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Injustice Town: A Corrupt City, a Wrongly Convicted Man, and a Struggle for Freedom
Not yet published
Expected 3 Feb 26The powerful story of a falsely imprisoned man and a sweeping indictment of a city and the criminal justice system by a Pulitzer-pize winning journalist.
When the bodies of two Black men were found sitting with a crackpipe in a parked car in a rundown section of town in 1994, it seemed just another day in Kansas City, Kansas. The swift arrest and conviction of a seventeen-year-old Black kid from a broken home raised no eyebrows either.
And yet, thirty years later, Lamonte McIntyre would prove to be the David that took down the Goliath of corruption that had long controlled the city’s power structure and enveloped the city’s justice system
But the effort to prove Lamonte’s innocence opened a Pandora’s box. Before it was over, the fight to win Lamonte’s exoneration exposed corrupt police and prosecutors, incompetent court-appointed defense lawyers, and a judge who violated ethical standards by his secret past relationship with the prosecutor, whom he favored in his rulings.
Injustice Town follows Lamonte’s case from its harrowing beginning to its triumphant end and beyond, including the legal tsunami that came in its wake, that engulfed prosecutors, attorneys, and judges. Most shockingly, the lead cop on the case was indicted by the Department of Justice for the widespread abuses he had committed years earlier on women in the Black community of Kansas City Kansas. Abuses documented by Lamonte’s team. The criminal case ended, literally, with a bang, denying Lamonte and those whom the detective hurt, the chance for them to seek their own justice.
Rick Tulsky, a Pulizer prize-winning journalist, goes beyond the courthouse, exposing the ways in which corruption flourished for decades in an erstwhile quiet Midwest town, a town once dedicated to justice and equality.
A lawyer by training as well as a reporter, Tulsky's narrative not only brings Lamonte's story to vivid life, it will empower cities, counties, states, and everyday citizens with a blueprint for equal justice. At a time when the federal government is abdicating its responsibility for demanding fairness and justice, it is up to states, local governments, and we the people look to ways they can act. Vivid and unforgettable, Injustice Town tells the story of one man and shows us a vision of what a better future could be.
When the bodies of two Black men were found sitting with a crackpipe in a parked car in a rundown section of town in 1994, it seemed just another day in Kansas City, Kansas. The swift arrest and conviction of a seventeen-year-old Black kid from a broken home raised no eyebrows either.
And yet, thirty years later, Lamonte McIntyre would prove to be the David that took down the Goliath of corruption that had long controlled the city’s power structure and enveloped the city’s justice system
But the effort to prove Lamonte’s innocence opened a Pandora’s box. Before it was over, the fight to win Lamonte’s exoneration exposed corrupt police and prosecutors, incompetent court-appointed defense lawyers, and a judge who violated ethical standards by his secret past relationship with the prosecutor, whom he favored in his rulings.
Injustice Town follows Lamonte’s case from its harrowing beginning to its triumphant end and beyond, including the legal tsunami that came in its wake, that engulfed prosecutors, attorneys, and judges. Most shockingly, the lead cop on the case was indicted by the Department of Justice for the widespread abuses he had committed years earlier on women in the Black community of Kansas City Kansas. Abuses documented by Lamonte’s team. The criminal case ended, literally, with a bang, denying Lamonte and those whom the detective hurt, the chance for them to seek their own justice.
Rick Tulsky, a Pulizer prize-winning journalist, goes beyond the courthouse, exposing the ways in which corruption flourished for decades in an erstwhile quiet Midwest town, a town once dedicated to justice and equality.
A lawyer by training as well as a reporter, Tulsky's narrative not only brings Lamonte's story to vivid life, it will empower cities, counties, states, and everyday citizens with a blueprint for equal justice. At a time when the federal government is abdicating its responsibility for demanding fairness and justice, it is up to states, local governments, and we the people look to ways they can act. Vivid and unforgettable, Injustice Town tells the story of one man and shows us a vision of what a better future could be.
432 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication February 3, 2026
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41 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The New Jim Crow meets Injustice Town! If you enjoyed that book, Injustice Town is for you. Filled with data, history and examples of how our justice system fails the marginalized, this book delivers a powerful message.
In this debut, investigative reporter, Rick Tulsky, examines a true crime story that is “harrowing” in its heinous miscarriage of justice. In Wyandotte County Kansas, part of Kansas City, it’s the conviction that matters, not the justice for the crime. Lamont McIntyre is identified as the murderer in a two person killing in 1994 and Kansas City, Kansas, in the 90s is suffering from a high crime rate and poor optics as a city. A swift conviction is necessary and that’s what happens putting a poor black 19 year old in prison for the next 30 years.
A grave miscarriage of justice has occurred. Corrupt police, prosecutors and a judge are at the bottom of this. McIntyre had a solid alibi for the time of the killings but as the story unfolds the despicable measures that people supposedly on the side of truth go beyond the pale. It wasn’t until Centurion Ministries, an Innocence style project, took the case and Susan Pilate worked diligently on the case that McIntyre was released.
Tulsky treats this story with meticulous detail, chronicling the devious, illegal and reprehensible actions of law enforcement and the justice system. It’s an exhaustive story - probably my only criticism of the book (but trust me once you get hooked on this book, you can’t stop listening or reading). He also writes about McIntyre’s slow and lonely initial efforts to reintegrate into society.
The epilogue brings the story full circle. I liked how the author brought you up-to-date on how our justice system is still so skewed against the marginalized of our society. If you haven’t read The New Jim Crow, this ending is a pretty nice summary of that book.
I’d like to thank NetGalley, the Dreamscape Media and the author for allowing me to listen to this ARC. I enjoyed the narrator too.
Highly recommend.
#injusticetown
#ricktulsky
#dreamscapemedia
In this debut, investigative reporter, Rick Tulsky, examines a true crime story that is “harrowing” in its heinous miscarriage of justice. In Wyandotte County Kansas, part of Kansas City, it’s the conviction that matters, not the justice for the crime. Lamont McIntyre is identified as the murderer in a two person killing in 1994 and Kansas City, Kansas, in the 90s is suffering from a high crime rate and poor optics as a city. A swift conviction is necessary and that’s what happens putting a poor black 19 year old in prison for the next 30 years.
A grave miscarriage of justice has occurred. Corrupt police, prosecutors and a judge are at the bottom of this. McIntyre had a solid alibi for the time of the killings but as the story unfolds the despicable measures that people supposedly on the side of truth go beyond the pale. It wasn’t until Centurion Ministries, an Innocence style project, took the case and Susan Pilate worked diligently on the case that McIntyre was released.
Tulsky treats this story with meticulous detail, chronicling the devious, illegal and reprehensible actions of law enforcement and the justice system. It’s an exhaustive story - probably my only criticism of the book (but trust me once you get hooked on this book, you can’t stop listening or reading). He also writes about McIntyre’s slow and lonely initial efforts to reintegrate into society.
The epilogue brings the story full circle. I liked how the author brought you up-to-date on how our justice system is still so skewed against the marginalized of our society. If you haven’t read The New Jim Crow, this ending is a pretty nice summary of that book.
I’d like to thank NetGalley, the Dreamscape Media and the author for allowing me to listen to this ARC. I enjoyed the narrator too.
Highly recommend.
#injusticetown
#ricktulsky
#dreamscapemedia
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing an ALC of Injustice Town - A Corrupt City, a Wrongly Convicted Man, and a Struggle for Freedom by Rick Tulsky, narrated by Shamaan Casey.
This is an incredibly tragic, infuriating, and hopeful story about the struggles of one man falsely imprisoned man and a sweeping indictment of a city and the criminal justice system. Listening to this story about a man arrested, charged, and found guilty of murder erroneously, I would have assumed this incident took place in the 1950s, I was in shock that such injustices were still occurring in the United States in the 1990s. The corruption and lawlessness in Kansas City, KS in the 1990s was so rampant, I would not be surprised if there were many other men of color that were falsely accused and arrested during this time. Readers will experience a vast array of emotions due to the facts of the well-researched story by the author, but the narrator will evoke emotions of listeners as well. The narrator has an incredibly clear voice and is able to add emotion to the an already emotional story through his tone and cadence.
I highly recommend this audiobook as it is incredibly well produced and only adds to the story which is already inconceivable and frustrating. I prefer listening to non-fiction and would listen to anything Shamaan Casey narrates.
This is an incredibly tragic, infuriating, and hopeful story about the struggles of one man falsely imprisoned man and a sweeping indictment of a city and the criminal justice system. Listening to this story about a man arrested, charged, and found guilty of murder erroneously, I would have assumed this incident took place in the 1950s, I was in shock that such injustices were still occurring in the United States in the 1990s. The corruption and lawlessness in Kansas City, KS in the 1990s was so rampant, I would not be surprised if there were many other men of color that were falsely accused and arrested during this time. Readers will experience a vast array of emotions due to the facts of the well-researched story by the author, but the narrator will evoke emotions of listeners as well. The narrator has an incredibly clear voice and is able to add emotion to the an already emotional story through his tone and cadence.
I highly recommend this audiobook as it is incredibly well produced and only adds to the story which is already inconceivable and frustrating. I prefer listening to non-fiction and would listen to anything Shamaan Casey narrates.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"Injustice Town" is a riveting, heart wrenching story of a man who was falsely accused and convicted of a double murder. His fight for justice and freedom is not only about himself, but uncovers deeply-rooted and systemic corruption across the county and state criminal justice system at all levels - from police practices, to the prosecutor office; to the challenges with some public defenders and appointment systems, to the appeals process. The most gut-wrenching thing is that though the murder happened in the early 1990s, the challenges described in this book were still ongoing in 2025.
The author did an excellent and thorough job investigating and researching this book. The narration was concise, gripping, and informative, while never losing sight of the humanity and feelings that Lamonte was experiencing during his wrongful conviction and incarceration. Brining light to these injustices is the only way to spark and drive reform - and the author did this in a powerful way. I look forward to seeing what the author tackles next!
I listened to this book as an audiobook narrated by Shamaan Casey. The narrator was the perfect choice for this story, really driving home the emotions being felt as the story progressed. He does talk slower than some narrators, so I listened to the book at 1.5x speed to feel he was talking at a normal "conversation" pace.
The author did an excellent and thorough job investigating and researching this book. The narration was concise, gripping, and informative, while never losing sight of the humanity and feelings that Lamonte was experiencing during his wrongful conviction and incarceration. Brining light to these injustices is the only way to spark and drive reform - and the author did this in a powerful way. I look forward to seeing what the author tackles next!
I listened to this book as an audiobook narrated by Shamaan Casey. The narrator was the perfect choice for this story, really driving home the emotions being felt as the story progressed. He does talk slower than some narrators, so I listened to the book at 1.5x speed to feel he was talking at a normal "conversation" pace.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews