Author Robert Dailey III hits one out of the ballpark with his debut book Jackson The True Story.
It’s 1981 in West Tennessee – specifically in and around the Jackson and Memphis areas – when convicted murderer Laron Williams walks away from the Memphis Correctional Center (MCC).
In his next 27 days of freedom, Williams would kill a highly respected Memphis Police Officer and a beloved Catholic Priest.
The hunt for this cold-blooded killer was on and police wouldn’t stop until they got their man.
Jackson The True Story provides a detailed, insightful retelling of the hunt for a brutal killer; and how, in the days before DNA forensics, they identified and tracked him down.
But-
There’s something a bit special about this book.
While written by Dailey III, his father – Deputy Chief Robert Dailey, Jr. – contributed his recollections on the hunt for Laron Williams.
Giving a slight break from the horrific events at hand, every couple of chapters or so, Dailey III takes us back to his days as a young man growing up the son of a police officer then on to his rookie days as an officer himself.
It’s obvious to readers just how much Dailey admires his father and the profession to which he dedicated a large portion of his life by sharing humorous stories about their relationship. (I literally laughed until I cried reading the chapter with the Rated R warning.)
I found this to be a nice change from your standard true crime where it’s brutality from beginning to end. This time there was a reminder that there is a good, decent side of mankind.
I was very impressed with Jackson The True Story and highly recommend adding it to your reading list.
