Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius

John Carlin

Atlantic Books. R209

Matthew Syed in The Times judged Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius by John Carlin ‘superb’, its strength being that ‘it weaves many disparate strands into a humane and sensitive overview of a case that shocked the world. Alternating in consecutive chapters between the drama of the court proceedings and the backstory of Pistorius’ life, the book examines the social context, the role of the media and the many ironies of our celebrity culture … The detail is fascinating.’ Carlin is ‘not unsympathetic to the findings of the judge’. Justice Malala pointed out in the Sunday Times that the author ‘is a highly respected former foreign correspondent in South Africa, who has already written the book that became the 2009 film Invictus’. His book is ‘unavoidably dull’ when it recounts the trial day by day, but ‘Where the court reporting does come alive is when Pistorius takes the stand and is subjected to cross-examination. Here, it reads like a taut courtroom drama.’ Harriet Alexander, who reported on the trial for the Daily Telegraph, concluded in her review that it was ‘an accomplished retelling of the Pistorius tale – albeit without any huge revelations’.