A Crime in the Neighborhood

A Crime in the Neighborhood earns a solid 3. (I explained my book ratings in February.) This book is an easy read but only because of the style in which it is written, no crazy sentence structures, difficult context, rarely seen vocabulary, etc. The content is somewhat difficult to wade through - a child is molested and murdered, a father has an affair and leaves his family, a young girl discovers her darker, manipulative self - as much of what happens is not considered the nice, fluffy, happy stuff of childhood. Perhaps that is why the book is such an interesting read. Here's a shockingly relevant section that stood out enough to have me relay it here:

Setup - The neighbors are discussing the newly created "Neighborhood Night Watch" that has been established since the murder of the young boy:

"That evening, Mrs. Lauder told my mother that Mr. Lauder and the other men intended to question any unfamiliar men they encountered on their rounds.

'They're going to say, "State your business." And if the guy can't explain why he's here, they're going to drive him over to the police station.'

'I think that may be unconstitutional,' my mother said.

Mrs. Lauder looked suprised. 'Don't you want to keep the kids safe? That's all they're trying to do.'"

Chilling, isn't it?

Consider the President's claim that he can do whatever he deems "necessary" in order to keep Americans safe. As one of my coworkers recently stated: "Those that choose safety over freedom deserve neither." If you have any questions about what that means, see me. I'm happy to explain.

Back to the book, it hits the biggies in literature - fear, regret, love and more importantly loss of love, innocence vs. maturity, greed. I'd take a million books like this over Dan Brown's horrifically large pieces o' crap books any day.