Numb - is this a hoax?

George White

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/ghost-writer-denies-memoir-of-war-correspondent-is-fiction-1.2171576

It sounds very fishy.

DoctorBoo

It really doesn't sound convincing. If you just look at the timeline (approached to write the book in October 2014, published in February 2015), it's not realistic. There was 30 years of diaries to review - five months would barely be enough to properly review them, nevermind write a book based on them.

NIMAN

Sounds like a fake, but no such thing as bad publicity, and it'll probably sell loads.

Arsemageddon

I think this is nothing but a hoax, and a very poorly researched and executed one at that.

As mentioned in the Irish Times article there is nothing in the Sutton Index that describes a torture death in Norn Iron in 1981 as described.
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1981.html

The use of a pseudonym for the nutter journalist fella is just daft. You can't libel a dead man, that's why all the stuff about Jimmy Saville only became public after he died.
http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2011/01/can-you-be-sued-for-libeling-dead-john.html

The ghost-writer fellas website can be best described as a load of b0ll0cks.
http://www.louislaroc.com/

This all sounds a bit like that book High Society that came out a few year back in which some silly mare claimed that she had interviewed a government minister, a nun, an airline pilot and a few others who were all permanently gee-eyed on coke. It led to questions being asked in the Dail and when pressure was put on the author to hand over her interview notes she claimed she had already destroyed them. Handy that.

I have to say I do have a certain regard for a well executed hoax, this just isn't one.

DoctorBoo

Actually, I don't think you've correctly identified the ghost writer there. He is Irish, from Cork I think.

Yes, I did think it was peculiar that the ghost writer insisted on remaining anonymous, and then went on national radio to publicize the book!

Another thing that didn't tally was his motivation for publishing the book. He couldn't come up with a reason why people should read it. I think he mumbled something about how important it is to realise there are psychopaths in our midst....

George White

The Irish Times podcast is bizarre. He essentially admits to fictionalising it, ie saying that Buckby decided to cover NI by being intrigued by Gerry Adams being overdubbed, which only started in 1988, and not 1980 as Buckby claims. La Roc says he did this to cover up the real Buckby, but why...

Arsemageddon

DoctorBoo wrote: »

Actually, I don't think you've correctly identified the ghost writer there. He is Irish, from Cork I think.

My mistake, I added the wrong link in my earlier post. The correct one is up now.

echo beach

I heard him on Moncrieffe, who took him at face value, and it sounded like an amazing story but there was a lot didn't add up.
He couldn't explain why the widow wanted these diaries published. Every woman's first instinct is to protect her children, not to let them find out this sort of stuff about their father.
If she did want it published for whatever reason why would she approach a celebrity ghostwriter? She must know dozens of journalists.
There was a claim that he used an Irish passport and a British one in different names to double cross the IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries, while not coming to the attention of British intelligence. Nothing in the history of the troubles suggests that any side would be that easily fooled.
While celebrities don't want their ghostwriter identified a real ghost (i.e. a dead man) shouldn't care so why the need for a pseudonym?

Mr.Nice Guy

I saw this discussed on The Guardian. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2015/apr/10/british-journalist-was-serial-killer-says-book-but-can-it-be-true

If you read the comments section one of the contributors called 'DingDongDenny' claims to have it sussed that it's a hoax.

DoctorBoo

I presume Liberties Press will have to make some sort of statement about the case tomorrow? I wonder if they will have to pull the book from sale because of the doubt around the veracity of the author's claims? What is the legal position, I wonder?

mzungu

Looks like BS has been called on this one.

No surprise really. This is from todays Irish Times.

The “memoir” of a British war correspondent who purportedly committed rape, murder and other crimes before dying last year was initially written several years ago as a novel, it has emerged.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/numb-war-journalist-memoir-originally-written-as-novel-1.2181315

DoctorBoo

No surprise there then... But how can the publishers stand over the book now?!