The Unforgiven

"Save my babies!" Amanda Hamm's screams echoed in the late summer air surrounding Clinton Lake in rural Illinois.

"The Unforgiven" is the story of how what appeared to be an accident turned into a crime. But was it murder?

In this anatomy of an exceptional case that attracted national media attention, readers journey through unspeakable tragedy, small town justice and the consequences of scalding decisions that changed people's lives forever.

The story stretches well beyond the deaths of Amanda's three children to a Chicago courtroom years later where she is caught once again in the state's sticky web of justice. This time the lives of her three new children are at stake.

"The Unforgiven" offers an inside look at how the criminal justice system handled this exceptional case. The co-authors are veteran journalists with extensive first-hand knowledge of the matter and access to nearly every record related to the court proceedings. Edith Brady-Lunny covered the story from start-to-finish. Steve Vogel, who lives nearby, is author of Reasonable Doubt, a New York Times best-seller.