The Ride: A Shocking Murder and a Bereaved Father's Journey from Rage to Redemption

The Ride tells the true story of one of the most gruesome crimes in recent memory—the 1997 abduction and murder of ten-year-old Massachusetts resident Jeffrey Curley—and how his father, Bob Curley, managed to heal the deep wounds of rage and emerge to become an outspoken critic of the death penalty.

In vivid, compelling prose, Boston Globe reporter Brian MacQuarrie recounts the brutal crime that shocked New England and chronicles what transpires after Jeffrey’s death, which is nearly as shocking as the crime itself. At the heart of this deeply touching story is the way Bob Curley summons the almost superhuman courage to reject the death penalty. In tracing his personal journey, The Ride presents an appealing everyman hero forced into the spotlight by unfathomable circumstances, and compelled to confront the consequences of his fury.