Overview

The definitive account of the assassination that changed America and the world Hellhound on His Trail is the story of two very different men whose lives catastrophically interweaved over the course of some nine months in the late 1960s- one was a thief and con man called James Earl Ray, the other one of the greatest American figures of the twentieth century, Martin Luther King Jr. Hampton Sides follows in Ray's footsteps as he escapes from prison, creates a new identity for himself and becomes convinced of his mission to kill King. Hellhound on His Trail is equally the story of King himself in his last months, fighting to keep his ideals alive in the face of intensive FBI surveillance and his own exhausted frustration. With relentless storytelling drive, Sides follows Ray and King as they crisscross the country, one stalking the other, until the fateful moment, on 4 April 1968 at a Memphis hotel, when the drifter finally caught up with his prey. Nationwide riots were sparked by the assassination, followed by the largest manhunt in American history.

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A remarkable achievement... he manages to combine meticulous research with a writing style that captures the pacing and tension of a compulsive fictional thriller...a powerful, passionately felt retelling of an event that shook the world. -- Siobhan Murphy Metro An exercise in pure narrative, a nonfiction thriller in which the pace quickens as we approach the late afternoon of Thursday, April 4, 1968. -- Dominic Sandbrook Sunday Times Viscerally dramatic... creates the momentum of a tightly constructed nonfiction film... spellbinding... bold, dynamic, unusually vivid -- Janet Maslin New York Times

A remarkable achievement... he manages to combine meticulous research with a writing style that captures the pacing and tension of a compulsive fictional thriller...a powerful, passionately felt retelling of an event that shook the world. -- Siobhan Murphy Metro An exercise in pure narrative, a nonfiction thriller in which the pace quickens as we approach the late afternoon of Thursday, April 4, 1968. -- Dominic Sandbrook Sunday Times Viscerally dramatic... creates the momentum of a tightly constructed nonfiction film... spellbinding... bold, dynamic, unusually vivid -- Janet Maslin New York Times

Author Information

Hampton Sides is the author of the bestselling Ghost Soldiers, winner of the 2002 PEN USA Award for non-fiction and Blood and Thunder, named one of the 10 Best Books of 2006 by Time magazine. He lives in New Mexico.

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