Customer Reviews

Ready for the People: My Most Chilling Cases as a Prosecutor

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As someone lucky enough to get an advance copy of "Ready for the People", My Most Chilling Cases as a Prosecutor. I can tell you that this book is much more than an account of three horrifying crimes and their progression through "the system."
Deputy District Attorney Batt provides an essential course in criminal justice that is invaluable for anyone connected with our legal system and for everyone who wants to know the whole truth.
The reader will see the crimes as they are committed, watch as the cases are tried, and hear what the crooks, cops, victims, lawyers, and judges really say, on and off the record. This book reads like a novel and I had to keep reminding myself that it is all true: the pain of the victims, the viciousness of the criminals, the strength and dedication of some of the characters and the bigotry and ignorance of others, even among those sworn to uphold the law.
I was drawn so completely into the action that I found myself cheering when things went well, gasping in horror when they didn't, and laughing out loud at times. Mercifully, there is plenty of humor to leaven the heavy load of misery in these chilling tales.
"Ready for the People" is a legal textbook, a Buddhist study of putting faith into action, a fast-paced and completely absorbing thriller, and a celebration of the strength of the human spirit. Buy the book!

...of the L.A. justice system. I won't repeat the other reviews, but two or three things deserve note. First, Johnnie Cochran wrote the introduction...high praise indeed. Second, the appendix - "Twenty-five rules for giving effective testimony" - is interesting reading in itself. Overall, the book is not compelling reading, not forcing you to read it in one sitting, but it's interesting and varied. I consumed it in three sittings if memory serves. The pace is generally good, although I felt the Buddhism dragged a bit, but that was only a couple of instances. So - recommended - *especially* if you are a fan of mysteries set in Los Angeles! I await Marissa Batt's next work with more than a little interest.

Ms. Batt gives a good view of how the criminal justice system works without getting into boring details. It kept my interest and I couldn't put it down, as when I'm reading a good novel. The characters involved in the three cases were well-developed. I hope she writes a sequel.

Marissa is erudite, quick, fun, funny, committed to social justice and truth, and and an acute observer of human behavior. Her friend Johnnie Cochran describes her (in the introduction!) as "a prosecutor's prosecutor. She is full of zeal for her profession and possesses an insider's knowledge of the criminal justice system." She's also devoted herself to Buddhism for over 30 years, as well as to the mastery of the culinary arts. All of these elements figure in her very unusual book.

Besides telling three compelling and hair-raising tales, Marissa shares aloud the unspoken rules of the courtroom, and offers appreciative and insightful looks into the lives of law enforcement professionals, and denizens of South Central LA and the gay demimonde of Hollywood.

As a skillful storyteller, she is compassionate without becoming maudlin, and righteous without losing her sense of humor.

I am looking forward to her next book, which I understand is under way!

Marissa has the heart of a warrior. Her stories are classic story telling with spell binding revelations of what the truth is when it comes to crimes and the criminal mind. Her attention to detail, coupled with a sense of the world of the victim, allows the reader to be a prosecutor seeking justice for the people. The criminal procedural aspects of the criminal courts are cleanly explained with no chance of misunderstanding that lawyering is still an art when done with a heart. Marissa injects the calmness of her buddhist philosophy into the psyche of the reader to allow a deeper appreciation of the law and the victim equation.

As a criminal defense attorney, I usually avoid "true accounts" written by prosecutors as they tend to be one-sided, self-serving renditions of cases that could be won by a first year law student. The usual story involves a clear cut case where the District Attorney is representing the forces of right (the good people of the State) while the defense is usually some bad dude who deserves a long vacation in Prison. Of course the good guys prevail and the prosecutor is the hero. Good and Evil, Right and Wrong are clearly defined and everybody leaves happy. Not so with Ms. Batt's book. Besides her personal disappointment at the result of one of her cases, she manages to show that all is not black and white - urban life and particularly the criminal justice system present a myriad of situations where the lines become blurred. Her cases are interesting in that there are victims - individuals who by virtue of their own life choices are often viewed as not deserving of protection by the law and the system. Besides showing the underside of life, Batt also manages to forcefully demonstrate the maxim that "no man is above the law and no man is below it."
A great read, colorful, fast paced and real...I loved it.

I had the good fortune of purchasing this book while looking for something else. Normally I am not a huge fan of true crime books but whether or not this is a genre you typically read you will enjoy this book. It reads like fiction in that the stories are both extremely compelling and extremely well written. The perspective of an experienced prosecutor who, unlike fiction, doesn't always win makes this both a sobering and surprisingly funny book. Maybe the best review I can give is that I bought and finished the book within 24 hours.

I received this as a Christmas present on Christmas eve. Because
I am impatient, I opened it immediately. I had finished it before midnight ! !
This was a great read. Although it is non-fiction, it feels like
a good novel. Ms. Batt obviously is a master at her chosen field
of Prosecuting Attorney, and also obviously enjoys her work.
She had me enjoying it, too. I want to know why she has not written more...
I definitely want to read more from her.

What makes this book so compelling is that you get to hear the perspective of the actual prosecutor in the cases described. Through Marissa Batt's words, you get a virtual tour of the way the Los Angeles legal system works, or in some cases doesn't work. You are introduced to characters that actually inhabit Los Angeles, who actually went through the situations described - cases that are so intense and bizarre, they seem unbelievable. Through it all, you get a comprehensive version of the legal system mirroring human lives and decisions, as seen through the eyes of a person who does their job with integrity, intensity, and strength of character. READ THIS BOOK! It is a thorougly enjoyable read though shocking and extremely upsetting at times.