Restless Sleep

Starred review from April 25, 2005
NPR contributor Horn's deft writing and unique access to detectives laboring to bring justice to the many forgotten victims of murder create a significant addition to the genre. Horn tracks four very different unsolved killings—a brutal torture of drug dealers while their young children were restrained in an adjoining room; the murder of an off-duty cop who interrupted a robbery in progress; an apparent sex crime turned fatal that claimed the life of a teenager; and the fetishistic strangling of a transplanted Southerner. Each crime presents unique obstacles for the dedicated detectives assigned to them, and each yields very different results. The heroic and three-dimensional portrayals of the individual police officers are compelling, but many will find more novelty in Horn's detailed assessment of the bureaucratic turf battles surrounding the cold case squad, and the serious obstacles NYPD reformers continue to face. Several notches above the typical reporter's insights into the realities of criminal justice, and, given the continued popularity of the CBS TV drama Cold Case,
Horn's book is likely to find a wide readership. Agent, Betsy Lerner.

February 1, 2007
Given the popularity of TV shows like "Cold Case" on CBS, "Cold Case Files" on A&E, and "America's Most Wanted" on Fox, people are interested in how crimes are solved and the men and women who work to solve them. Journalist Horn was also fascinated and got unlimited access to the New York City Cold Case squad. She talked to many of the detectives and followed them as they dealt with lost evidence, lost witnesses, bureaucratic logjams, and frustrated families who in many cases had waited decades to see justice. In addition, Horn looks at the history of the Cold Case squad, many of whose members were seen as lone wolves, detectives who didn't always get along with colleagues and supervisors. She shows how a small group of men, looking for ways to deal with the increasing number of unsolved murders, created the squad while fighting against NYPD brass who wanted to stick with standard procedures. Those looking for a pure detective story will be frustrated by the history, the interviews, and the overview of the day-to-day grind that take away from following the investigation of each case. An interesting collection for libraries where true crime books are popular.Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress

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