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Title details for Shake the Devil Off by Ethan Brown - Available

Shake the Devil Off

A True Story of the Murder That Rocked New Orleans

by Ethan Brown
James Avery
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
From the war in Iraq to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this nonfiction account presents a stirring condemnation of America' s failure to adequately address PTSD among its soldiers.

After years of military service— including a harrowing stint in Iraq— Zackery Bowen returned to New Orleans to tend bar and deliver groceries. In the weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit, he met Addie Hall, a pretty and high-spirited bartender. Their improvised, hard-partying during and after the storm represented what so many want to believe is the indomitable spirit of New Orleans. But in October 2006, Bowen leaped from the rooftop bar of a French Quarter hotel. A note in his pocket directed the police to the body of Addie— and to one of the most gruesome crimes in New Orleans' history. How had this popular, handsome father of two done this horrible thing?

In Shake the Devil Off, Ethan Brown presents a haunting depiction of a town still reeling from natural and political disaster. Brown overlays this with the graphic story of what happened to Zackery Bowen, leading to themes that are still getting front-page attention— the brutality of war, and the failure of government to deal with PTSD and suicide among returning veterans.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 1, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781607471332
      • File size: 234610 KB
      • Duration: 08:08:46

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from June 1, 2009
      On October 17, 2006, 28-year-old Iraq war veteran Zackery Bowen leapt to his death from a New Orleans hotel roof, leaving a suicide note directing police to the dismembered body of his girlfriend, Addie Hall. In journalist Brown’s (Snitch
      ) account of Bowen’s life, the deterioration of the vet suffering from PTSD parallels that of Katrina-whipped New Orleans, its residents left as stranded as unsupported veterans like Bowen. A high school dropout, New Orleans bartender and a father at age 18, Bowen was determined to improve himself and do well by his child and Lana, his wife, and enlisted in the army, serving as an MP in Kosovo and Iraq. Granted what Brown says was an unfair general (under honorable conditions) discharge, Bowen returned to New Orleans in late 2004, where, abandoned by Lana, he began a turbulent relationship with Hall, culminating in Bowen methodically dismembering and cooking her remains. After covering the murder-suicide for Penthouse
      in 2007, Brown moved to New Orleans, and his detailed reconstruction of both Bowen’s life and the city’s deterioration make heartbreaking reading. Perhaps most poignant is the message painted on Bowen’s apartment wall: “please help me stop the pain.” 14 b&w photos.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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