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21:24

  • 21:24
2124 Novel

21:24

How did it happen?

There is quite a curious story to how 21:24 came into being. It is curious because what started it all was a terrible miscarriage of justice.

Back in 1993, in West Memphis, Arkansas, three 8 year old boys were brutally murdered and their bodies dumped in a creek/drainage ditch. Within a short space of time three teenage boys were accused of the crime and charged. HBO sent a small film team down to cover the case and this resulted in a documentary covering the investigation and trials of the three teens who were to become known as The West Memphis Three. The documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, exposed the small-minded ignorance of the prosecution, witnesses and even the judge. The trials were terribly flawed, the kids were railroaded and The West Memphis Three were all found guilty. The two younger teens were sentenced to life imprisonment and the eldest, Damien Echols, was sentenced to death, for crimes they very clearly did not commit.

Following the airing of the documentary a massive movement of support was born for The West Memphis Three. One of the early subscribers to this movement was Jason Hughes, horror author and special effects make-up artist.

A Facebook page grew for the cause, connecting supporters around the globe. It was on this Facebook page that I first “met” Jason. Both he and I shared a common passion about the case. In fact, Jason was so close to the cause he became friends with both Damien’s mum and his sister. It turned out that our common interests did not end there. After some time, I discovered Jason was a writer in the midst of a lengthy bout of writer’s block. I bonded with Jason and understood his frustration, which lead me to suggest that we collaborate on a writing project.

Once we’d joined forces, the concept developed very quickly. We had a common interest in justice and injustice. Interestingly though, rather than explore the injustice of someone being punished for crimes they had not committed, we went down a completely different, far darker path.

There is a brutality in 21:24, but the book isn’t about that. It isn’t about a body count, it dares to say what many people think, and explores the unthinkable. It forces the reader to ask questions.

The collaboration between myself and Jason was seamless and a lot fun. So much so that we couldn’t stop at just one book and there are more in the series to come.

Some miscarriages of justice are not about wrongful convictions, so much as inappropriate punishments.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The West Memphis Three