5 out of 5 stars
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I remember the thrill of watching police chases in movies. Whether it was in a car or on foot, I enjoyed it. So I was very surprised to enjoy it as well while reading this book, My Pound of Flesh, even though it was not visual. This book was written by William Thielman. It was a memoir that talked about his childhood, his time as a Marine, and his time as a police officer.
Hard drugs are very harmful. Yet, some ignore this fact. In this book, I got my convictions affirmed by one such story on the use of hard drugs. So there was this distress call that came in from a young lady complaining about her boyfriend. When Williams and his partner got to the place, they first noticed the untidy and smelly appearance of the lady. It turned out that her boyfriend, who was addicted to methamphetamine, had locked their 3-year-old daughter in the cupboard and stuck their newborn son in a tube sock. The little girl was also molested because a doctor found uncanny items like a toy inside of her. It was heartbreaking to read about the condition of these children, who were unfortunate to have drug-addicted parents.
This book was quite interesting. I got to read about the other side of America that wasn't always written about. William's time with the Marines was intriguing. It was sad to read about Poland in the 1980s when they were faced with political and economic instabilities. The author mentioned one time when he was privileged to go up a tall tower at night to get a good view of Berlin. He noticed that East Berlin was dark and quiet, whereas West Berlin was bright and vibrant. When he used his binoculars, he noticed some of the residents of West Berlin looking out their windows toward East Berlin. It was so touching to guess what they were thinking as they looked out at East Berlin.
There was nothing I disliked about this book. The only negative feeling I got while reading was reading about the author being denied help by the government for which he had spent his vigor serving. When I first started reading this book, I was amazed by the author's diligence toward his work. The police department had always looked like a place filled with corruption to me. So, from this book, it was joyful for me to realize that there were honest ones in the force who were doing their best to help civilians. William's accomplishments raised my hopes for the police force. But soon everything came crashing down when he told stories of the corruption taking place in the department. He was even a victim of it. Having spent 31 years actively serving in the police, it was sad that he was denied compensation that would help him with his health.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. I found some errors. It was professionally edited. I learned a lot from the different stories told by the author in this book. I was hooked from its beginning to the end. I recommend this book to police officers. I also recommend it to young ones with the zeal to serve in the force and to authorities who are capable of addressing the issues raised by the author in this book.
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My Pound of Flesh
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