Perversion of Justice is a book by Julie K. Brown detailing the journalistic investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and the information contained in the news reports that were written from that investigation. The book essentially has two timelines, one that covers Epstein’s life and his crimes, and another which discusses the endeavors that Julie K. Brown went through to uncover the truth behind the Epstein story.
The strengths of Perversion of Justice are that it is easy to read and gives a fairly detailed timeline of one of the most controversial and famous criminal prosecutions of the modern era. However, the book has a lot of problems. Firstly, the side of the book which tells of Brown’s investigative process is boring, uninteresting, and full of subjective interpretations of information. Brown spends a lot of time detailing how the investigation affected her personally, which would not be a problem except that it diminishes from the Epstein story which is more important and interesting. Additionally, Brown seems more concerned with telling a story than conveying all the factual information. While I have no doubt, she is correct in her assessment of Epstein and his associates, the way in which the story is told is full of subjective details and cherry-picked evidence. Instead of this making the case against Epstein stronger, it makes it weaker as we are being told what to think and not purely given the information. In my opinion reporters should be solely concerned with telling the truth in as pure a form as possible. When reporting become mixed with entertainment it works to the detriment of the dissemination of the truth. The best way to tell the truth about a case such as Epstein’s which is so fraught with preconceptions and conspiracies is to stick to cold-hard facts and evidence. While Brown clearly did her research, she does not present the entirety of the research in the book opting to only include what she deems important.
While Perversion of Justice is an interesting book, it does not provide an in-depth factual analysis of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Those looking to be entertained will find the book engaging, but for those looking for a comprehensive factual investigation should look elsewhere.