Dick Lehr

I have an alternative title for this book. "Morons in Motion". It's the story of three guys (the morons), who are infected with an incredible hatred of people who are not like them. In this case, the Somali residents of a small Kansas town. They band together and join a local "militia" group. Together the three wind themselves up, reinforcing each others prejudices and hatreds, until they decide that, in the name of "patriotism" something has to be done. They decide what better way to become show more famous (infamous?) than to use a bomb to blow up Somali men, women, and children.
The book is told through the use of an undercover citizen who infiltrates the Morons and keeps the FBI abreast of their plans. Thank goodness for this citizen, or else who knows what may have happened.
The planning of the Morons would be comical, if it was not so dangerous. Talk about leaving a trail of bread crumbs to be followed, these guys couldn't hide their intentions at all.
The book leads one to ponder on the "militias" currently operating in the United States. To me, it seems to be a bunch of unhappy white guys, disappointed that they have not "made it big". Rather than try to improve themselves through education, work, etc., they decide it is much easier to blame "others" for their plight. The "others" being blacks, latinos, any foreigners, bankers, educated people, or basically anyone not like them. I guess these people have always been amongst us, take Archie Bunker for one. The difference today is that they have social media to connect with each other, and to ramp up and reinforce their prejudices. It's frightening, the collective power they develop amongst themselves. All under the guise of patriotism and freedom.
We have been fortunate that most of these groups are incompetent, and can't seem to get out of their own way. We're very fortunate that there are brave citizens, like the main character of this book, to help our law enforcement take these losers down before they act.
I really enjoyed this book. I know these militias are out there, but it was refreshing to read how utterly stupid they can be. Let's hope that continues to be the case. show less

Trell tells the story of a fourteen-year-old girl who lives in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston with her mother. Her father has been in prison since she was an infant, wrongly convicted of the drive-by murder of a young girl. Trell has seen her father only once a week during visiting hours. When a lawyer agrees to take on her father's appeal, Trell helps out at the law office, filing papers and learning about the legal system. As she learns more and more about her father's case, she has to show more confront the reasons he was convicted and find more help, in this case, a jaded reporter, to get the publicity needed to draw attention to her father's wrongful conviction.

I'm not a YA reader, but this book held my attention and I didn't feel as though the author, a former journalist with The Boston Globe's famous Spotlight team, overly simplified things. Dick Lehr is telling a complex story here, one that addresses the crack epidemic of the 1980s, police malfeasance, why communities of color mistrust the police, what it's like to be an outsider, the experience of a child who has a parent in prison, along with the central story. Despite the central story being about gangs, drug dealing and cops, the novel was refreshingly centered on women, from the lawyer doing the work to win an appeal for Trell's father, Trell's mother who is strong and does a lot to help with the case while supporting her and Trell, to Trell herself, plucky but scared. Lehr based this book on actual events that reported on so there's a depth to the characters and events that comes from reality. I liked that he allowed Trell to be an independent character while not downplaying the danger involved in investigating the case. show less

Whitey Bulger was a good crook, one who knew all the angles. But he didn't draw the line at using the FBI for another angle to make himself wealthy and powerful. And he knew just who to target to make that plan work, an FBI agent who grew up in his own neighborhood. The lengths of Whitey's guile, and the depths to which the FBI agent was willing to descend, are phenomenal.

This is certainly one of the FBI's worst moments in history, rivaled only by some of Hoover's shenanigans. Where do we show more lay the blame for this debate - in the lap of the crook who found a way to manipulate the system? Should we blame crooks for acting like crooks, even if they turn out to be preternaturally good at it. Or do we lay the blame on the corrupted FBI agent, who never shook his youthful desire for neighborhood cache with the toughs? Maybe we put th blame squarely on the FBI and it's systems and managers, the ones who rewarded the corrupt agent for his 'numbers' rather than looking more closely at what he was doing, the managers, most specifically, who could be corrupted themselves.

5 bones!!!!!
Highly recommended show less

At times this book is extraordinary: so well-written it's like watching a painting being created and, even though you know what it will look when complete, you can't turn away. The artistry is that masterful.
Another great aspect of this book is that you are not left wondering: you come to know the killers and understand their arrogance.
Where "Judgment Ridge" fails is the same place it succeeds: the details.
Many times non-fiction fails because it doesn't provide enough of those seemingly show more small items that, in fact, tell you everything you want to know: what did the killer have for breakfast? What music did he like? What did he see when he looked in the mirror?
"Judgment Ridge" is so well-researched that it's positively swimming in details. But sometimes, those plentiful details begin to obscure the story itself. The authors write on and on and on about one of the killer's interest in debate, for example, and I promise I got it - I understood how it shaped Robert, and it was important. But there's so much about it that it becomes tedious.
I wish this book had had a better editor. Clearly the authors know their material and they are wonderful writers. But an outside, objective eye is needed in any text. Had there been a competent editor in this case, "Judgment Ridge" could have been a book of genius. show less