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The Boys on the Tracks
by Mara Leveritt
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Hardcover - (November 1999) 384 pages
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Editorial Reviews
>From Kirkus Reviews
Award-winning investigative reporter Leveritts debut is a wrecking-ball tale
of tragedy, malfeasance, and machine politics that resembles an all-true
Arkansas Confidential. In 1987, Linda Ives suffered a parental
worst-nightmare when her son and a friend were run over by a train, whose
crew observed them supine and covered with a tarp before impact. Local law
enforcement attributed the deaths to a massive overdose of marijuana and
dismissed the crews tale as optical illusion, in the first of many suspicious
official fumbles. Ives compelled a series of investigations that began
promisingly yet were inexplicably stifled by such malign forces as the states
notoriously incompetent medical examiner (protected by then-Governor Clinton)
and an admired local prosecutor who championed her cause as camouflage for
his own criminal activities. As years passed, and more unsolved killings
occurred, Ives assembled evidence that the boys had stumbled upon a diffuse
conspiracy involving CIA-backed air suppliers to the Contras, who ran an
enormous cocaine-trafficking operation from a remote airport. Fanciful as
this may sound, Leveritt documents how Ivess quest for transparency was
consistently stymied, first by local agencies, then the state police, finally
by the FBI. A portrait emerges of state governance as a deeply corrupted
good-ol'-boy network, funded by drug money and protected by blackmail and
violence. Leveritts prose is less than taut, and she too often indulges in
repetitive emotional rhetoric regarding the Iveses loss. That said, her
investigatory efforts seem impeccable; little within this page-turner reads
as implausible conspiracy theory. Unlike many works that have dug for the
dirt of the Clinton gubernatorial era, this is an authentically shocking,
deeply unsettling portrait of contemporary American power backstopped by
arrogance and callous greedand of the drug war as a weapon of social control
from which insiders enjoy impunity. One hopes for sufficient outrage garnered
to substitute for justice denied; also, for an inevitable movie adaptation
that wont dilute the storys uglier civic dimensions. -- Copyright ©1999,
Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Linda Ives - Central character of the The Boys on the Tracks
The true and complete story In August 1987, the body of my 17-year-old son,
Kevin, who had been murdered, was left on a railroad track near our home to
be dismembered by an oncoming train. His best friend, also murdered, was
placed on the track beside him. The mutilation was a savage attempt to
destroy evidence of the murders. Other futile attempts to thwart an
investigation quickly followed--first in our county, then in our state, and
finally during federal investigations. Even now, twelve years later, the FBI
refuses to open its files on this case. Many news outlets over the years,
including Dateline, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times Magazine,
have run stories on the murders. But until now, there has been no
comprehensive, definitive book. The Boys on the Tracks, by Mara Leveritt will
be released by St. Martin's Press on November 1. It is the true and complete
story of how my son died and how law enforcement at every level did its best
to sabotage justice. Mara is one of Arkansas's most highly respected
journalists, a reporter who has devoted her career to investigating criminal
justice issues. When she told me she wanted to write this book I gave her my
unreserved cooperation, opened my files to her, and welcomed her interviews.
Having followed her work for quite some time, I knew that her reporting would
be accurate and her writing would be vigorous. I have read the book. I am
well pleased. If you have followed the story of son's murder, read The Boys
on the Tracks. It will fill in every detail you might have missed. If you
know nothing about this case, read The Boys on the Tracks. It is a complete
telling of the tale. And if you've doubted, even for a second, the rationale
behind our country's "war on drugs," read The Boys on the Tracks. And see how
the war has been on us.
Devon Cockrell at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I enjoyed this book immensely. As a student of Arkansas politics, it opened
my eyes to goings on that I was completely unaware of. Mara Leveritt showed
great bravery in taking on the challenge of writing about a subject that many
people wanted to forget. An excellent book, well written, clearly stated.
Book Description
The Boys on the Tracks is the story of a parent's worst nightmare, a quiet
woman's confrontation with a world of murder, drugs, and corruption, where
legitimate authority is mocked and the public trust is trampled. It is an
intensely personal story and a story of national importance. It is a tale of
multiple murders and of justice repeatedly denied. The death of a child is
bad enough. To learn that the child was murdered is worse. But few tragedies
compare with the story of Linda Ives, whose teenage son and his friend were
found mysteriously run over by a train. In the months that followed, Ives's
world darkened even more as she gradually came to understand that the very
officials she turned to for help could not, or would not, solve the murders.
The story of betrayal begins locally but quickly expands. Exposing a web of
silence and complicity in which drugs, politics, and murder converge, The
Boys on the Tracks is a horrifying story from first page to last, and its
most frightening aspect is that all of this story is true. Mara Leveritt has
covered this story since it first broke back in 1987. Her approach is one of
scrupulous reporting and lively narrative. She weaves profiles and events
into a smooth and chilling whole, one that leads the readers to confront,
along with Linda Ives, the events' profoundly disturbing implications. A
powerful story reminiscent or A Civil Action and Not Without My Daughter; The
Boys on the Tracks is destined to become one of the most powerful works
published in 1999.
>From the Author , October 17, 1999
Federal secrecy surrounds two unsolved Arkansas murders.
The story of the two Arkansas teenagers who were murdered in 1987 and left to
be run over by a train has gained international notoriety. Groups opposed to
President Clinton publicized it in efforts to link him to the crime. The
White House responded by dismissing even serious accounts of the story as
"nutcase material." As a veteran reporter in Arkansas with first-hand
information on the case, I was amazed by the inaccuracies being spread by
partisans on all sides of the mystery. I wrote this book to set the record
straight--and because the truth of what happened here is more remarkable, and
more frightening, than any political spin. These events would be serious
enough if they were confined to Arkansas. But they are not. For reasons that
have never been explained, the FBI involved itself in this case and, even
now, twelve years after the murders, the agency will not release its files.
Nor will it release sensitive records relating to a concurrent crime which
may be related smuggle billions of dollars worth of cocaine into the United
States. For more than a decade the mother of one the murdered boys has been
treatment? This book describes in chilling detail just how extraordinary that
treatment has been.
Excerpted from The Boys on the Tracks by Mara Leveritt. Copyright © 1999.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
By all accounts, the engineer did a masterful job of bringing his train to a
stop. It had taken a screaming, screeching half mile. By the time the engine
shuddered to a standstill, Conductor Jerry Tomlin was on the radio notifying
an approaching train on a parallel track to stop because some boys had been
run over. He also called the dispatcher. "Have you got injuries?" the
dispatcher asked. "No," Tomlin said. "We've got death. I'm sure we've got
death. They passed under us. It has to be death."
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Complete account of incredible corruption in AK; too long, April 26, 2000
Reviewer: Sanford A. Felton (see more about me) from southern Oregon, USA
Many people are familiar with the story of the boys on tracks, first featured
nationally on TV and then in the very anti-Clinton "Clinton Chronicles"
video, which, despite some apparent inaccuracies, still contains a great deal
of truth, and changed my own view of political corruption forever. The book
"The Boys On The Tracks" is the real story of what happened in Arkansas, and
is endorsed by Linda Ives, the mother of one of the boys who was killed and
placed on the railroad tracks on that fateful night in August, 1987. Mrs.
Ives is the central character in this book. The reader is presented with not
only the entire story of the unfathomable corruption, but much of this
incredibly detailed story is as if from Ives' diaries, written or mental.
The author, Mara Leveritt, takes the reader from the time the two boys are
killed, through the complete story of what Ives goes through to try to find
out the truth (and she still hasn't found the truth about what happened that
night). First, we encounter the unbelievable and outrageous behavior and
incompetence of the Arkansas State coroner, Famy Malek, who is protected
countless times by top state officials despite absolutely false
determinations he makes. Malek rules the boys deaths suicides from drug
intoxication, and it takes the Ives family a long time to prove this false
due to lack of cooperation from Arkansas officials. Only this is just the
beginning of the obstructions of justice the Ives face.
Then we see that, at least in part, practically the entire state of
Arkansas's legal and law enforcement agencies are rampant with corruption, to
the point that felons hold high-level positions in government and law
enforcement. Clearly these state officials will go to any length to prevent
the truth of the boys's deaths from being revealed. A very prominent figure
in this aspect of the story is Dan Harmon, a county prosecuting attorney.
Harmon brutally beats people up, incl. his wives and ex-wives, and even
steals confiscated drugs, and yet is held completely unaccountable for his
actions and is returned to office again and again. Harmon is eventually and
surprisingly convicted of certain offenses, but any crimes related to events
around the time of the boys's deaths are deliberately ignored. Oddly enough,
though not at all surprising once you read the unbelievable things revealed
over and over in this book, Harmon is initially depicted as an ally of Linda
Ives!
Of course the biggest, most outrageous part of this story is the cover-up of
large-scale drug smuggling done through the Mena Airport, incl. the Barry
Seal story, which is never dealt with by Arkansas officials. The details of
this horror story are so phenomenal that you have to wonder how the people
involved in these crimes can take part in such corruption and hypocrisy, and
do their misdeeds with such impunity!
If you want the complete story, this is undoubtedly the book to read. If you
don't have time to read this very well-written, 300+ page book, see "The
Clinton Chronicles" and the more accurate (according to the participants)
"Obstruction of Justice" videos.
Was this review helpful to you?
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Put this book in the hands of every American, February 23, 2000
Reviewer: Mario Calabrese (see more about me) from New York
This is, in my view, the best full account of the "Train deaths" I have seen
yet.
This story and the events surrounding the Mena airport in Arkansas are
unknown to most Americans, due to narrow-minded journalists and partisan
political hacks on both sides.
This story and the whole story of Mena is very real, and will haunt America
for years to come.
It is a true story of a parents worst nightmare. And a nightmare for the
nation that few are aware of--our government and system of justice has become
corrupt and lawless.
I would deeply recommend this book for anyone who is interested in getting
the word out about Mena and the "Train Deaths" and who is interested in
helping reclaim our system of justice to prevent it from failing our children
again.
Was this review helpful to you?
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
"The Boys on the Tracks" - Reality in Arkansas, January 5, 2000
Reviewer: Lorri Davis from Arkansas
Readers outside of Arkansas might have a hard time believing that the events
this book describes actually happened. Unfortunately, they did, as those of
us who live here know. Although Leveritt works for a competing paper, the
statewide Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reviewed "The Boys on the Tracks" at
length. The review did not challenge any of the author's facts. Rather, it
said the account was "eye-opening" and described the book as "staightforward,
engaging and extensively researched." The review also said the book "reads
like a psychological thriller," and that it "lures you in and holds you
hostage." I pass this on so that readers who are not familiar with the
caliber of Leveritt's reporting will feel confident about ordering the book.
You won't be disappointed.
Was this review helpful to you?
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Mara provides more pieces to the CIA/Cocaine puzzle, December 27, 1999
Reviewer: Darryl Phillips (see more about me) from Eastern Oklahoma
This is an excellent book for everyone raising kids in today's society,
everyone interested in the inner workings of law enforcement, and everyone
interested in the "War On Drugs".
Fiction writers have it easy, they can limit their cast of characters. In
real life, Mara Leveritt, Gary Webb, Terry Reed, and the others who have
explored the CIA/cocaine connection found it's not so easy. The cast of
characters is immense, many of their names are confusing, but real life is
like that. (As you read the various authors, many of the same characters do
keep popping up!)
I wanted to read "Boys on the Tracks" because I was flying my personal plane
in and out of Mena during the same time period that Barry Seal and the CIA
were importing drugs. I wanted to see whether Ms Leveritt's book rang true.
It does. I have met a few of the characters and know of others. The facts in
this book accurately reflect what I have personally observed.
Unlike "The Secret Life of Bill Clinton" by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, this is
not an anti- Clinton book. Those who want to bash Willie will have to look
elsewhere. But after looking elsewhere, when you need independent
verification of what is fact versus what is only rumor, I hope you will read
this book.
Was this review helpful to you?
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Arkansas political corruption, December 14, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Chicago, Illinois
This investigative effort by journalist Leveritt is interesting, but the
conversational style can be annoying for serious nonfiction. A "cast of
characters" would have been helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A must for those who really want to know the truth!, November 29, 1999
Reviewer: Shirley Masaoka from Kentucky
Rarely do I find a book that I can't put down, but this is one. It is written
in a way that gives a lot of details, weaves many facts, while keeping the
readers interest. Where was this book when Clinton was running for President?
Was this review helpful to you?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Mara Leveritt breaks the silence, November 29, 1999
Reviewer: tony hatch from Grand Rapids, Minnesota
For years The Arkansas and the nationalk media have ignored the disturbing
facts surrounding the deaths of Don Henry and Kevin Ives. Armed with nothing
but facts and the truth, Mara Leveritt methodically the silence and exposes
the ugly side of politics that the media wont. This would a great Oliver
Stone film. 12 years and going the story never ends and the plot continues
draw intrigue among millions, yet shocking at may sound the majority of the
american dont know this horrific story! The american public must continue to
push this story into the mainstream media, and the FBI must have pressure put
on them to reopen the case by the American public.
Was this review helpful to you?
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Very comprehensive and thought-provoking, November 20, 1999
Reviewer: [EMAIL PROTECTED] from Little Rock, AR
Before the article in the Arkansas Times was released last week, I had never
heard of the case before. After I read the article, I knew I had to buy the
book. I was not disappointed. It merely re-affirmed my suspicions of a
corrupt state government, that moved on to the nation's capitol. My heart
goes out to Linda Ives and her struggle for justice. This book is
well-written, and backed up with facts. I couldn't put it down until I had
read it from start to finish. I truly hope that justice will someday prevail
in this case. I strongly recommend this book.
Was this review helpful to you?
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
A Horrible crime and the corruption that covers it up., November 18, 1999
Reviewer: Mary Ruth Snapp ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) from Colorado
>From the first paragraph to the final page I was enraptured by the prose and
how the writer made us one with the grief-stricken mother of one of the boys
who was so brutally slain. Although the events occurred in Arkansas everyone
in the country is effected by the cover-up just as we were by the Waco
bombing and the government's effort to hide the truth.I highly recommend this
as must reading for an insight into "the war on drugs".
Was this review helpful to you?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliantly written = great insight to Arkansas politics, November 6, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Little Rock, Arkansas
This book is one that the reader will not want to put down. An excellent
overview of the events that occured in this case and the fact that there is
little justice in Arkansas when high powered politicians are involved. The
average person in this country doesn't believe these things happen, but after
you read this book, the evidence is documented and plain to see.
Hopefully, someday these guilty persons will be held accountable for putting
a family, a state and country through such a horrible tragedy.
It is time the American people opened their eyes to what is really going on
in our country and to stand up against these powerful machines.
Mara did a great deal of research and documented all of her information and
wrote a book about what an ordinary family has had to endure for 12 years and
no one will listen to them and bring these people that committed and covered
up such a cruel deed to justice. The Ives deserve an answer and if anyone
knows anything about this event, they should try to put this nightmare to
rest.
Was this review helpful to you?
A truly shocking story of murder and political corruption., June 23, 1999
Reviewer: [EMAIL PROTECTED] from Arkansas, United States
I had the pleasure of reading The Boys on the Tracks in manuscript form. It
is a thrilling book. The story focuses on Linda Ives, a middle-class mother
living outside Little Rock with her family. One day, her 17-year-old son does
not come home. The reader discovers the evidence of her son's disappearance
as Linda discovers it. Her explorations become yours and her anger,
frustration, heartbreak, and joy becomes yours as well. It is journalistic
nonfiction, a true story, perfect in its awfulness, well documented, but it
reads like a novel you can't put down. This book will give you a bang-up
story and a look at politics you don't find in the newspapers or on CNN. It's
a treat.
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