Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice [Paperback]

Maureen Faulkner (Author), Michael A. Smerconish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2009

The hardcover bestseller—now in paperback!

*

Featured on The Today Show, The O’Reilly Factor, and The Glenn Beck Program

 

Here, from Maureen Faulkner and Michael Smerconish, is a new, paperback edition of the recent best-selling book that definitively laid out the case against Mumia Abu-Jamal—the onetime Black Panther sentenced to death for shooting Maureen’s husband, Philadelphia police office Danny Faulkner, on a December night in 1981. The subject of a “Free Mumia” international anti–death penalty movement with celebrities leading the charge, Abu-Jamal published books, delivered radio commentaries and commencement addresses, and was named an Honorary Citizen of France. Updated in light of the latest court decisions, Murdered by Mumia weaves a compelling, never-before-told account of one fateful night and the twenty-seven-year-long rewriting of history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this moving if ultimately unsuccessful memoir, Faulkner continues her fight for the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the man convicted for the 1981 killing of her husband, police officer Danny Faulkner. On the strength of eyewitness testimony, ballistics tests and his own confession at the hospital following the shooting, former Black Panther Abu-Jamal was convicted in 1982 of first-degree murder and has spent 25 years on death row in Pennsylvania. Faulkner details not only her struggle to come to terms with losing her husband at age 25 but also her attempts to counteract the support Abu-Jamal's claim of racial injustice has generated in left-wing circles across the United States and abroad. Faulkner is a staunch defender of the death penalty, especially in cases involving police casualties. She traces Abu-Jamal's numerous appeals, including the latest, currently in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, over whether or not a Pennsylvania judge's overturning of the death sentence is grounds for a retrial. Though Faulkner's determined struggle is compelling, her memoir (co-authored by Smerconish, a lawyer and Philadelphia columnist and radio host, and an advisor to Faulkner) awkwardly attempts to combine personal reflections with an examination of the case's legal and political details. This muddled account unfortunately doesn't do justice to an issue that deserves a close look.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“This is a harrowing book, told with uncommon grace and dignity. Maureen Faulkner is an incredible woman. The story she tells, of being denied for more than a quarter century the dignity of burying her police officer husband in peace, is even more incredible.”

Buzz Bissinger  - Author of Friday Night Lights

"The Bible teaches that the truth will set us free, but Michael Smerconish and Maureen Faulkner teach us that even a powerful truth needs courage as its ally."
Chris Matthews - Host of Hardball with Chris Matthews and The Chris Matthews Show 

“Maureen Faulkner is a genuine American heroine.  While influential people garner cheap headlines with stories of false injustice, Maureen Faulkner fights behind the scenes and in public to preserve the good name of her husband.  This is a real justice story!”
John Timoney, Miami Chief of Police

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599215586
• ISBN-13: 978-1599215587
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,222,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time, December 6, 2007

By 

Tony (Delaware, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice (Hardcover)

After years of one-sided diatribes from Wesley Cook's apologists and the agenda-driven bias of the anti-death penalty left, it is good to finally see the victim's side of the story told.

"Murdered by Mumia" is a well-written recounting of the cold-blooded murder of Philadelphia police officer Danny Faulkner at the hands of social activist and self-styled journalist Wesley Cook, aka Mumia Abu-Jamal. It is also a very poignant look at the people Faulkner left behind, particularly his young wife, Maureen, and her struggle to see justice, so long delayed, finally done.

It's odd how Wesley Cook, whose guilt is undeniable to anyone who has followed this case closely and actually read the various court transcripts, has somehow become the poster boy for the anti-death penalty crowd. One can only hope that this book will help to acquaint the objective reader with the actual victim in this case, Danny Faulkner.

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please Read This, December 7, 2007

By 

L. Hoffman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice (Hardcover)

I suggest that anyone - especially reviewers and interviewers - actually read this book before writing about "not knowing what actually happened" on the night Officer Danny Faulkner was murdered. Also a must read for every one of the Hollywood supporters listed in the book. The facts are here. Please read this.

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Victim Speaks, December 7, 2007

By 

Mike from N.H. "Mike" (Woodsville NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice (Hardcover)

One of the critics of this book wrote that this was "almost as if the book was the closing statement of a trial." That's actually pretty true, and why not? Mumia had his day in court many times over, and he has repeatedly lost. He murdered Mr. Faulkner, that is already established fact. Why should the widow attempt to prove something that has already been proven? What a horrible thing Mrs. Faulkner has been forced to endure. What will these people (Mumia's supporters) do for an encore, help Sudanese clerics whip women? You would think they'd have better ways to spend their time.