Latest reviews of RESTITUTIO

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful book 29 Sep 2014

By P Mitchell - See all my reviews

Thank you. Thank you! A truly inspirational book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended. 30 Sep 2014

By Nicole Merwitz

Another great read from the series - lots of important questions raised that leave you thinking about them long after you've finished reading.

Get yours here.

Latest Review of RESTITUTIO

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely balanced, moving and utterly thought provoking. A ... 25 Sep 2014

By Claire

Extremely balanced , moving and utterly thought provoking. A more philosophical narrative than Revelations which I read before this, yet still punctuated with harsh realities by Nick Van Der Leek and Laurie Pieters-James and commentary by Juror 13. An utterly compelling read that should make us all question the society in which we live and also question ourselves.

More here.

RESTITUTIO is Oscar Trial eBook #5. So...what's it all about?

The Short Version and the Long Version:

1. Short Description via Juror13:

"This book is not about sheer entertainment.  It's really about reflection, and moving forward. I think anyone who reads this book is going to stop and think about how this ties into their own life."

2. Long Description (via Amazon):

RESTITUTIO was published on 19 September 2014, exactly 7 days after Judge Thokozile Masipa pronounced her controversial verdict; Oscar Pistorius not guilty on the charge of murdering Reeva Steenkamp in his home on Valentine's Day 2013. On the same day RESTITUTIO was published, the South African Police announced the latest crime statistics: 

17 068 people were murdered in South Africa over the past year. That’s 47 people per day; 800 more than the previous year. Reeva Steenkamp, however, will not be counted among those numbers. 

The question RESTITUTIO asks is: 'why not?’ And ‘where to from here’? 
South African freelance photojournalist, Nick van der Leek, and forensic profiler and criminologist, Laurie Pieters-James, have teamed up for the first time to interrogate the subterranea behind the Oscar trial. Additional insights via the popular American analyst Juror13 provide international perspectives to the story. In sum, a trio of analysts means a singular narrative reinforced into an even more powerful, and thoroughly-considered story. 

RESTITUTIO takes the reader on a journey through intellectual rivers and deserts, mountains and storms, until finally a guiding metaphor emerges...and presents us with an Abyss. Whether we float over it or plunge into it depends on how we respond to our own (individual and societal) 'wrongness'. Can we even acknowledge 'Being Wrong'? 

The RESTITUTIO narrative seeks answers on this very central question and then probes an even darker mythos...our prospects for Ernest Becker’s brutal questions on the human condition. Is there an escape from evil for us? And from death (by crime in South Africa, for example)? Is there a way for us to find our way back to real reconciliation and true legitimacy? 

The authors interrogate these questions using the Oscar Trial as a taking-off point. 

Highlights of RESTITUTIO include stories by: 

1. Sonja Raath. The last journalist to interview Reeva Steenkamp, writes candidly about her thoughts, feelings and firsthand experience when she met the couple at the Virgin Active Sports Awards, and her interactions with Reeva afterwards. 

2. Criminologist and analyst for CNN, Laurie Pieters-James. Pieters-James, co-writer of Shattered Lives (the story of Dirk Prinsloo and Advocate Barbie) describes her impressions of Hilton Botha, who she had the opportunity to converse with during the bail hearings, which she attended in person. Pieters-James also provides insight into the (often disturbed) psyches of the fanatic Oscar followers, better known as the Pistorians. 

3. Juror13. Over the past year and a half, South Africans have been in mourning, along with the grieving Steenkamp family. Has justice been done? Disappointment in the spring of 2014 is widespread following the verdict. US-based courtroom analyst and blogger, Juror13 interrogates the grief that societies suffer in the wake of such verdicts. Juror13 also describes her personal experiences of 9/11 and the Newtown Elementary school shooting in Connecticut. How can a nation move forward after such abominations? 

4. Nick van der Leek. The author provides more poignant insights and analysis into the Oscar trial, into its ironies (the victim’s family being less emotional than the accused throughout), but also draws the reader further, far further than REVELATIONS, on a journey to the Existential Abyss...and beyond. 

To order your copy go to this link.

If you don't have a Kindle, read this.
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Latest Review of #Revelations: "Read this to the end!"

Once again, the author has provided a well researched, compelling read! He develops further themes around the Oscar trial, such as crime in South Africa (sharing some very personal accounts) and our own validation of our place in this world. Not only that, he also highlights some of the unanswered questions surrounding the trial, such as: what was Reeva consoling Oscar about on the day? Whose jeans were lying outside the bathroom window? Did Oscar call an ambulance, and if not, who did? The author doesn't beat around the bush, and writes in a very frank way to address a number of white elephants in the room. As mentioned in a previous review of this book, some might interpret this as 'disabilist', but I don't think that was the intention. This is a literary tool used to demonstrate a point.

Keep going to the end...the author has also provided a potential alternative account of the events which took place in the early hours of that bloody valentine's day. He acknowledges that this is speculation, but it does make you think...

More here.

Note: RESTITUTIO will be released on 18 September on Amazon. Remember you don't need a Kindle to read an eBook, you simply need to download the free app.