LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. The Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal Hardcover – April 2, 2002

Overall, I enjoyed reading Labyrinth by Randall Sullivan. This book followed Detective Poole on his various investigations. These investigations include the cop-on-cop shooting of Frank Lyga, and the highly controversial murders of Tupac and The Notorious BIG. The subject was interesting to me because I am a huge fan of hip-hop music. Also, the crime, corruption, and investigations in this book kept me entertained. Sullivan keeps the reader in the know, by giving out necessary background history, as it comes up in the investigations. This was great because I was not very familiar with the incidents that lead to these murders. He is able to do all of this this all while giving an in depth review of Poole’s discoveries. This gave me a good sense of how the characters were connected, what they were feeling, and why they did the things they did. Sullivan also, does a great job of conveying Detective Poole’s thoughts and frustrations, while maintaining an objective viewpoint. This book gives history on many incidents regarding gang violence, the hip-hop community, and police corruption. Specifically, this book does a great job focusing on the events leading to the murders of Tupac and Notorious BIG. It captures the emotions of everyone involved and draws conclusions based on the evidence uncovered by Poole. I am happy I read this book because of all the information I have gained from it. It was also entertaining and kept me interested. Sullivan was extremely convincing, and he appears to have done extensive research in order to pick out the facts. The one downside to this book was that all the different crimes were a lot to keep track of. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to gain insights into the truth behind the murders of Tupac and Notorious BIG. Also, this book is for anyone who wants to learn about general gang violence, police corruption, and racial tensions in LA. This book is one of the few reliable sources of information regarding the highly controversial murders of Tupac and The Notorious BIG. It should be the first choice for anyone looking to learn more on the subject.

Being an outsider when it comes to all things concerning Rap, Hip Hop, Bloods and Crips, and surely the immense success this life has provided to some key figures, I must admit that this book reads more live a True Crime book than anything else, and in that capacity is a powerful tale of greed, violence, and plain reckless behavior.
It kind of proves the point that our society seems immune to the action of bullies, corrupted law enforcement, and violent behavior, to only name a few of the reality this book depicts very efficiently.
Who needs Hollywood to thrill the innocent bystander, when all these bloody episodes are taking place in real life? Let's just say that Mr. Randall Sullivan knows his subject matter, and writes with a steady hand, offering one more glimpse into a world denied to most. Who would have thought this thug type of world, where talent and violence walk hand to hand, and excessive riches defy description, would be so easy and fun to read from the comfort of an uneventful suburban residence. 4.5 Stars.

LAbyrinth is a intense non-fiction novel written by Randall Sullivan that follows the deaths of the rappers Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. as well as the criminal involvement of the infamous producer Suge Knight. Personally, I thought this book was fantastic. I have been a fan of both of their music as long as I can remember but being just over a year old when B.I.G. was killed I knew nothing of them in the media, just their music. By the time I was old enough to comprehend their entire story they were old news and left me to do my own research, information that was belittled by what I got from this book. This book gives you every ounce of information their stories had to offer while still managing to keep the reader captivated.
The novel has first person accounts to incidents that occurred through the rappers’ lifetime. It contains interviews from people of all sorts of affiliation, such as family, friends, coworkers, and victims. By involving the vast amount of resources he did, Sullivan is seemingly trustworthy in his writing. However, through his work he does display a bias against Suge Knight. To be fair though there really is no benefit of the doubt with Knight, which is a point Sullivan conveys through his writing. This is done by the multiple times Sullivan sarcastically mentions that both Suge’s accusers and opposers in varying circumstances suddenly recant their position and are silent.
Being born in 1996 I was never too knowledgeable of gangster rap of the 80s and 90s, as I mentioned previously I was just too young when this was “current” news. I always thought Tupac didn’t like Biggie because he was from the East coast and visa versa, which isn’t the case. This book does an excellent job from telling the story from start to finish, and by start I mean every single character of involvements upbringing. The book is extremely informative in that nature. I learned that is was much more than just two rappers, there was involvement by kingpin producers, famous rappers like Snoop Dog, Eazy-E and others, and to my shock LAPD.
As direct and resourceful as this book is, it does have an underlying implication of dirty police. It doesn’t intend to turn the anti-police officer but it does explain exactly why these people were getting away with what they did. It is important to know that corruption was running rampant. Suge was undoubtedly a kingpin linked to deaths, murders, and other crime. He dirty police working for him both in secret and in plain sight. This came to light after the death of Kevin Gaines.
I 100% would recommend this book to a friend and already have. Despite the intense amount of information it never becomes overwhelming and remains to be an easy read. It is evident Randall Sullivan put an extreme amount of effort into this book and it shows. This book would be perfect for not only any rap fan out there but those who are interested in crime as well, it follows the case thoroughly and never just reveals anything out of the timeline. Great for a coffee table read or a large investment of your day, you will not be disappointed!