What do You think about Journal Of The Dead: A Story Of Friendship And Murder In The New Mexico Desert (2004)?
Perhaps it is the distancing effect of "It's just a story" that separated me from the disgust expressed by others for this book. "Journal of the Dead" is the author's version of the witnesses' reactions to Raffi's explanation of the journal's account of whatever actually happened to the main characters. And therein lies the fascination. The way we perceive an event occurring IS, for us, the reality of what occurred. Which is why I also had no issues with the author's tendency to drop facts and hints like the scattered breadcrumbs of two separate survival trails. Very rarely in life do we get the whole story handed to us, neatly sliced and buttered. In the absence of an omniscient narrator, each reader must interpret the clues and make his own final judgment (or not!) about the actuality of the horrific events of that day in Rattlesnake Canyon.
—Leta-Kaye
Had to read this translated version which mostly does not make a book better.I agree with other reviewers. We do not really get to know Raffi Kodikian. Secondly it was obvious the author believed him to be innocent.What made me sick was that Raffi even all what happened still said he was not wrong killing his friend. That's crazy. If he had not killed him Dave would still be alive so that says enough to me.I think it is a very fishy story and that Raffi was lucky that the prosecutor did not want him to get a long jail time. Since when does a prosecutor decide that? anyways. It was an interesting read but hardly any real inside info.
—♥ Marlene♥
