Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
by David Simon

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
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Book Summary Information

Author: David Simon
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-08-22
ISBN: 0805080759
Number of pages: 672
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Book Reviews of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

Book Review: Amazingly Well-written Account!
Summary: 5 Stars

I came upon this book after finishing The Wire, and like many others, I was so thoroughly impressed with that series that I wanted more...and I am happy to say I was not disappointed in the least with this book. Simon writes brilliantly and frank. Though many of the cases in the book range from compelling to heartbreaking, to hilarious and sometimes just plain unbelievable, they truly aren't what really makes this piece astounding. It's the character with which these men handle the calls and the amount of work they put in, even when there isn't necessarily a light at the end of the tunnel. I never pictured myself becoming engrossed in a 600 page homicide book, but this stands as a testament to how much life Simon gives the individuals who selflessly spend countless hours doing the impossible job of investigating wrongful deaths in a city where murder is seemingly a common occurrence. His work is so comprehensive, in fact, that I feel no journalist/writer need bother with the topic again.

Just like McLarney says in the epilogue, "It's not about the cases. The murders. I mean, you'll write about the murders so you have stuff to write about. But that's all just the [b.s.]...you're gonna write about us. About the guys. About how we act and the [stuff] we say to each other, about how pissed off we get and how funny we are sometimes and the [stuff] that goes on in the office." And you know what? He's right, and it's why this book will continue to marvel readers for generations.

Summary of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

From the creator of HBO's The Wire, the classic book about homicide investigation that became the basis for the hit television show

The scene is Baltimore. Twice every three days another citizen is shot, stabbed, or bludgeoned to death. At the center of this hurricane of crime is the city's homicide unit, a small brotherhood of hard men who fight for whatever justice is possible in a deadly world.

David Simon was the first reporter ever to gain unlimited access to a homicide unit, and this electrifying book tells the true story of a year on the violent streets of an American city. The narrative follows Donald Worden, a veteran investigator; Harry Edgerton, a black detective in a mostly white unit; and Tom Pellegrini, an earnest rookie who takes on the year's most difficult case, the brutal rape and murder of an eleven-year-old girl.

Originally published fifteen years ago, Homicide became the basis for the acclaimed television show of the same name. This new edition-which includes a new introduction, an afterword, and photographs-revives this classic, riveting tale about the men who work on the dark side of the American experience.

This 1992 Edgar Award winner for best fact crime is nothing short of a classic. David Simon, a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun, spent the year 1988 with three homicide squads, accompanying them through all the grim and grisly moments of their work--from first telephone call to final piece of paperwork. The picture that emerges through a masterful accumulation of details is that homicide detectives are a rare breed who seem to thrive on coffee, cigarettes, and persistence, through an endlessly exhausting parade of murder scenes. As the Washington Post writes, "We seem to have an insatiable appetite for police stories.... David Simon's entry is far and away the best, the most readable, the most reliable and relentless of them all.... An eye for the scenes of slaughter and pursuit and an ear for the cadences of cop talk, both business and banter, lend Simon's account the fascination that truth often has."

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