What do readers think of The Fairbanks Four by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue? Write your own review.

I found it difficult to get into this book. I made several attempts to peak my interest but to no avail. I feel the book was well written but I am not sure if this was a good time for me to read it. I felt that it darted around a lot and I found myself going back to reread a section to get a better understanding of the conversation.

This was such an important story, 4 wrongly accused teens of a murder they did not commit in Alaska… a journalist uncovers the lies and coverups in their case to help free them. I felt like the story was hard to follow and had a lot of superfluous details that distracted me from the real story . I had a tough time finishing this one as it seemed to drag on for me as well.

The book is written by a journalist / professor who starts digging into the murder conviction of 4 people found guilty of beating & killing a teenager. The professor (author O'Donoghue) creates an Investigative Reporting course for his students and over several years, they research details of the case. The premise is really interesting and caught my attention.

The execution of the book fell short for me. There were so many names in the book, it was hard to keep track of who was who. Additionally, it felt like a lot of details were not important to the story, but including them caused more confusion.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. But I had a real problem following the story. There were so many people in this story I could not keep them straight. It got to the point that I could not even remember the names of the 4 accused - who were the whole point of the book.

A young 14 year old boy was beaten to death in Alaska and soon afterward four boys were arrested - four Native American boys. And therein lays the problem. Half the town were sure those four boys were the correct criminals, the other half opposed to the quick arrest and unsavory police department who arrested them. This story …more played out for over 18 years before a final solution, showing us just how long it takes the justice system to admit mistakes and then to finally take any corrective action.

The premise of the story was solid, however I had a lot of trouble with how it was written. Not only were so many extra people thrown into the mix, more than once the author threw in a curve ball and just went off on something very unrelated - like the Iditarod. I really find it hard to believe that the author is both a journalist and professor of investigative journalism. Maybe short pieces are his thing, because this book was extremely hard to follow, had way too many unneeded people written in, went on way too long being repetitive and was hard to follow the real crux of the story. (less)

This book was engaging from the beginning, and mostly stayed that way. The author's journalistic skills were necessary to tackle a tale that covered so many years and so many people. I did find the wrongly accused It is a tragic story most of us have heard before: jumping to quick and wrong solutions that scapegoat marginalized people, and unrelenting resistance to finding the truth until it could not be stopped. I will not say more about the ending and risk tainting expectations for other.

I found this book too long, which is rare for me. Perhaps the author's very personal and extensive involvement in the …more search for the truth made editing more difficult. I could follow the legal intricacies and the bureaucratic self-protection in the law enforcement agencies. However, keeping track of the many student co-investigators and other players distracted from staying with the flow of the story.

Over the many years of the story, individuals came and went, and then returned in different roles. If there is a made-for-TV miniseries, that might be a good alternative for many. Including me. (less)

Four innocent native (Athabascan) teenagers were convicted of the murder of a 15-yr-old boy in 1997 in Fairbanks, Alaska. The author, an investigative reporter/professor, wrote this detailed story of the 18 years it took to exonerate them. There were many characters in the story and at times it was difficult to keep track of all of them. The case reminded me of the Central Park Five, who were also wrongly convicted and sent to jail until exonerated many years later. This is a story of injustice and dogged perseverance of many individuals who spent almost two decades working for justice. Originally the state did …more not seem to want to prove their innocence, which clearly represented prejudice towards native people as described in the story.

It was a very interesting, detailed book of how much time and energy and people it took to finally clear these men, who by the time of their exoneration had spent half their lives in jail. I enjoyed the book, although remembering each person involved was quite difficult at times. I think the book would benefit from a list of characters that could be referred to while reading. Additionally, I wanted to see where these men are now in their lives, several years after release, but it was not mentioned. I was able to find the details online. Overall, it was an engaging read, resembling a police procedural. However, the narrative could have benefited from a more fluid structure. (less)