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He helped send an innocent man to death row—and walked free. This is the true story of America's most prolific jailhouse informant, and the man whose life he destroyed.
From two-time National Magazine Award winner Pamela Colloff comes a riveting investigative debut, praised by Patrick Radden Keefe as "incendiary, emotionally devastating... a feat of dogged reporting, bravura storytelling, and clear-eyed moral conscience."
Rent new hardcover on Trove: $12.80 - Each rental copy can be rented for 30 days. If you love the book and decide to keep it, the remaining balance applies.
Buy new hardcover on Trove: $32.00
_____________________________________
About the book:
For more than three decades, Paul Skalnik conned his way across the Gulf Coast—posing as a fighter pilot, an oilman, a defense attorney, even a dying cancer patient. Each time he got caught, he found a new identity and a new mark.
Locked up awaiting trial, Skalnik discovered his most lucrative grift yet: claiming fellow inmates had confessed their crimes to him, then selling those stories to prosecutors desperate for convictions. The state rewarded him with his freedom, again and again.
In 1985, Vietnam veteran Jim Dailey was charged in the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl, with no forensic evidence or motive tying him to the crime. Skalnik's testimony about a jailhouse "confession" helped put Dailey on death row—while Skalnik walked free.
Decades later, journalist Pamela Colloff tracked Skalnik down and asked him to recant. He refused. Catch the Devil is her mesmerizing account of a remorseless liar and the broken system that kept empowering him.
You'll love this book if:
You're drawn to true crime that exposes the cracks in our justice system, not just the crime itself
You appreciate richly reported, novelistic nonfiction in the tradition of Patrick Radden Keefe and David Grann
You want a story that will leave you both riveted and righteously furious
You're fascinated by the psychology of con artists and how they exploit institutions built on trust
You're looking for a debut author poised to become true crime's next major voice
Pre-release readers are calling it gripping, infuriating, and unforgettable:
Early readers describe Catch the Devil as a masterful narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last.
Booksellers call it a mind-boggling, unbelievable but absolutely true story that explodes the myths we tell ourselves about how justice works.
Reviewers praise Colloff's eye for how a con artist's real talent lies in telling people exactly what they want to hear—making this a story that's as compelling as it is heartbreaking.
Readers note that woven together, the fates of Skalnik and Dailey paint a damning portrait of a system more interested in winning than in truth.
About the author:
Pamela Colloff is a reporter at ProPublica and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine—a rare dual appointment created specifically for her. A two-time National Magazine Award winner and seven-time nominee, she has also received Harvard University's Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism. Her investigative reporting has previously helped overturn a wrongful conviction, and her work has been anthologized in The Best American Magazine Writing and The Best American Crime Reporting. Catch the Devil is her debut book, acquired after a heated multi-publisher auction. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and their two children.
Publisher: Knopf
Title: Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Author: Pamela Colloff
On Sale Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN 13: 9780593230862
ISBN 10: 0593230868
Format: Hardcover
Retail Price: $32.00 USD
BISAC: True Crime / Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions
Page Count: 320
Dimensions: 8.6 in H | 5.8 in W | 1.3 in T
Weight: 1 lb
He helped send an innocent man to death row—and walked free. This is the true story of America's most prolific jailhouse informant, and the man whose life he destroyed.
From two-time National Magazine Award winner Pamela Colloff comes a riveting investigative debut, praised by Patrick Radden Keefe as "incendiary, emotionally devastating... a feat of dogged reporting, bravura storytelling, and clear-eyed moral conscience."
Rent new hardcover on Trove: $12.80 - Each rental copy can be rented for 30 days. If you love the book and decide to keep it, the remaining balance applies.
Buy new hardcover on Trove: $32.00
_____________________________________
About the book:
For more than three decades, Paul Skalnik conned his way across the Gulf Coast—posing as a fighter pilot, an oilman, a defense attorney, even a dying cancer patient. Each time he got caught, he found a new identity and a new mark.
Locked up awaiting trial, Skalnik discovered his most lucrative grift yet: claiming fellow inmates had confessed their crimes to him, then selling those stories to prosecutors desperate for convictions. The state rewarded him with his freedom, again and again.
In 1985, Vietnam veteran Jim Dailey was charged in the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl, with no forensic evidence or motive tying him to the crime. Skalnik's testimony about a jailhouse "confession" helped put Dailey on death row—while Skalnik walked free.
Decades later, journalist Pamela Colloff tracked Skalnik down and asked him to recant. He refused. Catch the Devil is her mesmerizing account of a remorseless liar and the broken system that kept empowering him.
You'll love this book if:
You're drawn to true crime that exposes the cracks in our justice system, not just the crime itself
You appreciate richly reported, novelistic nonfiction in the tradition of Patrick Radden Keefe and David Grann
You want a story that will leave you both riveted and righteously furious
You're fascinated by the psychology of con artists and how they exploit institutions built on trust
You're looking for a debut author poised to become true crime's next major voice
Pre-release readers are calling it gripping, infuriating, and unforgettable:
Early readers describe Catch the Devil as a masterful narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last.
Booksellers call it a mind-boggling, unbelievable but absolutely true story that explodes the myths we tell ourselves about how justice works.
Reviewers praise Colloff's eye for how a con artist's real talent lies in telling people exactly what they want to hear—making this a story that's as compelling as it is heartbreaking.
Readers note that woven together, the fates of Skalnik and Dailey paint a damning portrait of a system more interested in winning than in truth.
About the author:
Pamela Colloff is a reporter at ProPublica and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine—a rare dual appointment created specifically for her. A two-time National Magazine Award winner and seven-time nominee, she has also received Harvard University's Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism. Her investigative reporting has previously helped overturn a wrongful conviction, and her work has been anthologized in The Best American Magazine Writing and The Best American Crime Reporting. Catch the Devil is her debut book, acquired after a heated multi-publisher auction. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and their two children.
Publisher: Knopf
Title: Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Author: Pamela Colloff
On Sale Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN 13: 9780593230862
ISBN 10: 0593230868
Format: Hardcover
Retail Price: $32.00 USD
BISAC: True Crime / Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions
Page Count: 320
Dimensions: 8.6 in H | 5.8 in W | 1.3 in T
Weight: 1 lb
