The Price of Silence

Starred review from February 24, 2014
Top-notch investigative journalism defines this examination of “one of the most improbable legal sagas in American history,” by journalist Cohan (Money and Power). According to Cohan, the 2006 indictment of three of the university’s lacrosse players on charges of sexual assault “served as a lightning rod... for complex issues of race, sex, violence, privilege and elitism that had been simmering at Duke for decades.” Cohan’s meticulous account utilizes commentary, court records, and interviews to tell a story of “legal hijinks and media histrionics” and their devastating results. With chilling clarity, Cohan traces how public opinion, initially buoyed by negative media reports, first accused the players of maintaining a “wall of silence” and then turned against the alleged victim and the zealous Durham district attorney. Cohan perceptively plumbs the festering tensions of “racism, sexism, misogyny, alcohol culture, paternalism, economic exploitation, athlete impunity” and perceptions of Duke’s “entitlement and privilege.” What emerges is not just an edge-of-your-seat courtroom drama and a cautionary tale, but also an illuminating fable about the power of status, talent, authority, and belief. Throughout, Cohan’s spare prose and objective tone cast his subjects in a humane light, even when their behavior is stunning. This weighty tome will no doubt prove the definitive account of the case. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary Agency.

April 1, 2014

Acclaimed investigative journalist Cohan (Money and Power; House of Cards) turns from his previous focus on Wall Street to the 2006 Duke Lacrosse Scandal, when an event within the alcohol-fueled campus party culture led to charges of rape and a lengthy legal process. Cohan tells the complex story, drawing on public records and interviews, to portray the sports players and the three indicted students, the police investigators, the expert defense team, the academic leadership, and the district attorney who generated a media storm over the case until it was dismissed and he was disbarred. With both detail and clarity, the author engages the reader in the paradox of the emergence of Duke as a nationally ranked university where scholastic excellence vied against a "party hard" social scene. The book articulates the initial response that the case pitted "rich, arrogant, white" athletes against "poor, oppressed, blacks" and the nationwide concern that the accusations of sexual assault reflected unease about "decades of perceived racial, social and economic injustice in America." VERDICT This excellent presentation of media-generated hysteria over a criminal investigation offers insights into police work, prosecutorial excess, and an extensive and expensive legal defense, set in a North Carolina city where the wealthy university was neighbor to an economically stressed black community and seemed to echo national tensions.--Elizabeth Hayford, formerly with Associated Coll. of the Midwest, Evanston, IL

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2014
In 2006, when members of the Duke lacrosse team were accused of raping a stripper hired to entertain at a party, the case shone a harsh light on growing concerns about the blurred line between athletics and academics. The relationship between sports and the academic side of college life has long been troubled, with student athletes often exempted from attending classes and their bad behavior routinely overlooked. The Duke case was complicated by the fact that the alleged victim was a black woman and her alleged attackers were privileged young white men. The case had all the elements of controversyrace, sex, tensions between town and gown, and the larger issue of how universities balance the corrupting influences of the prominence and profitability of their sports programs. Cohan (House of Cards, 2009) explores the social dynamics that clouded every aspect of the case. Drawing on interviews and official records, Cohan details the events of the night and the growing turmoil on campus as news of the alleged crime spread, setting in motion the university's machinery to protect its reputation. Cohan explores the usual disconnects that occur in high-profile crime cases between what is reported by the press, chronicled in official records, and perceived as public opinion and what really happened. A gripping account of a sensational case.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)