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Book

Black tunnel white magic : a murder, a detective's obsession, and '90s Los Angeles at the brink

Call Number

  • 364.1523 J138 (CEN, OSH, WSQ)

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Edition

First North American edition.

Publication Information

New York : Mulholland Books : Little, Brown and Company, 2025.

Physical Description

xiv, 512 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Summary

"In June 1990, Ronald Baker, a straight-A UCLA student, was found repeatedly stabbed to death in a tunnel near Spahn Ranch, where Charles Manson and his followers once lived. Shortly thereafter, Detective Rick Jackson and his partner, Frank Garcia, were assigned the case. Yet the facts made no sense. Who would have a motive to kill Ron Baker in such a grisly manner? Was the proximity to the Manson ranch related to the murder? And what about the pentagram pendant Ron wore around his neck? Jackson and Garcia soon focused their investigation on Baker's two male roommates, one Black, and one white. What emerges is at once a story of confounding betrayal and cold-hearted intentions, as well as a larger portrait of an embattled Los Angeles, a city in the grip of the Satanic Panic and grappling with questions of racial injustice and police brutality in the wake of Rodney King. In straightforward, matter-of-fact prose, Rick Jackson, the now-retired police detective who helped inspire Michael Connelly's beloved Harry Bosch, along with co-writer, Matthew McGough, take us through the events as he and his partner experienced them, piecing together the truth with each emerging clue. Black Tunnel White Magic is the true story of a murder in cold blood, deception and betrayal, and a city at the brink, set forth by the only man who could tell it." --

Contents

  • The betrayal. Holy terror (June 21 to 22, 1990) ; "Mr. Baker, we have your son" (June 21 to 24, 1990) ; Partners in crime (June 24, 1990) ; "I always thought Ron would be there" (June 26 to 30, 1990) ; Deception indicated (July 2 to 6, 1990) ; "The coolest motherfucker I've ever dealt with" (July 7 to 11, 1990) ; "Not a flight risk" (July 12 to 24, 1990) ; On the run? (July 25 to August 3, 1990) ; The roller coaster (August 6 to 22, 1990) ; "Things to do" (September 4, 1990 to January 21, 1992) ; A request for immunity (February 6 to 10, 1992)
  • The second betrayal. King for a day (February 10, 1992) ; Blood warrant (February 11 to July 6, 1992) ; "Where the hell have you been?" (July 9 to 13, 1992) ; "No changes, no edits" (July 18 to October 21, 1992) ; "It's too bad we had to meet under these circumstances" (October 21, 1992 to January 23, 1993) ; "I need you for one more day" (February 9 to 17, 1993) ; "A hugging circle" (February 22 to June 10, 1993) ; "A murder that someone else did" (June 30 to July 16, 1993)
  • The third betrayal. The burglary (December 13, 1993 to March 4, 1994) ; Deputy D.A. Marcia Clark (May 13 to June 12, 1994) ; Governor's warrant (June 20 to November 14, 1994) ; The passport investigator (November 28, 1994 to February 26, 1996) ; Judgment day (March 18 to 29, 1996) ; Equal justice? (June 3 to August 26, 1996) ; My return to the scenes of the crimes (1996 to 2020)
  • The final betrayal. "By virtue of the authority vested in me" (June 21 to December 7, 2020) ; A shallow dive for the truth (December 8, 2020) ; And in the end, the life you take is equal to... (January 25, 2021 to April 26, 2022).

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