Bad Kids: South African Youngsters who Rob and Kill

Bad Kids tells ten true stories of youngsters involved in serious crime, often the worst possible ending other people’s lives before their own have properly begun.

There are tales of unspeakable boys and girls who lie and steal to gain favors; students from privileged backgrounds who brutally kill a homeless man; sixteen-year-olds who murder their parents and siblings. But sometimes heroism and hope flow from Angeline Taljaard bravely sings in a musical the day after members of her immediate family have been murdered and maimed by two fifteen-year-old boys; and many people on both sides of the Atlantic still benefit from Amy Biehl’s legacy after she was stoned to death by teenagers coming from a political rally.

Chris Karsten follows the often bizarre twists and turns in the story behind the headline crime, masterfully recreating the suspense and action. He gets right inside the minds of the main characters and puts a human face to these perplexing crimes. As a journalist he was directly involved with many of the events recounted in this collection. “Like a series of still photographs, they place you in the centre of the dramatic events of which the outcomes were still unclear at the time.” To flesh out these often-sketchy facts, he held lengthy discussions with people who were intimately involved with the survivors, next of kin, detectives, forensic specialists and psychologists.