Conviction

Conviction

Julia Dahl

New York City 1992: a year after riots exploded between black and Jewish neighbors in Brooklyn, a black family is brutally murdered in their Crown Heights home. A teenager is quickly convicted, and the justice system moves on.
Twenty-two years later, journalist Rebekah Roberts gets a letter: I didn’t do it. Frustrated with her work at the city’s sleaziest tabloid, Rebekah starts to dig. But witnesses are missing, memories faded, and almost no one wants to talk about that grim, violent time in New York City―not even Saul Katz, a former NYPD cop and her source in Brooklyn’s insular Hasidic community.
So she goes it alone. And as she gets closer to the truth of that night, Rebekah finds herself in the path of a killer with two decades of secrets to protect.
From the author of the Edgar-nominated Invisible City comes another timely thriller that illuminates society’s darkest corners. Told in part through the eyes of a jittery eyewitness and the massacre’s sole survivor, Julia Dahl’s Conviction examines the power―and cost―of community, loyalty, and denial.

Conviction - Reviews

“A tale that has at its heart the very meaning of power and poverty, justice, family, and, best of all, hope.”

Booklist

“Dahl shows great command over the darker, creepier elements of her genre and will keep you reading by her deft yet unobtrusive deployment of plot twists and there are many of these going off...

Kirkus Reviews

“Dahl’s crime reporting background pays off, combining just the right amount of detail with a fast-moving pace and a fascinating glimpse into an insular world… Newcomers to this award-winning...

Library Journal

“Dahl excels at revealing the inner workings of enigmatic subcultures while maintaining peak suspense. She also provides a terrific “whoa, I didn’t see that coming” moment.”

Publisher’s Weekly Publishers Weekly

“A murder mystery for our tumultuous times… Dahl writes deftly about race, religion, and politics in NYC, both then and now.”

New York Magazine

“A suspenseful and compulsive page-turner adroitly capturing Brooklyn in what’s left of its melting-pot glory. Roberts’s dogged, heart-and-mind-centered pursuit of truth, fairness, and justic...

Boston Globe