"Asia McClain. Is that a person or a book?"
This question, from Asia McClain's boyfriend's best friend to Serial Podcast host Sarah Koenig, has finally been answered: Both.
Adnan Sayed's fate in the criminal justice system has been a topic of public interest ever since a podcast investigating his conviction for murdering ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999 hit the top spot in iTunes podcasts in 2014. In Serial's first season, Journalist Sarah Koenig explores every possible avenue to confirm or deny Adnan's guilt, but (spoiler alert) leaves the final decision up to listeners and, ultimately, the American courts.
In February of this year, Adnan Sayed's legal defense concluded a post-conviction relief hearing in which they attempted to prove Sayed's legal defense during the murder trial was ineffective. The decision on whether Sayed will receive a new trial, however, is still up in the air. A major part of the defense's claim to ineffective assistance is attorney Christina Gutierrez's failure to follow-up with possible alibi witness Asia McClain. McClain allegedly claimed to have seen Sayed in the public library at the time the prosecution claims he was committing the murder. Asia took the stand during the post-conviction relief hearing to clarify that yes, she did see him and she did, in fact, willingly write a letter to Sayed in jail saying that she remembered seeing him. Asia's cross-examination during this hearing is consistent with her statements to Koenig during Serial and in her television interview with ABC.
Story over, right? Wrong. Asia McClain is releasing a book. Of course.
It would be foolish to assume this book would contain everything the public has already heard multiple times on Serial, on television, and on numerous spin-off podcasts, right? "Confessions of a Serial Alibi" claims to tell McClain's story "for the very first time." There has to be a plot twist that McClain has in store here. Since the book isn't set to release until June 7, here are my three potential plot twist theories to hold you over:
1. The public library is actually a time machine.
2. Asia McClain is also Jay Wilds.

Jay might have lied about some stuff. But what if he also lied about some stuff so the stuff he originally lied about wouldn't be so bad? And what if he posed as Asia McClain to do it? I'm just saying I've never seen them both in the same place at once.
3. Asia didn't leave school early for her job. She left early for that killer shrimp sale at The Crab Crib.
Jokes aside, Asia McClain's book probably won't hold anything new for avid fans of the Serial saga. It seems like someone is looking to cash in on the avid cult following that the Adnan Sayed case has garnered. Will readers be shocked by this book? I'd guess not. Will I still be reading it? You bet.
























