Slow Motion Riot

Former New York Mayor John Lindsay once said, "What crime and poverty have created is a riot in slow motion." In SLOW MOTION RIOT, Blauner tells the story of a group of street criminals from the perspective of a probation officer named Steve Baum. The hero has not yet been crushed by the weight of his job. His big challenge is Darryl King, who--at 18 going on 30--has traded his humanity to become a major drug dealer. Malcolm Hillgartner narrates with an old-time radio newscaster's skill, though he can sound like a ghetto youth with attitude when needed. King and Baum are the muscle that gives this book its uncompromising view of life on the wrong side of the big city. M.S. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

June 29, 1992
While vivid and gripping at times, this Edgar Award-winning novel about a Manhattan probation officer and his deadly charge suffers from its annoying first-person, present-tense narration.