Hellhound on His Trail

The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin

By: Hampton Sides

Narrated by: Hampton Sides

Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

From the acclaimed best-selling author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder, a taut, intense narrative about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the largest manhunt in American history.

On April 23, 1967, Prisoner #416J, an inmate at the notorious Missouri State Penitentiary, escaped in a breadbox. Fashioning himself Eric Galt, this nondescript thief and con man - whose real name was James Earl Ray - drifted through the South, into Mexico, and then Los Angeles, where he was galvanized by George Wallace's racist presidential campaign.

On February 1, 1968, two Memphis garbage men were crushed to death in their hydraulic truck, provoking the exclusively African American workforce to go on strike. Hoping to resuscitate his faltering crusade, King joined the sanitation workers cause, but their march down Beale Street, the historic avenue of the blues, turned violent. Humiliated, King fatefully vowed to return to Memphis in April.

With relentless storytelling drive, Sides follows Galt and King as they crisscross the country, one stalking the other, until the crushing moment at the Lorraine Motel when the drifter catches up with his prey.

Against the backdrop of the resulting nationwide riots and the pathos of Kings funeral, Sides gives us a riveting cross-cut narrative of the assassins flight and the 65-day search that led investigators to Canada, Portugal, and England - a massive manhunt ironically led by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.

Magnificent in scope, drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished material, this nonfiction thriller illuminates one of the darkest hours in American life - an example of how history is so often a matter of the petty bringing down the great.

©2010 Hampton Sides (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"Sides's storytelling packs a visceral punch, and in Hellhound on His Trail, he crafts an authoritative and riveting account of two intersecting lives that altered the course of American history." (Amazon.com review)

I have thoroughly enjoyed every one of Hampton Sides’ books

If you enjoyed this one, try “In the Kingdom of Ice”. You’ll love it too!

Great detail, historically honest

There's so much more to this story than I knew before. Sides has done a great service researching the minute detail of the weapons, places and people while the witnesses are still alive.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to know the whole story of the end of Martin Luther King's too short life.
I only wish the author who was so dedicated to the facts had spent more time trying to get into James Earl Ray's head and assessing motivation.
Great read. Don't pass this one up.

Very Good

I usually don't like a history book, but this was well written and well narrated. Good Listen.

Who Knew

This book should have been written years ago. I am a pretty astute history buff and thought I knew this story... but, honestly, I was surprised at how little I knew. The authors pace was fantastic and he did a good job of narrating his own book... which is usually a disaster. I highly recommend.

Got my Attention!

True crime at its best! Hapton Sides delivered again. Who knew Jesse Jackson was such a snake. History doesn't lie Jesse!

What you thought you knew.

This is a fascinating story. It calibrates you on what you thought you knew...what you thought you lived through. It's a personality study, a police story, a story of a hero and a hellhound. This is a must read.

Tragic but spellbinding history.

This book is a spellbinder! Most everyone born before about 1957 will remember the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But beyond remembering the name of the assassin, James Earl Ray, hardly anyone will remember the details. Author Hampton Sides has solved that problem with the award-winning "Hellhound on His Trail". This is truly a gripping story. Sides weaves the story of Dr. King and Ray in the months leading to the horrific act, as their path fatefully converge. Then the painstaking police work begins as the FBI brings its enormous power to bear to find the mysterious killer. This is an extremely well written true crime story and highly recommended!
This is the fourth book by Hampton Sides that I've read ("In The Kingdom of Ice", "Blood and Thunder", and "Ghost Soldiers" being the others.) All have been 5 star; Sides is one of my very favorite non-fiction authors. He is a gifted writer, you cannot go wrong with one of his books. I listened to the Audible version as read by the author. Its very well presented.

Great listen, compelling history

This is a excellent book -- made even better by the author's narration (a claim I almost never make). The story is compelling and will hold your attention until the end. Even though I am familiar with the history of this period, I learned a great deal about the MLK assassination and its aftermath, especially the inner workings of the assassin. Well worth the listen.

Historian with loose facts

It was a good read, but left out facts. Maybe because he wanted to limit the size of the book?? It starts out following the trail of Eric S. Galt, the murderer of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The facts are loose, but the story is accurate to a point. Read by the author. Not a Summer read, but may be worth looking at if you only know MLK by the holiday.

Important history

Well researched, very well written suspenseful narrative of important story. Entertaining and highly informative. History that more Americans should know.