The System Av Ryan Gattis

Longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2021'Excellent, lucid, intelligent and gripping' - Scotsman'An utterly riveting read' - Guardian, Thriller of the Month6 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.