Catch the Devil
A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast

Quotes

• The New York Times “The Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Reading This Summer” • NPR “Books Our Critics Can’t Wait for This Summer” • The Boston Globe “Best Books of Summer 2026” • Town & Country “The Must Read Books of Summer 2026” • TIME “The Best New Books to Read This Summer” •

“Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood . . . is remembered for the effort he invested in getting to know the two murderers. Colloff similarly works to understand Skalnik. . . . Its unusual villain makes Catch the Devil an engrossing read; the public policy implications make it important.” —The New York Times

“Unfolding in cinematic detail, Catch the Devil offers a riveting and disturbing account of the potentially fatal consequences of a criminal legal system that is more concerned with securing convictions than determining the truth and delivering justice.” —NPR

“In her gripping first book, [Pamela] Colloff considers the case of Paul Skalnik, a fabulist, con man and predator. The book reads like a thriller but never sacrifices the humanity of the people Skalnik hurt. It’s a hell of an achievement.” —Los Angeles Times

“We can’t think of better summer reading than Colloff’s riveting account of how one criminal sold out others to keep himself on the streets.” —Town & Country

“Colloff’s painstaking, comprehensive reporting is a scathing indictment of a country where prosecutors are so often politically incentivized to get a conviction regardless of a defendant’s actual guilt.” —The Nation

“[A] spellbinding tale of a justice system derailed by biases.” —TIME

“Bracing. . . . A propulsive narrative full of memorable details.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Whether propelled by curiosity, anger, or incredulity, readers will charge through Colloff’s new book. . . . The facts are sometimes stranger than fiction, but Colloff’s literary ability turns an inherently interesting story into a deeply impactful one. . . . Underpinning the book’s nuance and complicated narrative, though, is something in too short supply among Skalnik and his state-employed enablers: a commitment to the truth.” —Texas Observer

“An expertly rendered narrative and also an infuriating one that will leave you thinking there’s deep rot at the heart of our criminal-justice system.” —Texas Monthly

“Powerful. . . . Colloff marries rigorous investigative reporting with deeply immersive, character-driven storytelling. She weaves the stories of Skalnik’s crimes with devastating accounts from his victims, many of whom are still grappling with the destruction he left in his wake.” —Columbia Journalism Review

“Pamela Colloff is one of our great chroniclers of crime and criminal justice, and in this incendiary, emotionally devastating book, she depicts a justice system turned completely inside out, in which the innocent are incarcerated and the guilty skip free. The conman at the heart of her story, Paul Skalnik, is as chilling and unrepentant as any movie villain. Catch the Devil is a feat of dogged reporting, bravura storytelling, and clear-eyed moral conscience.” —Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing and London Falling

“Pamela Colloff lights up the criminal justice system with a precision that leaves nowhere to hide. Catch the Devil is an extraordinary achievement, its narrative moving with the taut urgency of a thriller—anchored by the heart and humanity she brings to the pursuit of truth. An unforgettable masterwork from the leading voice in American crime reporting.” —Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove

“One of America’s finest journalists, Pamela Colloff, has delivered a wallop of a debut book—loaded with moral clarity and astounding detail—about one of the world’s most infernal liars, the scores of lives he destroyed, and the criminal-justice system that still, shockingly, benefits from those lies.” —Robert Kolker, author of Hidden Valley Road

“Pamela Colloff has ripped the roof off the criminal justice system with this exposé of a jailhouse snitch. You can’t read this book without a feeling of horror that one man could do so much damage; but the real shock is that he was only telling prosecutors what they wanted him to say.” —Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower

“A masterful and riveting anatomy of how a series of institutions colluded with one man’s pathology. I can’t imagine a more damning and poignant account of a criminal justice system that was, fundamentally, willing to be fooled—and the lives destroyed and transformed in that process.” —Rachel Aviv, author of Strangers to Ourselves

“You read each page of Pamela Colloff’s subtly written and stunningly reported book with a deepening sense of outrage. How could this happen? How could the justice system be so remorseless, so intractably focused on protocol and career wins at the expense of justice itself? Catch the Devil is an infuriating, illuminating, gripping narrative by one of the heroes of American journalism.” —Stephen Harrigan, author of Sorrowful Mysteries

“A mesmerizing, often enraging portrait of a man whose skill at manipulating the judicial system led to untold injustices. Told with all the care, nuance, and dazzling reportage we expect from Pamela Colloff—one of the very best in the field right now—Catch the Devil reads like a literary thriller, rich in atmosphere and lively characters, but its larger resonances give it an extraordinary depth and its timeliness during America’s current grifter era could hardly be greater.” —Megan Abbott, author of El Dorado Drive

“Pamela Colloff’s writing sits at the perfect intersection of journalism and literature. Catch the Devil is a masterwork, deeply researched and thrillingly composed.” —Michael Finkel, author of The Art Thief

“At the heart of Pamela Colloff’s impeccable, infuriating narrative sits a serial jailhouse snitch, Paul Skalnik. A monster of casual depravity, predatory instinct, and resolute amorality, Skalnik plays our criminal justice system like a fiddle, exposing an apparatus far more concerned with clearance rates than actual justice. The tragedy here lies not only in the countless miscarriages of justice in the name of it, but the countless lives obliterated in the process.” —Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River

“Vividly reported and artfully written, Colloff’s book is an enraging narrative of how one man can manipulate the criminal justice system. It’s also a joy to read thanks to her knack for storytelling and engrossing detail.” —Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief