Catch the Devil

“Pamela Colloff is one of our great chroniclers of crime and criminal justice, and in this incendiary, emotionally devastating book, she depicts a justice system turned completely inside out, in which the innocent are incarcerated and the guilty skip free. The conman at the heart of her story, Paul Skalnik, is as chilling and unrepentant as any movie villain. Catch the Devil is a feat of dogged reporting, bravura storytelling, and clear-eyed moral conscience.”
—Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing and London Falling

“One of America’s finest journalists, Pamela Colloff, has delivered a wallop of a debut book—loaded with moral clarity and astounding detail—about one of the world’s most infernal liars, the scores of lives he destroyed, and the criminal-justice system that still, shockingly, benefits from those lies.”
—Robert Kolker, author of Hidden Valley Road

“Pamela Colloff has ripped the roof off the criminal justice system with this exposé of a jailhouse snitch. You can’t read this book without a feeling of horror that one man could do so much damage; but the real shock is that he was only telling prosecutors what they wanted him to say.”
—Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower and The Human Scale

“A masterful and riveting anatomy of how a series of institutions colluded with one man’s pathology. I can’t imagine a more damning and poignant account of a criminal justice system that was, fundamentally, willing to be fooled—and the lives destroyed and transformed in that process.”
—Rachel Aviv, author of Strangers to Ourselves

“You read each page of Pamela Colloff’s subtly written and stunningly reported book with a deepening sense of outrage. How could this happen? How could the justice system be so remorseless, so intractably focused on protocol and career wins at the expense of justice itself? Catch the Devil is an infuriating, illuminating, gripping narrative by one of the heroes of American journalism.”
—Stephen Harrigan, author of Sorrowful Mysteries

“A mesmerizing, often enraging portrait of a man whose skill at manipulating the judicial system led to untold injustices. Told with all the care, nuance, and dazzling reportage we expect from Pamela Colloff—one of the very best in the field right now—Catch the Devil reads like a literary thriller, rich in atmosphere and lively characters, but its larger resonances give it an extraordinary depth and its timeliness during America’s current grifter era could hardly be greater.”
—Megan Abbott, author of El Dorado Drive

“Pamela Colloff lights up the criminal justice system with a precision that leaves nowhere to hide. Catch the Devil is an extraordinary achievement, its narrative moving with the taut urgency of a thriller—anchored by the heart and humanity she brings to the pursuit of truth. An unforgettable masterwork from the leading voice in American crime reporting.”
—Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove