A review by amy_alwaysreading
The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice by Dan Slepian

5.0

Many thanks to my friends at @macmillan.audio for the free #gifted copy of this book.  

 

“Much like water puts out fire, education and opportunity put out crime.”

 

Deeply impactful.  Vitally important.  

 

I immediately found myself invested as Slepian recounted the decades long fight for justice for six wrongfully incarcerated men.  

 

This book is more than mere reporting. This book is a battle cry.  These men... never given the presumption of innocence.  A justice system steeped in error and corruption.  Lives irrevocably changed.  

 

As Dan chronicled each man’s meticulously researched story, I found myself awash with emotion.  I raged.  I cried.  I cheered with relief.  And I closed the last page forever changed.  This is one of the most affecting books I’ve read this year.  

 

It’s obvious that this was a work of heart for Slepian.  The ethics and empathy that guided him as he fought for truth bled through on each page.  

 

Truly, I cannot recommend this book more strongly. It should be required reading for every American. 

 

🎧 Slepian narrated the audiobook, and his years of experience with Dateline shone through in this exceptional execution.  It’s a full production that includes snippets of interviews, excerpts read by the then-prisoners, and various other effects/additions.  But it was the raw emotion I felt in his narration that made this book so personal and impactful.  A stunning listen.