Thomas Mullen’s powerful look at the injustices caused by racism in the Atlanta, GA police force of the late 1940s makes this a must-read book. Officers Boggs and Smith – two of the first eight black policemen recruited in the city – put their jobs and lives on the line when they decide to find out who killed a young black woman. Conscience drives them to do so because they’d seen the woman in the car of a drunk white man just hours before she was killed, but did too little at the time. Meanwhile, white rookie Rakestraw rails against his off-the-handle racist partner and also tries to investigate the woman’s murder.

In these times of Black Lives Matter, and growing incidents of racism just about everywhere, Mullen has a story worth telling. Read our full review here.