Friday, February 22, 2008
Armed and Dangerous
I just put down my fourth book of the year. At this rate I could get to 30. Still nowhere near the 50 of the Internet challenge but a far greater number that I would think possible.
First, I am a walking paradox. While I thing that most police are power-hungry bullies I am completely fascinated by the entire legal process. My favorite time waste television program is Cops. I’m addicted to all of the Law & Order franchises. One of my all time favorite shows is Hill Street Blues. And I love reading crime fiction and non-fiction.
My latest read fell into the last category: Armed and Dangerous: The Hunt for One of America’s Most Wanted Criminals. Not a great book but a quick read and highly entertaining if you are into the subject. Sort of beach reading for crime junkies.
This book is about the author’s process to put together a team and go into the hills around California’s Inland Empire to go catch a psycho back in the mid-80s. The problem is he lives off the land selling marijuana, knows the area better than the cops, and with his fragile mental state might kill someone soon. While I probably won’t want to read another book like this, it does show how unglamorous police work can be. The actual operation is rather anticlimactic with the biggest cliff hanger being will his superiors approve such a risky mission?
So to fill in empty space William Queen talks about many of the smaller cases he worked while building his big case. Most of them are quite interesting. The best is a drug and gun buy that goes bad when the bad guy brings live explosives, to sell, at the meet next to a high school with students around. This brings up an interesting point, which could easily another book. The ATF handled things differently in the mid-80s vs. the post-9/11 00s.
First, I am a walking paradox. While I thing that most police are power-hungry bullies I am completely fascinated by the entire legal process. My favorite time waste television program is Cops. I’m addicted to all of the Law & Order franchises. One of my all time favorite shows is Hill Street Blues. And I love reading crime fiction and non-fiction.
My latest read fell into the last category: Armed and Dangerous: The Hunt for One of America’s Most Wanted Criminals. Not a great book but a quick read and highly entertaining if you are into the subject. Sort of beach reading for crime junkies.
This book is about the author’s process to put together a team and go into the hills around California’s Inland Empire to go catch a psycho back in the mid-80s. The problem is he lives off the land selling marijuana, knows the area better than the cops, and with his fragile mental state might kill someone soon. While I probably won’t want to read another book like this, it does show how unglamorous police work can be. The actual operation is rather anticlimactic with the biggest cliff hanger being will his superiors approve such a risky mission?
So to fill in empty space William Queen talks about many of the smaller cases he worked while building his big case. Most of them are quite interesting. The best is a drug and gun buy that goes bad when the bad guy brings live explosives, to sell, at the meet next to a high school with students around. This brings up an interesting point, which could easily another book. The ATF handled things differently in the mid-80s vs. the post-9/11 00s.
Labels: Books
# posted by ChrisR @ 10:00 PM 
