"Seven narrators convincingly portray a dozen characters...By the surprise denouement, the listener is fully invested in their stories, and conflicted about a system that only occasionally metes out justice." -- AudioFile Magazine An electrifying, multi-voiced thriller tackling our criminal justice system, from the writer Michael Connelly has called “one of our most gifted novelists.” On December 6, 1993, a drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on the lawn outside her mother’s house in South Central Los Angeles. Augie, a heroin addict, witnesses the whole thing—before he steals all the drugs on her person, as well as the gun that was dropped at the scene. When Augie gets busted, he names local gang members Wizard and Dreamer the shooters. But only one of them is guilty. A search of Wizard and Dreamer’s premises uncovers the gun that was used in the shooting, and a warrant goes out for their arrest. They know it’s a frame-up, but the word from the gang is to keep their mouths shut and face the charges. With these two off the streets and headed for jail, Dreamer’s friend Little, the unlikeliest of new gang members, is given one job: discover how the gun got moved, and why. Played out in the streets, precincts, jails, and courtrooms of Los Angeles, Ryan Gattis's The System is the harrowing story of a crime—from moments before the bullets are fired, to the verdict and its violent aftershocks—told through the vivid chorus of those involved, guilty, the innocent, and everyone in between. A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux “Gripping, meticulously researched, and smartly plotted, I devoured this brilliant novel over the course of a weekend.” —Paula Hawkins, author of Into the Water “Fascinating, moving, and so very, very real. It grabbed me by the heart and mind from page one and never let me go.” —Marcia Clark, author of The Final Judgment
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“Seven narrators convincingly portray a dozen characters… By the surprise denouement, the listener is fully invested in their stories and conflicted about a system that only occasionally metes out justice.”
— AudioFile
“[A] pacy, polyphonic, hyper-real crime novel…Gripping, meticulously researched, and smartly plotted.”
— Paula Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author“The System is an odyssey through a legal system you know but you don’t know…its relevance and insight transforming an excellent thriller into a historical document.”
— Joe Ide, New York Times bestselling authorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Ryan Gattis is the author of Kung Fu High School, All Involved, Safe, and The System, which was longlisted for the 2021 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award. His books have received the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Lire Award for Noir of the Year in France, and the First Annual McIntyre’s Fine Books Mystery Prize. He is a member of the street art crew UGLARworks and a founding board member of 1888, a Southern California literary arts non-profit
Feodor Chin, an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an actor classically trained at the American Conservatory Theater and UCLA. His acting career includes numerous credits in film, television, theater, and voice-over.
Tim Campbell, winner of AudioFile Earphones Awards, is a narrator and actor based in Los Angeles, California. He studied at the University of California and earned a BA in music and theater and a certification from the prestigious Great Books program at Pepperdine University, where he graduated magna cum laude. He is also a classically trained singer and performs regularly with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Los Angeles Opera Chorus, as well as on studio soundtracks for film and television.
Timothy Andrés Pabon is an English- and Spanish-speaking voice-over artist who has worked extensively in advertising and audiobook narration. He has had acting roles on House of Cards and has also been a costar on HBO’s acclaimed series The Wire opposite country music legend Steve Earl. As a stage actor, he has worked off-Broadway at the June Havoc Theatre, and his regional credits include Center Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, the Hippodrome, Olney Theatre, Rep Stage, and GALA Hispanic Theatre.
Gary Galone comes to audiobooks as an actor, having been in the Screen Actors Guild for twenty-five years. His television credits include The Americans and the ABC/Hallmark movie The Makeover. In addition, he has performed in numerous voice-over projects. Galone resides in Massachusetts with his wife and their three daughters.