The devil you know
The debut book from Pamela Colloff, a Texas-based investigative reporter for ProPublica and staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, complicates romantic notions of the scam artist and invites readers to reflect on the systems that enable them.
Pamela Colloff's debut book, "Catch the Devil," challenges romanticized notions of con men by focusing on Paul Skalnik, a serial con man, thief, child molester, and jailhouse informant. Skalnik, operating in Texas and Florida during the 1970s and '80s, employed various grifts such as cheques, cars, jewelry, legal services, and even cancer diagnoses to defraud victims.
Despite his cunning, Colloff emphasizes that Skalnik's danger stemmed from the systems that enabled his lies, rather than his intelligence. Colloff's book also introduces Jim Dailey, a Vietnam War veteran who becomes entangled in Skalnik's web of deception, ultimately leading to an unjust death sentence. Through extensive research and interviews, Colloff exposes systemic issues like prosecutorial misconduct, mass incarceration, capital punishment, and jury biases.
The narrative underscores the irony of "tough on crime" politics, highlighting the fragile nature of justice systems.
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