The System

the long version

"An electrifying, multi-voiced thriller tackling our criminal justice system, from the writer Michael Connelly called "one of our most gifted novelists.""-- On December 6, 1993, a drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on the lawn outside her mother's house in South Central Los Angeles. Augie, a heroin addict, witnesses the whole thing before he steals all the drugs on her person, as well as the gun that was dropped at the scene. When Augie gets busted, he names local gang members Wizard and Dreamer the shooters. A search of their premises finds the gun that was used in the shooting. They know it's a frame-up, but the word from the gang is to keep their mouths shut and face the charges. As they're headed for jail, Little, the unlikeliest of new gang members, is given one job: discover how the gun got moved, and why.