Read more
Longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2021
'Excellent, lucid, intelligent and gripping' - Scotsman
'An utterly riveting read' - Guardian, Thriller of the Month
6 December 1993. A drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on her mother's lawn in South Central Los Angeles. Two local gang members, Wizard and Dreamer, are arrested. The problem is: one is guilty, the other wasn't even there. It had to be a frame-up. And the cops had to be responsible, didn't they?
Narrated by the characters involved - the suspects, the victim, the families who love them, and those simply doing their jobs - The System tells the story of one crime, from the moments before shots are fired to the verdict and its violent aftershocks. It's a breakneck journey through the American criminal justice system. A system that can save you, or break you.
About the author
Ryan Gattis is the author of Safe, Kung Fu High School, and All Involved, which won the American Library Association’s Alex Award and the Lire Award for Noir of the Year in France. He lives and writes in South Los Angeles, where he is a member of art collective UGLARworks, a founding board member of arts non-profit Heritage Future, and a PEN America Prison Writing Mentor.
Summary
Longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2021
‘Excellent, lucid, intelligent and gripping’ – Scotsman
‘An utterly riveting read’ – Guardian, Thriller of the Month
6 December 1993. A drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on her mother’s lawn in South Central Los Angeles. Two local gang members, Wizard and Dreamer, are arrested. The problem is: one is guilty, the other wasn’t even there. It had to be a frame-up. And the cops had to be responsible, didn’t they?
Narrated by the characters involved – the suspects, the victim, the families who love them, and those simply doing their jobs – The System tells the story of one crime, from the moments before shots are fired to the verdict and its violent aftershocks. It’s a breakneck journey through the American criminal justice system. A system that can save you, or break you.
Report
Pacy, immersive and vivid, with strong characterisation and no punches pulled, this is an utterly riveting read Guardian, Thrillers of the Month
