The Prosecutors

I read about The Prosecutors in a roundup on narrative fiction. Similar to books like Courtroom 302 and No Matter How Loud I Shout, Gary Delsohn spent a year taking an insider’s look at the justice system.

In this instance, he spends a year in the Sacramento’s District Attorney’s Office. In that year, prosecutors will try several men who were involved in a robbery where a young man was shot and killed. They’ll deal with a man who hung his girlfriend on video tape, an immigrant who murders his wife, two-year old son and several other members of his family.

Overall, it was a pretty interesting fly on the wall account of what it’s like to prosecute. It was often grim due to the nature of the crimes the DA’s office dealt with.

However, I felt like at times the book lacked the overall depth of Courtroom 302 and No Matter How Loud I Shout, which both included extensive research and placed the issues in greater context. However, I realize that The Prosecutors seemed like it was envisioned as an inside look at justice along the lines of a non-fiction Law & Order.