Del Quentin Wilber

A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book for 2011 A Richmond Times Dispatch Top Book for 2011 A minute-by-minute account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was just seventy days into his first term of office when John Hinckley Jr. opened fire outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, wounding the president, press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a D.C. police officer. For years, few people knew the truth about how close the president came to dying, and no one has ever written a detailed narrative of that harrowing day. Now, drawing on exclusive new interviews and never-before-seen documents, photos, and videos, Del Quentin Wilber tells the electrifying story of a moment when the nation faced a terrifying crisis that it had experienced less than twenty years before, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. With cinematic clarity, we see Secret Service agent Jerry Parr, whose fast reflexes saved the president's life; the brilliant surgeons who operated on Reagan as he was losing half his blood; and the small group of White House officials frantically trying to determine whether the country was under attack. Most especially, we encounter the man code-named "Rawhide," a leader of uncommon grace who inspired affection and awe in everyone who worked with him. Ronald Reagan was the only serving U.S. president to survive being shot in an assassination attempt.* Rawhide Down is the first true record of the day and events that literally shaped Reagan's presidency and sealed his image in the modern American political firmament. *There have been many assassination attempts on U.S. presidents, four of which were successful: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. President Theodore Roosevelt was injured in an assassination attempt after leaving office.

The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan

Rawhide Down

'Superb - one of the best real-life copy books ever written.' Lee Child In a true crime cross between James Ellroy and David Simon's The Wire, A Good Month for Murder follows twelve homicides, three police-involved shootings and the furious hunt for an especially brutal killer in Washington D.C. After gaining unparalleled access to the homicide unit in Prince George's County, which borders the nation's capital, bestselling author Del Quentin Wilber begins shadowing the talented, often quirky detectives who get the call when a body falls. After a quiet couple of months, all hell breaks loose: suddenly every detective in the squad is scrambling to solve one shooting and stabbing after another. Meanwhile, the entire unit is obsessed with a stone-cold 'red ball', a high-profile case involving a seventeen-year-old honour student attacked by a gunman who kicked down the door to her house and shot her in her bed. This is the inside story of how a team of detectives carry out their almost impossible job. Murder is the police investigator's ultimate crucible: to solve a killing, a detective must speak for the dead. A Good Month for Murder is a compelling true crime account which shows what it takes to succeed when the stakes couldn't possibly be higher.

The Inside Story Of A Homicide Squad

A Good Month For Murder

Bestselling author Del Quentin Wilber tells the inside story of how a murder squad—a dedicated, colorful team of homicide detectives—does its almost impossible job Twelve homicides, three police shootings and a furious hunt for an especially brutal killer—February 2013 was a good month for murder in suburban Washington, D.C. After gaining unparalleled access to the homicide unit in Prince George's County, which borders the nation's capital, Del Quentin Wilber begins shadowing the talented, often quirky detectives who get the call when a body falls. He rides with a hard-charging investigator who pops diet pills while devouring cheeseburgers; he stands over a corpse with a hulking detective who works security at a cemetery to earn extra money; he spends hours in the interrogation room, a.k.a. the box, with a hyper-competitive, chain-smoking vegan. And then, after a quiet couple of months, all hell breaks loose: suddenly every detective in the squad is working day and night to solve one shooting and stabbing after another. In particular, the entire unit becomes obsessed with a "red ball," a high-profile case involving a round-cheeked seventeen-year-old honor student attacked by a gunman who kicked in her bedroom door and shot her dead. Murder is the police investigator's ultimate crucible: to solve a killing, a detective must speak for the dead. More than any recent book,A Good Month for Murder shows us what it takes to succeed when the stakes couldn't possibly be higher.

Del Quentin Wilber

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