Ballantine Books, 1991, 608 pages
Enter the workday of real policemen. Follow fifteen detectives, three sergeants, and a lieutenant, whose job it is to investigate Baltimore's 234 murders. You will get a cop's-eye-view of the bureaucracy, the highs of success, the moments of despair, and the non-stop rush of pursuits, anger, banter, and violence that make up a cop's life. Now an acclaimed television series, this extraordinary book is the insider's look at what you have always wondered about.
The POPO are not your friends, Bunk.
Verdict: A non-fiction book that has it all. Class, race, politics, and the real lives of cops and criminals. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is the best true crime novel and one of the best non-fiction novels I've ever read. For The Wire alone I would adore this book, but it's simply an excellent, thick and engrossing work of journalism, and makes my Highly Recommended list.
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