A kaleidoscopic account of five days in the life of a city on the edge, told through eight characters on the front lines of the uprising that overtook Baltimore after the police killing of Freddie Gray.
Instead of a traditional narrative, Moore and Green allow the events to unfold through the eyes of seven different people, ranging from everyday citizens who get caught up in the days’ events to community and business leaders, a police captain, and a politician. The action is presented chronologically in chapters devoted to each person’s experiences. The shifting perspectives give the story a broad scope, revealing how tragedy, injustice, and long-seeded socioeconomic and policing inequities ripped apart an already tense city.
Political analyst and activist Moore...closely examines the unrest that followed Gray’s death by recounting the experiences of a series of people deeply affected by the events. The result is a visceral collective portrait of a community beset by poverty and injustice ... By focusing on a cross-section of individuals, Moore underscores his point that 'our fates are profoundly intertwined.' Gray’s death, a result of the complex consequences of poverty, impels all Americans to 'wrestle with the history of complicity and bias' .... Moving testimony to a nation’s deep wounds.
...an illuminating portrait of Baltimore in the aftermath of the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray ... Alternating perspectives from one short chapter to the next, Moore captures the fear, anger, uncertainty, and hope of locals who saw their city fall apart and struggle to come back together. Though the perspective of Gray’s friends and family is missing, Moore provides important context in the history of Baltimore’s racial and income inequality and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Readers will be enthralled by this propulsive account.
