Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius - Softcover

Carlin, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782393277 ISBN 13: 9781782393276

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2014

Synopsis

In Chase Your Shadow, journalist and author John Carlin tells the gripping story of Oscar Pistorius's tragic journey from sporting icon to accused murderer.

Before Valentine's Day of 2013, Pistorius was best known as an extraordinary athlete, the 'Blade Runner' who became the first amputee in history to compete in the Olympics. Everything changed after he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in the early hours of 14 February. Overnight, the Olympian's status as a role model was replaced by tales of erratic behaviour and a violent dark side.

His seven-month trial was broadcast live around the globe, its twists and turns captivating millions. Carlin, who followed the drama inside the courtroom, provides a vivid first-hand account of Pistorius's wrenching emotional breakdowns, the merciless interrogation to which he was submitted by the prosecutor, and the highly controversial judgment.

Carlin paints a portrait of a complex personality, a man whose life story reveals extremes of courage and insecurity, ambition and vulnerability, generosity and dangerous hot-headedness.

Not since the O. J. Simpson case has the world been more riveted by a champion's heroic rise and calamitous fall.

About this title

Product Description:

This is the sensational insider story of Oscar Pistorius, by the acclaimed author of Invictus. The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius will rivet the world's attention in a way no other case has since another famous sportsman, O. J. Simpson, was tried for the murder of his ex wife in 1994. John Carlin brings his own extensive knowledge of South Africa and access to Pistorius himself, as well as to his friends and family, after the death of Reeva Steenkamp to tell the story of the rise and fall of a classically tragic hero. It is the most remarkable sports story ever told - about a man whose legs were amputated at the age of eleven months and ended up running in the Olympic Games - and it is a story too about crime and punishment, love and death that follows Pistorius' trail from South Africa to London, to the United States, to Iceland, to Italy and has at its heart a richly varied and compelling set of characters, among them the beautiful victim, two brilliant rival lawyers and the fascinatingly complex figure of Oscar Pistorius himself.

Review:

"Carlin offers complete and absorbing coverage of this bizarre story, removing the mask from a previously one-dimensional role model."--Kirkus Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1782393277
• ISBN 13: 9781782393276
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400