Posts on Criminal Justice and Prison Reform

✨ The Jacklighter is out today. Thank you to everyone who preordered, shared, reviewed, and cheered me on. 🙏 🥹  Order links are here. Today’s post isn’t mine. I’m turning the blog over to renowned thriller author J.D. Barker. And since this is where I have room to tell the whole story, I want to explain ...

7 Days to Launch: What Critics Are Saying About The Jacklighter With one week to go until The Jacklighter launches on Oct. 27, I’ve gathered this whole season of reviews in one place, because it’s been a lot to take in, in the best way 🥹 Six professional reviewers have now read the book. Each brought a ...

IndieReader has a special place in my heart. It’s where Chained Birds won the True Crime category in the 2025 IndieReader Discovery Awards, so when I entered The Jacklighter in its contest, I held my breath for IR’s first take on the book. The short IndieReader “Verdict” arrived soon after, and I’ve been quoting one line ...

“A gripping account of a murder between friends”—I couldn’t ask for a better highlight from Foreword Clarion Reviews, which gave The Jacklighter 4 out of 5 stars this week 🎉 Likewise, I couldn’t have scripted the reviewer’s opening line any better either: “A thorough and compassionate book, The Jacklighter covers a troubling murder trial at the ...

Greetings, true crime fans. I’m updating this post with more book launch events—I hope to see you later this month if you’re in Philadelphia or Northeast PA. 🎉 And my update starts with some surprise book news: if you’d like a signed copy of The Jacklighter before its official publication on Oct. 27, 2026, join me at the new Barnes ...

Handing my book to a professional stranger and asking for an honest read is always nerve-racking, and so I’m especially delighted to share this one by BookLife Reviews, which took such care with The Jacklighter. Their one-sentence takeaway: “Illuminating investigative account of a 1976 Pennsylvania cold case.” BookLife is Publishers Weekly’s program for independently published books. ...

Two years ago, Midwest Book Review Senior Reviewer Diane Donovan wrote a review of Chained Birds that still makes me a little teary. This fall, she read The Jacklighter, and her first sentence made me smile, because she nailed something I’ve had trouble explaining to people: “Readers of Carla Conti’s previous crime memoir saga Chained Birds ...

Independent Book Review was one of the first outlets to champion Chained Birds (its review went live on my launch day in 2024), so I was thrilled to see what reviewer Savannah Brooks made of The Jacklighter. I’ve read her opening line a dozen times now, and I still get emotional. It may be the ...