There can be no doubting Ryan Gattis' commitment to a project; he spent 8 years of his life researching this book, and it shows. It is a rare talent to take a story with so much background detail and to keep it as pacy and gripping as 'The System' is. Using a multi-narrative structure, just like the superb 'All Involved', Gattis takes us through the first moments a crime is committed, all the way to the resulting trial, covering everything in between. For me, the story never got dull or overly descriptive about the processes involved; I was wary going into the trial scenes that it might slow down but those scenes were every bit as entertaining as the rest of the book. It is packed full of heart, too, being in various people's heads lets the reader see the real highs and lows the characters experience, as they experience them, not as they project outwards to their peers. This, I think, is where Gattis' research and numerous conversations with people who have gone through the system themselves really comes into its own. There is a sincerity of thought that just feels genuine, and that really helps the book to pack an emotional punch. All in all, a thoroughly entertaining and nuanced read. One that will stay with me for a while.

Ryan Gattis has been one of my favourite authors since I read the incredible All Involved, and this is an absolutely amazing novel. Just like All Involved this is told from multiple character's perspectives (and there's enough of the same characters and mentions of events from AI that you know you're in the same literary universe, which I loved) and it makes the plot race along. You can tell that this novel has been very thoroughly researched, and it's definitely a critique of the American legal system, but this is also simply an astonishingly good book with characters that you care for more and more as the story progresses. I absolutely loved this and have been recommending it to everyone I know!

This is quite a slow burning novel but has enough about it to keep you turning the pages. A very well (or so it seems) researched and written story of the US criminal justice system and the abuses of same. Thanks to #picador #PanMcMillan and #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

An in-depth researched book on the criminal system in LA from numerous perspectives. Well drawn out characters from all sides of the social divide , each talking in first person narrative in their individual dialect and dialogue increasing the accuracy of characterisation and believable personas. The story relates to a miscarriage of justice where the chance of a fair hearing is weighted against the poor and uneducated. There are no black and white issues just shades of grey where those charged with seeing justice carried out are often as bad if not worse than the criminal. The storyline delves into court issues and processes which for some may slow down the level of interest but necessary if reader wishes to form an overall perspective of gang culture and the flawed system charged with tackling corrective measures. Every credit to the author in his attempt to highlight that gang culture in America is not as simplistic as our casual understanding from reporting and news bulletins. Not an easy read but one that will reward and increase understanding of the gulf between the have and have nots. Many thanks to publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Pan Macmillan for the ARC. Set in the Los Angeles suburbs 1993, post the race riots, this story is told from the points of view of all the main characters involved - so you really get to know what they're thinking and feeling about their individual circumstances, whether they are part of the criminal justice system, or a gang member being processed by it. The characters are all interesting and their stories invite you in to share their present lives. A female Hispanic drug dealer called Scrappy is shot in her front yard by a rival gang headed (outside of prison) by Wizard - the order came from within the prison population. Unbeknown to the shooters at the time there was a witness in the form of Augie Clarke, a drug addict. Parole Agent Phillip Petrillo is a nasty piece of work and, by foul means, manipulates evidence to frame both Wizard and his friend Jacob in order to clear the way for him to court Angela, Wizard's cousin. The narrative takes the reader through all the Court documents which have to be submitted for their arrest and processing through the system - I found this really boring and skimmed my way through it. Meanwhile, Jeovanni Matta, aka Little, an intelligent young man associated with Wizard and Jacob, but not involved in the gang culture, is tasked with finding out what really happened to the gun that was used. The prison processes, together with the characters' own points of view, followed by the Court Case, I did find engrossing, alongside the transformation of Jeovanni working between gangs and the system to dig out the truth. I did find the constant Spanish gangster-speak rather off-putting at the beginning but you do get used to it as the story unfolds.