Book Review: The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

From an outsider’s perspective, Jeff Hobbs meticulously crafts a haunting yet honest account of his college roommate’s life story while also managing to explain the grave societal causes for his demise. Robert Peace was not your average molecular biophysics graduate from Yale, and he certainly did not define himself by this accomplishment. Born right outside Newark, N.J., to a hard working mother named Jackie and an engaged albeit drug-dealing father called Skeet, Robert quickly became known by those close to him as a young genius — even as a toddler, his teachers referred to Rob as “the Professor” due to his great intellectual abilities. When Rob was 10 years old, two women were found dead in the same apartment building in which Skeet lived. Poor evidence linked Rob’s beloved father to the scene of the crime; he was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.