I Got a Monster by Baynard Woods

 

I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Corrupt Police Squad by Baynard Woods
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was fascinating to me. I live in suburban Baltimore and remember hearing about the Gun Trace Task Force and subsequent shake up in the Baltimore Police Department, but I didn't follow it closely. In all honesty, it seemed as though the BPD was always in the midst of a shake up of some sorts.

Reading the details of the corruption among the GTTF and throughout the police department was frightening. It truly seemed as though the "inmates were running the asylum." I had no idea how rampant the corruption was or how high it went. It's a wonder the city of Baltimore didn't explode sooner or more violently.  It certainly makes one wonder who is policing the police.

The book was well researched and documented. As I read each chapter I also read the accompanying research notes - something I never do. The writing wasn't as polished as it could have been. At some points I felt I wasn't being told the story of this corrupt group, but rather was having a list of their crimes reported to me.  Michelle McNamara's beautiful prose and the way she captured the narrative thread while telling the story of the Golden State Killer has definitely raised the bar as far as true crime reporting.  Now that I know what it can be, my expectations are much higher than they would have been a few years ago.

I hope this book will catch the eye of the public and not only be of interest to those of us in Baltimore.

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