...[a] gripping tale ... Using interviews with key players that are skillfully placed in historical context, she shows how the vestiges of Jim Crow and the launch of the War on Drugs transformed three generations of Platt’s family ... It’s often difficult to see how decisions made by legislators in Washington DC and in capitals around the country affect the lives of ordinary individuals. In Pam Kelley’s telling of Belton Platt’s story that connection is too clear to ignore.
...a novel-style case study ... This book would pair well with Richard Rothstein's The Color of Law as a study of the effects of segregated housing ... An incisive take on uncovering causal analysis into the often overlooked criminal headlines. Highly recommended for those interested in urban or black studies.
...[an] in-depth report ... The author’s debut encompasses many aspects of Platt’s plight and creates a unique, engrossing reading experience. A fascinating and hard-hitting story about drugs, crime, faith, and retribution.
...here she expands that narrative to tell, unevenly, the story of 'one of the city’s flashiest drug dealers and his striving African-American family, three generations swept up and transformed by cocaine' ... Though Kelley approaches individual lives with compassion and accessibly lays out larger historical trends, somehow they don’t quite connect to form a coherent whole.
