Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial
After more than twenty years in prison, Adnan Syed’s murder conviction was overturned, and he was finally set free. Rabia Chaudry’s New York Times bestseller and award-winner Adnan’s Story reveals how the case was mishandled and became the subject of Sarah Koenig’s Peabody Award-winning podcast Serial.
In early 2000, Adnan Syed was convicted and sentenced to life plus thirty years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, a high school senior in Baltimore, Maryland. Syed has maintained his innocence, and Rabia Chaudry, a family friend, has always believed him. By 2013, after almost all appeals had been exhausted, Rabia contacted Sarah Koenig, a producer at This American Life, in hopes of finding a journalist who could shed light on Adnan’s story. In 2014, Koenig's investigation turned into Serial, a Peabody Award-winning podcast with more than 500 million international listeners.
But Serial did not tell the whole story. In this compelling narrative, Rabia Chaudry presents key evidence that she maintains dismantles the State’s case: a potential new suspect, forensics indicating Hae was killed and kept somewhere for almost half a day, and documentation withheld by the State that destroys the cell phone evidence—among many other points—and she shows how fans of Serial joined a crowd-sourced investigation into a case riddled with errors and strange twists. Featuring information about Adnan’s life in prison, and weaving in his personal reflections with never-before-seen letters, Rabia’s account is “a true story about real people. Adnan’s Story adds context and humanizes it in a way that could change how you think about the case and about Serial itself” (Los Angeles Times).
“Chaudry’s clear, vivid and highly readable account of the case will bring the story to life for readers unfamiliar with the podcast, and even the most devoted Serial fans will find fresh insight and a vast amount of new material. Chaudry’s legal training serves her well as she marshals her defense, but so too does the Pakistani heritage and Muslim faith she shares with Syed.” —Washington Post
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Community Reviews
I decided to listen to the audio version because I read that Rabia is fantastic. And she was. She narrates beautifully and passionately. Her voice is easy to listen to.
This is a dense story. The first half is intense and detailed. Rabia is a lawyer and the story reads like a detailed investigation. I started to get a bit overwhelmed by all of the details and found I had to listen in smaller chunks of time.
After 14 hours of listening what I came out with is this:
-4 or 5 facts that she revealed that really surprised me. I won't say what they all are as readers should have that pleasure. But one I will say, as it is quite talked about now in the news; Adnan was almost exonerated after his first trial. The first trial ended in mistrial because of a lawyer's mistake. That shocked me.
-I still do not know where I stand with regard to his guilt or innocence. I am literally on the fence.
-I feel so sad for Hae Min Lee's family to have to revisit all of this again.
-There is no good outcome to any of this, for anyone.
Well written and worth the time.
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