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A riveting, behind-the-scenes look at one of the most elite, highly trained units of homicide
detectives in the country
Los Angeles is a town of dreamers—and of those who prey on them. The scene of innumerable bizarre crimes, it is also home to a unique police unit called Homicide Special, whose mandate is to take on the toughest, most controversial, and highest-profile cases. Now acclaimed writer Miles Corwin uses his unprecedented access to this legendary unit to narrate six of its cases—and capture its newest generation at work.
When a call girl from Kiev dies in the line of duty, detectives Chuck Knolls and Brian McCartin seek her killer among a circle of Russian women who have been sold unwittingly into white slavery. When a gangster’s daughter, brought up in Las Vegas, takes a bullet, veterans Jerry Stephens and Paul Coulter trace clues scattered across the country to one of Manhattan’s wealthiest real estate magnates. A cold case is reopened; a suspicious mother-daughter drowning and a baffling rape/murder are solved. And finally, Corwin re-creates the investigation surrounding the late Bonny Lee Bakley, a woman driven—like her city—by the desire for fame, and allegedly murdered by her actor-husband, Robert Blake.
Compulsively readable, artfully written, and surprisingly redemptive, Homicide Special offers a thrilling insider’s report on some of the nation’s most high-profile and complex homicides—and the extraordinary men who solve them.
From Homicide Special:
Susan Berman’s wood-shingled cottage seems distinctly out of place at the edge of Beverly Hills. In Berman’s living room, a Liberace ashtray, shaped like a piano, holds a few crumpled butts. On the wall are pictures of Berman’s parents: her mother tap-dancing, one of her father’s wanted posters, which reads “Reward $8000.” Another wall features a photo of Susan in a party dress posing with Jimmy Durante. Her refrigerator contains only a carton of milk, a half-stick of butter, a jug of cranberry juice cocktail and a package of cheddar cheese.
In the spare bedroom where Berman was killed, faint winter light bleeds through the window and illuminates a few brownish-red commas of blood. Berman was found in a white T-shirt and purple sweatpants. Barefoot. A single bullet casing was discovered next to her body. She was shot once in the back of the head.
Truman
Posted February 19, 2010
This book starts off densely, with endless descriptions of pollution and sunlight and landscapes. It's as if the writer is trying to write like Steinbeck or Chandler, but really just bogs down the prose in the process. What the reader wants is facts, not bad urban poetry. Then, to slow the reading even more, the author starts shifting back and forth between cases, this after a rambling 40 page first chapter, that just kind of ends, leading one to wonder if the case is over suddenly, or solved... Odd decisions plague the book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 14, 2004
Miles Corwin has an exceptional way with words, stories, and characters. This book is one of the best treats I've picked up in a while. I'm starting to wonder what my family is going to do until I finish it, because I haven't been able to put it down. Utterly fascinating, and never a dull moment. This is beats the pants off of any episode - or season, for that matter - of C.S.I. You won't be disappointed!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 5, 2004
This book is a great nonfiction account of what homicide detectives really do. The range of cases is very interesting. The methods, bureaucracy, and frustrations are also depicted. It is a very interesting study in police work, Los Angeles, human psychology, and crime in general. One thing that occurred to me was how many cases involved immigrants. Probably true in every country, but it just makes you realize that the LAPD is solving a lot of 'other countries'' social problems, just, over here. One thing that did occur to me while reading the book is, although the book is well put together, there are some typos and other errors. For example, I think that early in the book, the author refers to the Rampart area of LA as 'east of downtown', and later on, he correctly states that it is 'west of downtown'. I wish that publishers would straighten that stuff out by paying copy editors to review it better, before publishing it. But overall, it is good. There are a couple of small errors, which I am sure will be worked out in later editions. Overall, a very good book.
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Overview
A riveting, behind-the-scenes look at one of the most elite, highly trained units of homicide
detectives in the country
Los Angeles is a town of dreamers—and of those who prey on them. The scene of innumerable bizarre crimes, it is also home to a unique police unit called Homicide Special, whose mandate is to take on the toughest, most controversial, and highest-profile cases. Now acclaimed writer Miles Corwin...