It was a busy launch day at Chained Birds HQ in Philadelphia yesterday, and I’m grateful to all my well-wishers—virtual and in-person—for making my book launch so special 🥹
Yesterday morning, my wonderful write-up from Independent Book Review went live on their site, and I’m happy to post the review’s permanent link. IBR also named Chained Birds as one of their six Anticipated Books of November 2024.
This quote from reviewer John Murray sums up the book perfectly:
Conti writes with an endearing balance of humor and passion, and she is a driven and intelligent advocate for those without a voice … Chained Birds is like two great books in one: a captivating true crime story that exposes a deplorable prison program and an engrossing memoir of a journalist making a difference.
John’s review joined some news ones posted to GoodReads and Amazon, which was fun, but exhausting to keep up with amid all of yesterday’s whirly swirly of texts, emails, and social media posts. I did, however, take time out to open the best book birthday present of all: a box of Chained Birds hardcovers and paperbacks. Pretty sweet 🤩
Here’s the complete IBR review for Chained Birds:
A compelling true crime exposé of a corrupt prison program and the lives forever changed when it was brought to light
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist and staunch prison reform advocate. In Chained Birds, Conti becomes part of the story herself.
She was asked to tell the story of Kevin Sanders and the conditions he experienced as a convict serving his sentence at Lewisburg Prison in Pennsylvania. Sanders’ legal team soon hires her to help his defense, specifically a series of unjust assault charges.
It all started with a snowball, and it would, pardon the pun, snowball into something more. One inmate launched a snowball at a corrections officer before assaulting him—the officer’s revenge led to an orchestrated rec cage assault that involved Sanders through no fault of his own. This is the event that brought Sanders to Conti’s attention, as well as the prison’s Special Management Unit, which turned out to be rife with abuse, corruption, and violence.
As a journalist and advocate, she became a fierce supporter not only for Sanders but for reformation of the entire prison system. The trial was just the beginning as Conti recounts her life before, during, and after the case, including the political strife, family drama, and even the writing of this book.
Conti writes with an endearing balance of humor and passion, and she is a driven and intelligent advocate for those without a voice—even before working with Sanders. Without her assistance on the case, he might have disappeared into the system and the SMU program may have gone unnoticed.
A large swath of this memoir is devoted to Sanders, with several sections edited from his own words or letters he gifted to Conti. He was not a perfect man and he tried his best to overcome the various issues plaguing him—drug use, gang affiliation, prison torture. Conti steps back and lets Sanders be his authentic self, resulting in a two-person memoir that is at turns heartfelt and bittersweet.
The book is nonfiction and drawn from real documents and transcripts, but Conti artfully dramatizes things to feel almost like a legal thriller. As she points out at the beginning: “This is a work of nonfiction. Certain names and places have been changed for the privacy and protection of some story participants. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or real events is absolutely true.” The “real” aspect of the story makes the harrowing elements—prison violence, a potential attack against Conti’s and Sanders’ life—even more explosive.
Chained Birds is like two great books in one: a captivating true crime story that exposes a deplorable prison program and an engrossing memoir of a journalist making a difference.
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, will be published by WildBlue Press on November 12, 2024.
