This book interested me because I grew up in San Diego. It’s so sad to think a young girl would die in such a tragic way. I don’t want to believe the police would ever do harm, but evidence after evidence sure convinced me to be weary. Good read.
Amazon Customer
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Via Amazon
A Great Read
I have this book on my kindle but also bought a hardcover for a friend who retired from SDPD. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and my friend said it “was to the point and very accurate”. It is an easy, quick read which includes a lot of detail without being tedious and boring. I look forward to any future books by this author.
Patti196
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Well Written
Very good read and very real to me. Thanks for all your work in this Larry.
Debbie Caul Amazon
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Blurred Blue Lines
Larry Avrech meets courage and fear in his story that waited to be told for more than three decades. This is a story of the complexity describing humans simply doing the best they can, and in that, others are sometimes harmed. A painful exploration of realities of emerging modern policing. Current leaders and police officers can use these decades old events as a guidelines for policing today.
Just as none of us are of a single story, neither is the story of the murder of Donna Gentile. The books walks the reader through a dark period of a large city police department and other county agencies, shining light into the shadows of corruption and acknowledging those striving to do the right thing.
The story could read like a novel of deception and intrigue yet it is a telling of real events, naming real places and describing real people. I had worked for he same department as a police officer during the era described by Larry. For me, the first few pages of the book activated many of my own real memories and experiences of the people around those events. Some of those memories were painful and sad, some brought smiles. It is a necessary part of being human that allow us to face it all.
Larry’s book, invites all readers and anyone with an interest in criminal justice and policing, to face the reality that policing is hard. Life is hard. Police departments are comprised of human beings, with all their strengths and weaknesses and frailties. They stumble. They fall. Yet, through it all, they rise back up to protect us.
Donna Gentile died. Larry Avrech felt persecuted and was terminated from his police career. Larry’s book may allow positive meaning to be placed around Donna’s death. Larry Avrech has found vindication.
Amazon Customer Amazon
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A Cop’s Inside Account of a Shocking Murder and the Fight to Clear his Name
In the summer of 1985, a 22-year-old street prostitute named Donna Gentile was found murdered, her body dumped on the side of a road in the remote Pine Valley area east of San Diego. Gentile was lying in the dirt and broken glass battered and nude, her clothes thrown on top of her. In a final chilling detail, her mouth and throat had been stuffed with gravel, a message from the murderer that Gentile had been killed for being a snitch. And she was a snitch. In addition to acting as a low-level police informant, she had been known to rat out a San Diego Police Officers when it served her interests.
Gentile’s murder was one in a string of murders of young prostitutes in the mid-1980s continues to haunt the city of San Diego to this day. Were they related? Was the right man convicted or is the killer still out there, responsible for even more murders spanning decades? Were members of the San Diego Police Department involved?
Author Larry Avrech addresses all of these mysteries and more. And he should know – Avrech is a former San Diego police officer who knew Gentile when he worked her area of town. He also found himself swept up in her orbit and accusations. With the help of a sympathetic senior member of the District Attorney’s office who recognized the injustice of the accusations, Avrech spent years uncovering and untangling the sordid relationship between Gentile and the department, eventually clearing his name of any wrongdoing, and playing a big role in identifying the real killer.
Avrech’s account of the story is full of twists, shocking developments, and is a thrill ride from start to finish.pch101 Amazon
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Kaaren Reed
This is based on a true murder.
This was a very interesting read. I was a San Diego Police Officer during the time period in this book. I did know Officer Larry Avrech as we both worked the same substation but we both moved on to other substations prior to this murder.
I had no idea that Larry was involved in the Donna Gentile murder investigation. I had read about the murder in the newspaper. I didn’t learn of his involvement until I read the book.
I feel Larry was the target because he was so interested in solving the murder which he continued to work even after he was terminated.
I can attest to the politics involved in this story, they were very real.
I congratulate Larry for his determination and courage. He suffered a great loss. Plus writing the book for others to understand his tenacity to finish and tell the true story.
Best wishes for your next book. I am looking forward to it.Kaaren Reed
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