What do you think?
Rate this book
Crooked City
In this second collection of connected essays, Chicago cop Martin Preib takes on seemingly unrelated murder cases, all dating from one year, 1982, including some in which offenders were released as part of the wrongful conviction movement. This book shatters reader assumptions—about the workings of justice, the objectivity of the media, and the role of the police in the city of Chicago, even calling into question allegations of police torture in the notorious cases against Jon Burge. Told in the gripping tension of a crime novel, Preib strives for the highest language as he wanders these brutal, controversial killings.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 19, 2014
3 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 19, 2021
Such an important book! The Innocence Project lead a group of journalism students in Chicago to re-investigate death row convict Anthony Porter’s murder case. The results? They ended up railroading an innocent man in order to get out guilty Porter. This actually happened! Amazing. Anyone thinking about donating to the Innocence Project should read this book first.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2020
Best book I’ve read in 2020
Thanks for the author who shares the surreal experience of our current time, how psychopaths getting free and how righteous conscientious good people destroyed and their life is ruined, a great book of the psychopath epidemic since 1982.
Thanks for the author who shares the surreal experience of our current time, how psychopaths getting free and how righteous conscientious good people destroyed and their life is ruined, a great book of the psychopath epidemic since 1982.
September 24, 2020
A must read
The author gives a thorough explanation of the wrongful conviction movement which has been around for quite some time. After presenting the facts, he is able to unmask the hypocrisy of many of its advocates. This is an eye oppenner.
The author gives a thorough explanation of the wrongful conviction movement which has been around for quite some time. After presenting the facts, he is able to unmask the hypocrisy of many of its advocates. This is an eye oppenner.
May 15, 2018
Not worth the time.
March 29, 2016
This is a very troubling book because of who the author is - an actual police officer. He is clearly an obsessed person who has a complete bias against anyone who is accused of a crime, and he believes police officers can do no wrong. I understand how a police officer, faced with daily situations, can wind up in a situation like the author. But, that doesn’t make it remotely correct and it doesn’t make it something that is worth my time in reading.
He is obsessed with this one case, where a man convicted of murder has his conviction overturned on appeal. Again, I get how that can be beyond frustrating to an officer. But he also is beyond obsessed with this case to the point it cannot be healthy (note, he actually had no involvement in the case). He goes over and over what the crime was while never for a second thinking about the entire picture (which is where I thought the book was going to go but never did). And by complete picture, I don’t mean forgiving the person for the crime. But a mature, intelligent thinker would want to know more, know everything. He was only concerned in pieces of information that supported his simplistic narrative.
He dismissively writes that the conviction was overturned just because police kept a 17-year old boy in an interrogation room for 18 hours without food or bathroom. To the author, that is not a problem: because it was a serious crime; because police needed the time to do their jobs; because he could have slept in the room; because in the projects where the crime happened there were roaches and rats. Whether a person has rights does not go away just because the crime is a serious one, and a person from a rat infested home has the same rights as one from a million-dollar home.
On the converse, the officer completely disbelieves allegations another officer abused and tortured people into giving confessions simply because no one other than the accusers saw it. But there was repeated evidence of bruising and injuries to the accusers (as well as investigations by special prosecutors into the claims). To the author, they could have done it to themselves. Really? One person, maybe. A few, sure. But enough that led to the city paying out a settlement of over 17 million dollars? And, the author complains over and over about criminals getting plea deals and getting off lightly, but it doesn’t bother him for a moment that the officer whose conduct led to the 17-million dollar settlement for torturing many, many people, was charged and convicted of only perjury and obstruction of justice? The author gets angry when he hears people talking about abusive, racist cops, but it doesn't dawn on him that, unfair and wrong as that may be, it is because of the cop responsible for that settlement that those stereotypes persist. That is the type of unbalance that plagues this book.
Police officers have an amazingly difficult and challenging job, and often, it is thankless and one that no one pays attention to except for the wrong reasons. Most officers I am sure just want to do their job, do it right, and go home at the end of the day. But some police officers are racist, some police officers do lie, some police officers do use unnecessary force. And even good cops can have bad days and make mistakes. Just as it doesn’t do any good for anyone to assume all police officers are corrupt and racist, it is just as bad to believe none are. This author has complete tunnel vision as to these situations and it is a problem not only because it made for an extremely shallow book, but far more importantly, because it makes for built in excuses for police officers everywhere when they are accused of any sort of wrong doing. Some of those accusations will be completely false. Some will not. This author showed he was not even willing to deal with that second possibility. That, as much as anything, is why this book is worth no more than one star.
He is obsessed with this one case, where a man convicted of murder has his conviction overturned on appeal. Again, I get how that can be beyond frustrating to an officer. But he also is beyond obsessed with this case to the point it cannot be healthy (note, he actually had no involvement in the case). He goes over and over what the crime was while never for a second thinking about the entire picture (which is where I thought the book was going to go but never did). And by complete picture, I don’t mean forgiving the person for the crime. But a mature, intelligent thinker would want to know more, know everything. He was only concerned in pieces of information that supported his simplistic narrative.
He dismissively writes that the conviction was overturned just because police kept a 17-year old boy in an interrogation room for 18 hours without food or bathroom. To the author, that is not a problem: because it was a serious crime; because police needed the time to do their jobs; because he could have slept in the room; because in the projects where the crime happened there were roaches and rats. Whether a person has rights does not go away just because the crime is a serious one, and a person from a rat infested home has the same rights as one from a million-dollar home.
On the converse, the officer completely disbelieves allegations another officer abused and tortured people into giving confessions simply because no one other than the accusers saw it. But there was repeated evidence of bruising and injuries to the accusers (as well as investigations by special prosecutors into the claims). To the author, they could have done it to themselves. Really? One person, maybe. A few, sure. But enough that led to the city paying out a settlement of over 17 million dollars? And, the author complains over and over about criminals getting plea deals and getting off lightly, but it doesn’t bother him for a moment that the officer whose conduct led to the 17-million dollar settlement for torturing many, many people, was charged and convicted of only perjury and obstruction of justice? The author gets angry when he hears people talking about abusive, racist cops, but it doesn't dawn on him that, unfair and wrong as that may be, it is because of the cop responsible for that settlement that those stereotypes persist. That is the type of unbalance that plagues this book.
Police officers have an amazingly difficult and challenging job, and often, it is thankless and one that no one pays attention to except for the wrong reasons. Most officers I am sure just want to do their job, do it right, and go home at the end of the day. But some police officers are racist, some police officers do lie, some police officers do use unnecessary force. And even good cops can have bad days and make mistakes. Just as it doesn’t do any good for anyone to assume all police officers are corrupt and racist, it is just as bad to believe none are. This author has complete tunnel vision as to these situations and it is a problem not only because it made for an extremely shallow book, but far more importantly, because it makes for built in excuses for police officers everywhere when they are accused of any sort of wrong doing. Some of those accusations will be completely false. Some will not. This author showed he was not even willing to deal with that second possibility. That, as much as anything, is why this book is worth no more than one star.
March 23, 2014
Interesting case
I'm grateful, as I'm sure other members of the CPD are for the authors outing of the Northwestern University innocence project. that part of the book was compelling, what I could have done without were Mr. prieb's attempts at prose. to waste a chapter writing about a cockroach is a waste of time
and those of us who read it. I read his previous book on working the wagon and thought pried was kind of a blowhard. when he graduated to a foot post and was,ed poetic about his vast experience reconstructing crime scenes, I concluded he was just full.of himself or shot. stick with the non fiction and leave the roaches to someone else.
I'm grateful, as I'm sure other members of the CPD are for the authors outing of the Northwestern University innocence project. that part of the book was compelling, what I could have done without were Mr. prieb's attempts at prose. to waste a chapter writing about a cockroach is a waste of time
and those of us who read it. I read his previous book on working the wagon and thought pried was kind of a blowhard. when he graduated to a foot post and was,ed poetic about his vast experience reconstructing crime scenes, I concluded he was just full.of himself or shot. stick with the non fiction and leave the roaches to someone else.
June 1, 2014
IF you don't have something nice to say, its best to say nothing at all, right? That being said, although I am a Chicago fan and generally love to read almost anything about my great city, this was an unusual mix of fact and fiction from an author with a tendency to ramble.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews