 | |
List Price: $15.00 | | Publisher: Grove Press
Salesrank: 100060
|
| Our Price: $4.79 |
| Used Price: $2.98 |
|
| Media: Paperback |
|
Editorial Review:
Flaunt magazine declares LAbyrinth "absolutely impossible to put down" -- a book whose stunning discoveries are nonetheless "incredibly thorough and surprisingly credible." Acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan follows Russell Poole, a highly decorated LAPD detective who in 1997 was called to investigate a controversial cop-on-cop shooting, and eventually discovered that the officer killed was tied to Marion "Suge" Knight's notorious gangsta-rap label, Death Row Records. During his investigation, Poole would come to realize that a growing cadre of black officers were allied not only with Death Row but with the murderous Bloods street gang. And incredibly, he began to uncover evidence that at least some of these "gangsta cops" may have been involved in the murders of rap superstars Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. Still more shocking is what happened when Russell Poole became lead investigator in the murder of Notorious B.I.G.: as his shrewd detective work pointed to crooked cops such as David Mack, who orchestrated one of the biggest bank heists in Los Angeles history, Poole found his investigation stifled by a police chief wary of doing further damage to a department already sullied by the O. J. Simpson trial, the Rodney King beating, and the Rampart corruption scandal. Could it be that the Rampart scandal -- in which dozens of officers were implicated in a conspiracy of robbery, brutality, drug dealing, and false imprisonment -- was only a smokescreen for a far more damaging debacle? Igniting a firestorm of controversy in the music industry and the Los Angeles media, the hardcover publication of LAbyrinth helped to prompt two lawsuits against the LAPD (one brought by the widow and mother of Notorious B.I.G., the other by Poole himself) that may finally bring this story completely out of the shadows. Entertainment Weekly insists that "no single source presents so complete or damning a record" of this "compelling" epic tale of L.A. noir.
LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal Reviews:
Quick Turn Around 
2009-10-20 - Book was as stated, in good quality, turn around time was very good. Very Satisfied!
The Truth is Finally Revealed 
2009-08-15 - Randall Sullivan has written a frightening, true account of who really killed Tupac and Biggie Smalls and how the LAPD covered up evidence so that, to this day, the cases remain "unsolved". Brilliant!
Incredibly in-depth somewhat-independent investigation of the Shakur/Smalls murders
2009-06-26 - I've read just about every book and seen every documentary regarding the murder of Tupac Shakur, and if you have any interest in the case at all, this book is a must-read. It is filled with information from a former LAPD officer who worked the case - many of which fuels the theory that Suge Knight had a hand in both artists' deaths. Some information, however, instead backs the idea that Shakur was killed by a Crips gang member. Whichever story you choose to believe (or if you believe something different altogether), this book has a lot of information you can't find anywhere else.
Mindblowing Information
2006-10-12 - This book is one of the main reasons I could not bring myself to vote for former LAPD police chief Bernard Parks, in our most recent mayoral race. Seems we were so worried about more negative press in this city, we too often just looked the other way. One of the better documented works on the subject; the background info on L.A. street gangs, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. are worth the cost alone. Will keep you glued to the pages.
Great book, very well-written
2006-09-02 - I recommend this book for several reasons. First off, it is extremely well-written. There's no rambling, it's very well researched, and the way the stories and facts are expressed are not dry at all. The writer, Randall Sullivan, writes for Rolling Stone magazine, so it's presented in that style. Even if you aren't interested in the Tupac/Biggie story, this book still goes deep into the origins of the Bloods and Crips, East coast and West coast rap feuds, and especially, just how corrupt the LAPD was(and probably still is). I've read other books on these subjects, including the recently released book by "hip-hop cop" Derrick Parker, but this book is by far the best. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
