Not very impressed. Lots of imagined dialogue. Not my favorite way to learn about a story.
Not cohesive. Lost fro one section to another. In my opinion, not good.

I began this sample of what seemed like a very interesting, true crime story. I heard it was rather controversial before it was even released, which made me want to read it even more. I didn't just stop at the sample and continued on to read the entire book. I really had some mixed feelings on this book. I'm intrigued as to all it took to get this story out. It was very interesting to hear how journalists go about their craft. But the hardest part for me was to get through the parts about the Public Records Act of California and how the journalists approached their requests with local departments and the expectations behind the information that wanted to have provided to them. On top of this, it really illustrated how important it is for a department to be consistent in their records releases. As demonstrated time over time, one release would include redacted information and the next request would be reviewed and released by someone else and the requestor got more information, in this case dispatch/personal information on callers. This just perpetuates that feeling that police departments aren't being transparent but I really feel like journalists aren't thoughtful about the right to know/need to know and the interpretation of privacy outweighing the public need to know. It's a slippery slope and this was a great example of how this can play out. But we have the flip side of this argument as well, had Pasadena PD not over released information, would the author have gotten the information he needed to break open this story and ultimately uncover the crimes and poor choices of those in powerful and trusted positions? So this book gets a high rating because it was definitely a conversation starter, made the reader consider there own ideas and beliefs, questioned our use of information and why/what we believe should be public for all to see, and discuss why people turn their heads the other way.

This is for the chapter sampler but I was actually able to read the whole book prior to this review.

This is my book of the year so far. Full of intrigue, shock and awe and reads like narrative non-fiction should. Kudos to the author and his team at the LA Times for uncovering and exposing stories like this. 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon for the ARC.

#netgalley #BadCity
Thanks to Netgalley, Caledon books and Paul pringle for sending this advance chapter from the book Bad City.
A novel of crime and corruption in 2016 Los Angeles, Paul Pringle, a Los Angeles Times reporter, has an excellent way of pulling you into the story, and the facts surrounding it. This chapter, from the book Bad City, is about the death of Dr. Carmen Puliafito, the head of USC's medical school from a drug overdose at an upscale hotel in Los Angeles. I enjoy the style of writing, and the story-telling itself is really well done. I was completely engaged in this story, the corruption and questions about this case and am going to seek this out to read. Expertly written and I was immersed in this crime and the story about it.

Bad City tells the truthful tale of unthinkable corruption in one of the most prestigious universities. It starts with the dean of the school of medicine and evolves into the cover up and other faculty. This book was a page turner. I enjoyed the chapter sampler so much from Net Galley I went out and purchased the full version of Bad City! Great investigative reporting of Paul Pringle and his team.

Really enjoyed this sampler of Bad City. The story is intriguing as all true crime tend to be. I can tell there's some weighty information to be divulged so when I pick up the full version I'll be sure to be in the right mood for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this sneak peak in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Bad City Chapter Sampler was so intriguing I immediately ordered the book for myself. I love stories about scandals, cities, & school/office politics and Bad City had all 3 in spades. Highly recommend!

Although I just read a single chapter, I was completely hooked and plan on buying a copy. This is one of those non-fiction books that read like fiction or true crime. The book seems to follow the story of corruption in LA, with a focus on USC. Based on what I've read, I definitely recommend this book!

Thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley, I received a copy of the Chapter Summary of Bad City, by Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Paul Pringle. Subtitled “Peril And Power In The City of Angels,” this nonfiction true crime thriller is a stunning expose of corruption in both city governments and academic institutions, featuring USC (known as University of Spoiled Children when I was growing up in Southern California).

Paul Pringle happened to get a tip about a potentially juicy story involving the Dean of the USC Medical School, Dr. Carmen Puliafito. The doc was present when a 911 call came in from a Pasadena hotel where he had been partying with his much younger drug addict girlfriend, whose dissolute lifestyle was funded by Puliafito, including her apartment, car, travel, and a boatload of drugs, including heroin and crystal meth (not to mention to bags of Xanax he would smuggle in to her in bags of Skittles when he visited her at the various pricy rehab facilities along the California Coast). Despite the presence of emergency personnel and police, the scandal was not reported and the University President seemed to want to do anything to cover it up.

The scandal was huge, and turned out to involve not only one of the most prestigious institutions in the state (as well as one of the largest employers in the region) — it spread into the newsroom itself. The book tells the tragic story of the young woman, the creepy and corrupt doctor (who was falling fast after a lifetime career filled with recognition and honors), and the struggling newspaper industry. It is extremely well written, and will be enjoyed by fans of true crime, journalism, higher education, and the impact of technology on culture. Five stars. BTW, I wasn’t sure what a “Chapter Sampler” was — turns out it is the first couple of chapters. They were so good, I immediately bought the full book so I could keep reading. Money well spent!

Read the chapter sampler and will be reading the full book. Sampler gave enough to pull you in. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

Must admit I had never heard of this scandal at USC but after reading this sampler I. can't wait to read more.
The writing is very compelling and drew me in right. away wanting to find out more.

Paul Pringle grabbed me right away and didn’t let go through this chapter sampler. I really liked how smoothly the information is presented. It reads like an engaging conversation about Dr. Puliafito and the scandals surrounding him and USC, as well as the individuals that were pulled into these events. I absolutely flew through this chapter sampler and was rather disappointed when I reached the end; this is a book I am going to have to read!

BAD CITY chapter sampler confirmed for me that this is going to be an amazing True Crime story.
I really enjoyed the description in the scenes and thought it was well thought out. I hadn’t heard of this case before and I know this will be a five star read for me when I read the finished copy.
This story does focus on drug abuse so if that is a sensitive topic for you, it would be best to avoid this one.
All in all, this is everything I want in a story & I look forward to the finished product. Thank you for the chapter sampler Celadon!

When a hotel manager discovers a young woman, barely dressed and unconscious in a hotel room with a man in his sixties, lots of drugs and tripod set up for filming, things do not look good. He moves the couple to another room and calls 911 for an ambulance and the police. Sounds like a front page story, but instead it is crickets, nothing. When someone gets away with this who turns out to be doctor who is the head of the USC Medical School, what do you do? Is there a cover up at USC, the police, the fire department's EMT service? Can you go to the press? Well, after a few chapters of intrigue in this true story of crime and cover-up, I'm left wanting to know more and how this story turns out. Thank you @NetGalley for a peak into this book.

Thank you so much to Celadon Books for the advanced copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

This is Paul Pringle's account of his investigation into the Dean of the USC Medical School for his involvement with a drug overdose and the subsequent reporting on George Tyndall, a gynecologist at USC. Pringle and his colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting, but this book includes more detail and information than is already publicly available. For me, some of the biggest new information focused on the number of institutions involved in the cover-up, including the Los Angeles Times and multiple police departments.

I greatly appreciated the behind the scenes look at how the stories evolved. Getting to see the process of investigative reporting, the politics, and the motivations of various institutions and their representatives was powerful.

I was surprised (though I shouldn't have been) by how many of Pringle's choices were motivated by his desire to be the first news outlet to get the scoop. This book highlights the declining resources in newsrooms and how important journalism is. But it is also a story of power and corruption across so many levels.

There was more about the architecture and background of buildings than I needed or found interesting, but overall this book was extremely well written and organized. I read it in a single day.

This hit me personally as someone who used to live in the area and had ties to many of the institutions involved. I am so grateful for the work of ethical journalists who hold power to account for the public. I highly recommend this to everyone.

4.5 stars rounded up

After reading this sampler I am completely intrigued with the case at USC involving Dr. Carmen Puliafito, the Dean of one of their departments. Clearly, he had been protected and invisible amongst his nefarious acts.

The beginning pages of this nonfiction novel feel similar to Bad Blood and the lining up of what was rally happening in "the City of Angel". It is similarly written by Paul Pringle, the journalist who uncovered the corruption.

Looking forward to reading this wholly soon! Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advance e-copy of the beginning chapters.

This Bad City chapter sampler hooked me right away and I am intrigued to learn more about this story related to USC, which I previously wasn’t familiar with. I enjoy well-done investigative journalism stories and from this sampler, Bad City appears to fall in that category.

Compelling sample! I'm looking forward to reading the full book when it's released. Thank you for this sample!

These sample chapters were very interesting. I like tha this true crime story cams from the journalist who investigated it rather from law enforcement. I’m also very interested in the look he took into law enforcement and their lack of investigation as that isn’t a piece I’ve see as much in when I read true crime stories. The writing is really good and I definitely got sucked in. This book will be a must read for me!

Being a fan of Spotlight and true crime stories, I just knew I would enjoy this chapter excerpt. The excerpt did not disappoint.

I just can't imagine that Bad City is a work of non-fiction as it reads like a fiction novel. Further, I just can't believe that those incidents mentioned actually took place. It's such an eye opener when corruption is revealed at establishments that you know and blindly trust.

The author did an excellent job of describing the events that led up to his investigative reporting. It will be interesting to read how, if any, the so called pillars of the city/community get taken down and exposed for their corruption. Five stars.

I received a digital chapter excerpt from Celadon Books through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.