Michael F. Wendland

On June 2, 1976 Don Bolles, a reporter for the Phoenix newspaper Arizona Republic was assassinated via car bomb in downtown Phoenix in broad daylight.

Soon afterward a local hood started bragging about how he'd done the hit, but that he'd get away with it thanks to powerful connections. He had good reason to think so. What he & his employers hadn't counted on was Bolles's circle of friends and connections. Bolles had recently helped organize an organization of investigative reporters and editors, which took on Bolles's murder as its first cooperative project. Some the nation's best investigative reporters descended on Phoenix, not only to investigate the murder but also to finish the story that got Bolles killed.

It sounds inspiring but the details are sordid. The reporters discover widespread drug smuggling, human smuggling, fraud, prostitution, mob connections, thuggery, and general nastiness. And that doesn't even count the crooks. Corruption is everywhere, from Phoenix cops to federal Border Patrol agents to favorite son Barry Goldwater (though his guilt is mostly by association and not always convincing). Honestly, the corruption is so far-reaching that I sometimes wondered whether the author wasn't painting Arizona a color more lurid than it deserved. Balanced or not, it's interesting and infuriating and recommended to anyone who enjoys muckraking journalism.… (plus d'informations)