Honor Bound ─ My Journey to Hell and Back With Amanda Knox

Accused . . . Targeted . . . Sentenced . . .Wrongfully Imprisoned.

Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox were the victims in a world-famous trial so bizarre that it defied all reason. Charged with a crime neither could fathom, let alone perpetrate, they spent four excruciating years in prison before their final acquittal. Now, for the first time since, Raffaele reveals what really happened between him and his then girlfriend before, during, and after the brutal murder of Amanda's roommate Meredith Kercher.

With startling candor, Raffaele shares intimate details about his changing relationship with Amanda as their giddy romance turned into endless harrowing interrogations. As Amanda’s only solid alibi, Raffaele came under unrelenting pressure—from his own family and lawyers as much as the police and prosecution—to change his testimony. Doing so might have saved him, but would almost certainly have condemned Amanda to a lifetime in jail. He refused.

Sifting through the wild accusations depicting him as a druggie, a porn addict, and reckless thrill seeker, Raffaele shows how these stories were gross distortions of trivial episodes. With unflinching honesty, he takes readers behind the scenes of the trial of the century—and inside the day-to-day hell of prison life. Finally, and poignantly, Raffaele talks about his first face-to-face reunion with Amanda following their release.

Emotional, disturbing, and ultimately galvanizing, this memoir is a riveting account of an egregious miscarriage of justice, of public condemnation, and personal survival. And, at its heart, it is a tragic love story about a young man who trusted his feelings, refused to give up hope, and ultimately triumphed.

Raffaele Sollecito was born in Southern Italy. He was a computer science student at the University of Perugia when he and Amanda Knox were first accused of murder in 2007. On October 3, 2011, after four years of trials and appeals, he and Knox were cleared and released. He is now moving on with his life.

Andrew Gumbel is a Los Angeles-based journalist and author. He spent six years in Italy, including stints as a foreign correspondent for Reuters and The Independent. His books include the widely acclaimed Oklahoma City: What The Investigation Missed—And Why It Still Matters.