence, it becomes more about Rabia’s pursuit of justice rather than an as told by Adnan perspective. And that is a non-issue for me, but I do think the title should’ve reflected this better.

It was nice to see her touch on the Islamic faith and dispel any negative, unfounded stereotypes of the culture, particularly with American Muslims, and let’s be real, South Asian Americans in general. Plenty of us grew up with strict, traditional, overprotective parents, and could have easily been an Adnan Syed growing up. It’s emotionally disturbing to read about the prosecution’s attempt to discredit Adnan’s character, to label erroneous “research” on Islam as “facts” that reflect an entire people, and to present his motivation to kill solely because he was a brown teenager of immigrant parents. We know the racial prejudice that exists today, particularly against the Islamic faith, but to read such blatant ignorance that went unchallenged for years is still mind-boggling.

With so much information on Adnan’s case, it is certainly a challenge to present all the facts and details in a clear structure, but I think this was the only drawback for me. I enjoyed getting a chance to delve deeper into the case and learn more beyond what Sarah Koenig presented in the Serial podcast. I also had no idea about Undisclosed or any of the other podcasts covering this case. Will be looking those up for sure now.

Highly recommended read for any Serial podcast fans and/or anyone with an interest in the case. show less

3.0 Took me forever to get through this! I found it to be okay, but not having seen Serial, I was disappointed to not have closure at the end. The writing was good to excellent in spots, to focused on random things in other areas.

Must read for any Serial fan! Obviously the author has her own biases since she is a friend of Adnan's, but the questions raised in the book are intriguing. It will be interesting to see what happens with his case this summer.