Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon
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Book Reviews of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Book Review: Well written and very accessible, highly recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book after watching - several times over - David Simon's most recent work, The Wire. I have always been interested in detectives and was drawn by this book because it is non-fiction. As well as being a highly enjoyable read, I would say there were three main takeaways. First, the detailed first-hand account of actual cases and methods of investigation (including related disciplines such as interrogation, medical examination, ballistics, trace evidence, etc. as well as the legal processes and challenges that lead to conviction) have made me much more familiar with the actual process of solving murders. Second, a basic understanding of the structure and organization of a homicide unit within the police department and how the system is incentivized to solve crimes. Third, an appreciation of how these detectives - through late-night drinking sessions and office humor - manage to make their lives livable when they are not dealing with the darker side of their profession. Simon's first book is really special, I look forward to reading it again someday.Book Review: Like You Were There
Summary: 5 Stars
Homicide is one of the better of the crime reporting novels I have read. Simon was definitely at the top of his game.
He manages to write the book with more of a novel feel then a biography of the people involved. Other similar books, such as 'Homicide Special' try for the same thing, but you still feel the writer in their presence. Simon makes the reader feel as if they are there without feeling that the writer is intruding on anything.
The cases the officers work on are all interesting, and not all are slam dunks or even solvable. Many authors would feel a need to make their book have cases with endings. I applaud Simon for not giving in to that temptation.
Baltimore definitely plays a role in this book, and you get a real feeling for the city. You can see in this book the seed that would eventually sprout the series 'Homicide'.
If you are interested in detective work this is an excellent read. I highly recommend this book.
Book Review: One of the best books I've ever read
Summary: 5 Stars
Seriously. This book was incredible. First off, it's a fascinating insight into the workings of a major city homicide unit. Secondly, it so perfectly relates the attitudes of the detectives that is both interesting and amusing. Beyond that, it is just so well written that it was almost impossible to put down.
This book is the ultimate fly-on-the-wall for some 260 Baltimore murders in 1988 and the men who investigated those murders. Some of them are laughably obvious, others require weeks of leg work, and a few never get solved. David Simon pulled off something here that has likely never been done before and may never be done again. While the topic is serious (nothing is as serious as death, right?), I frequently found myself laughing out loud at the antics of detectives and criminals alike. One of the most enjoyable and satisfying books I've read in a long time.
Book Review: Speaking for the dead
Summary: 5 Stars
What an amazing story! David Simon does a fantastic job of taking an actual year with the Baltimore Police homicide division and making it read like fiction. Simon doesn't report this story he tells this story. The quarks and skills that make up all good detectives is captured in detail. The fact that an award winning TV series was spurned from the pages in this book shows that life can be stranger than fiction.
James a. Forrest - Eye of the Storm
Book Review: Pretty close to perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
I've just re-read this after 10 years. Sometimes the lens of nostalgia distorts memory so as to make a good book great.
Not the case here. Homicide is still the best account of urban America in decay; and the best 'police procedural' I have ever read, by such a wide margin as to render most comparisons meaningless.
If you have enough interest to read the reviews, then you absolutely must read this book.