The Rising

July 20, 2015
On July 23, 2007, Dr. William Petit‘s wife and two daughters were senselessly murdered when two armed strangers broke into their home in Cheshire, Conn. Brutally beaten and tied to a metal pole in the basement, Dr. Petit was helpless as his family was sexually assaulted and senselessly murdered. Amazingly, he managed to escape and alert a neighbor to call 911, but by then it was too late. Instead of dwelling on the salacious details of the assault or the family’s assailants (the author offers little more than a rough sketch of the men), D’Agostino, who first wrote about the Petit family murders for Esquire in 2011, chooses to focus on the attack’s aftermath and the tremendous swell of positivity and support Petit received as he attempted to recreate a life in this amazing and inspiring account. Wracked with guilt and grief, Petit was near catatonic for some time until the spontaneous creation of a foundation engineered by his friends roused him and helped him find new purpose as he slowly rebuilds his life. D’Agostino’s tender approach to his subject and story is impressive as he artfully charts Petit’s emotional thawing without resorting to cloying prose or melodrama. D’Agostino’s three-dimensional portrait of Dr. Petit and the family members he lost gives the book an additional emotional punch. Though a horrific crime provides the backdrop, this book is a remarkable account of hope, fellowship, and love in the face of tragedy. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management.

July 15, 2015
A chilling examination of the 2007 slaughter of a Connecticut family and how the sole survivor carried on. In a book expanded from a series of riveting Esquire feature articles, Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief D'Agostino narrates the story of Dr. William Petit, a prominent New England endocrinologist, and his close-knit household, which was shattered by a 2007 home invasion. In gripping, dramatic prose, the author intricately describes how two armed men stormed the Petit home, beat William, and tied him to a pole in the basement. The men robbed and then strangled his wife, assaulted both daughters, and set the house ablaze. Though wholly devastated, Petit remained a silent and bravely stoic presence throughout the ordeal's aftermath, including the ensuing bereavement services where he urged all in attendance to "go forward with the inclination to live with a faith that embodies action-help a neighbor, fight for a cause, love your family." D'Agostino effectively develops a portrait of Petit's perseverant, "quiet leader" characteristics through chapters on his early life as the community-minded son of a Depression-era grocery store proprietor. His modesty and hardworking ethic proved a winning combination while attending Dartmouth College and medical school and during his marriage to wife Jennifer, with whom he raised daughters Hayley and Michaela. As a pillar of his bedroom community, Petit's tremendous grief was buffered by friends' financial and emotional support, the healing comfort of routine, and the creation of a charitable family foundation. Old wounds reopened, however, when the killers were brought to justice in a highly publicized court case. D'Agostino's impressive narrative dexterity evokes horror for the crime's re-enactment yet also admiration for Petit's ability to later sustain a new relationship and embody the possibility of surviving "the very worst of what's possible on earth, and to go on living." True crime and human perseverance merge in this engrossing chronicle of a small-town atrocity.

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September 1, 2015

On July 23, 2007, Bill Petit's picture-perfect life was shattered. Two strangers broke into his Connecticut residence, knocked him unconscious, and left him tied up in the basement. While Petit was unconscious, the men tortured and killed his wife and two daughters and set the family home on fire. Petit barely managed to escape with his life and then had to find the strength to continue on without his loved ones. His extended family and community propped him up as he struggled with the hole in his heart left by senseless tragedy, as he was forced to endure the trials of his family's murderers in addition to dealing with horrific grief. More than a murder story, this is the account of a man who overcame the greatest of losses through the love and support of others. D'Agostino (editor in chief, Popular Mechanics; Rich Like Them) delves deeper than the Petit family murders and the trials, revealing how Petit persisted in the greatest of devastation and tried to make a life on the other side of tragedy. VERDICT Recommended for lovers of true crime and tales of human endurance.--Kristen Calvert Nelson, Marion Cty. P.L. Syst., Ocala, FL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015
What author D'Agostino so beautifully does in his true-crime book is to demonstrate and stress the notion that people are good; he wouldn't be doing this were not two people almost unimaginably bad as well. The case involves the 2007 brutal beating of husband and father Bill Petit, a doctor, and the torture and murders of his wife and two daughters in a small town in Connecticut, a case involving a nearly random attack that shocked and transfixed the nation. And also inspired good people to send money, food, and more to help Bill Petit return to a life where all he once had was brutally taken from him. The first part of the book outlines the family members' backgrounds and lives up to that day, and D'Agostino paints a tender picture of a loving group; the rest of the book shows how Bill, summoning inner courage, found the strength to carry on. Though true-crime buffs may miss the action depicted in most such books, readers seeking inspiration about the true goodness of others, especially in the aftermath of a horrific crime, will find it here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)