Unbelievable
The shocking truth behind the hit Netflix series
Published on 3. September 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-78609-007-2 (ISBN)
Description
________________________________________
The real-life investigation behind the hit Netflix series, from two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD
She said she was raped.
Police said she lied.
She was made to retract the report - but the nightmare only got worse.
On 11 August 2008, eighteen-year-old Marie reported that a masked man had broken into her home and raped her. Within days, police - and even those closest to Marie - became suspicious of her story. Confronted by these minor inconsistencies and doubt, Marie broke down and said her story was a lie. The police charged her with making a false report.
Two years later, Colorado detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to a case of sexual assault. It bore an eerie resemblance to a rape that had taken place months earlier in a nearby town. Joining forces with the detective on that case, Edna Hendershot, the two soon discovered they were dealing with a serial rapist. As their investigation deepened, it became clear that numerous police departments had extremely similar cases on their hands - and that Marie's story bore an eerie resemblance to the cases they were investigating.
Unbelievable is a chilling tale of doubt, lies, and the hunt for justice, unveiling the disturbing reality of how sexual assault is investigated and the long history of scepticism toward its victims.
________________________________________
Previously published as A False Report
The real-life investigation behind the hit Netflix series, from two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD
She said she was raped.
Police said she lied.
She was made to retract the report - but the nightmare only got worse.
On 11 August 2008, eighteen-year-old Marie reported that a masked man had broken into her home and raped her. Within days, police - and even those closest to Marie - became suspicious of her story. Confronted by these minor inconsistencies and doubt, Marie broke down and said her story was a lie. The police charged her with making a false report.
Two years later, Colorado detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to a case of sexual assault. It bore an eerie resemblance to a rape that had taken place months earlier in a nearby town. Joining forces with the detective on that case, Edna Hendershot, the two soon discovered they were dealing with a serial rapist. As their investigation deepened, it became clear that numerous police departments had extremely similar cases on their hands - and that Marie's story bore an eerie resemblance to the cases they were investigating.
Unbelievable is a chilling tale of doubt, lies, and the hunt for justice, unveiling the disturbing reality of how sexual assault is investigated and the long history of scepticism toward its victims.
________________________________________
Previously published as A False Report
Reviews / Votes
Brilliant detective work, very well told. * Evening Standard * Disturbing and meticulously researched, this is a vital book for the #MeToo era. * Stylist, Best True Crime Books Ever Written * An important and necessary book that tells a complicated, uncomfortable story clearly and with great power. * i paper * With meticulous forensic detail, this true story is as disturbing as it compelling. * Sunday Mirror * Remarkable * TLS * I pretty much read A FALSE REPORT in one sitting. It is deeply disturbing but brilliant. I hope it helps with the seismic shift needed in attitudes to women who are brave enough to come forward when they have been assaulted. -- Sandi Toksvig A deep, disturbing, compelling, important book. A False Report digs into timeless issues - crime, victimhood, honesty, sexism - which have never been more timely. It is also a fascinating, sharply written story that will twist and surprise you. -- Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief Incredibly compelling true-crime... Miller and Armstrong have forensically examined the case of a serial rapist, giving the victims a voice while underlining the importance of collaborative police work and believing testimonies - especially in circumstances of sexual violence. * A Stylist Spring Pick * A riveting and disturbing true-crime story that reflects the enduring atrocity of rape in America. * Kirkus * A timely story, this book examines not only the crimes at its heart, but also the way in which women who report being raped are often placed under suspicion themselves * Stylist *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
231 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78609-007-2 (9781786090072)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2019
Cornerstone Digital
€9.49
Available for download
Person
T. Christian Miller (Author)
T. Christian Miller joined ProPublica, the non-profit newsroom for investigative journalism, as a senior reporter in 2008. Before that, he worked for the Los Angeles Times, where he covered politics, wars, and was once kidnapped by leftist guerrillas in Colombia. His first book, Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq, was called one of the "indispensable" books on the war. He teaches data journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University.
Ken Armstrong (Author)
Ken Armstrong, joined ProPublica in 2017. He previously worked at the Marshall Project and Chicago Tribune, where his work helped prompt the Illinois governor to suspend executions and empty death row. His first book, Scoreboard, Baby, with Nick Perry, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Non-Fiction. He has been the McGraw Professor of Writing at Princeton and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
Both T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong have won numerous awards,including a 2016 Pulitzer Prize for their article 'An Unbelievable Story of Rape', on which A False Report is based. The rights to the dramatisationof this story have been acquired by Netflix.
T. Christian Miller joined ProPublica, the non-profit newsroom for investigative journalism, as a senior reporter in 2008. Before that, he worked for the Los Angeles Times, where he covered politics, wars, and was once kidnapped by leftist guerrillas in Colombia. His first book, Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq, was called one of the "indispensable" books on the war. He teaches data journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University.
Ken Armstrong (Author)
Ken Armstrong, joined ProPublica in 2017. He previously worked at the Marshall Project and Chicago Tribune, where his work helped prompt the Illinois governor to suspend executions and empty death row. His first book, Scoreboard, Baby, with Nick Perry, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Non-Fiction. He has been the McGraw Professor of Writing at Princeton and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
Both T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong have won numerous awards,including a 2016 Pulitzer Prize for their article 'An Unbelievable Story of Rape', on which A False Report is based. The rights to the dramatisationof this story have been acquired by Netflix.