Ken Lang was a Maryland detective for over 23 years – a considerable chunk of that time was investigating rapes, robberies and homicides – and he has now turned his experiences of gritty crime scenes to true crime books.
Walking Among the Dead is non-fiction based on Lang’s actual working experiences but he has written it in a way that makes it read like a fiction novel. I liked the style. The writing was clean but not clinical and Lang came to life as the central character of the book. The crimes Lang recounts and the characters involved – criminals, police, lawyers and medical examiners, witnesses, families – are dealt with in a well-paced and sensitive way.
Far from being the stereotypical tortured, flawed and downright messy-personal-life detective, Lang makes reference, appropriately, to his Christian faith (not too much so it is off-putting) and how it works in his daily dealings with the underbelly of life.
I really enjoyed Walking Among the Dead. The detail was sufficient enough to give the reader a thorough insight into police procedures and how an investigation plays out, without it being boring. Interestingly, Lang is also a forensic artist, providing Maryland police agencies with composite sketches, post-mortem and age-enhancement drawings and skull reconstructions.
Lang wasn’t wrong when he titled his book Walking Among the Dead.
Walking Among the Dead is availeble from Smashwords
