Homicide : A year on the killing streets

The scene is Baltimore. Twice every three days another citizen is shot, stabbed or bludgeoned to death. At the centre 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 his remarkable book is both a compelling account of casework and an investigation into our culture of violence.

Praise for Homicide:

'A masterpiece…Simon has exceptional literary gifts of eye and ear. Few novelists have written so well about the corrosiveness of the modern American city.'

Martin Amis

'The best book about homicide detectives by an American writer.'

Norman Mailer

'We seem to have an insatiable appetite for police stories…David Simon's entry is far and away the best, the most readable, reliable and relentless of them all.'

Washington Post

'Engrossing…Mr Simon does an extraordinary job of hgetting under the skin and into the minds of the police officers.'

New York Times Book Review

'Simon has captured the poetry of the meanest streets.'

Los Angeles Times