This is a grimly fascinating book, in the category of truth-is-stranger-than fiction. On January 1, 1973, a sniper began picking off police officers as they reported to duty at the "Central Lockup" in New Orleans. Then he disappeared. A week later gunfire--and just plain fire---broke out in the Downtown Howard Johnson's hotel in the same city. Police spent most of two days attempting to flush out the sniper, whose urban guerilla tactics led police to believe there were at least 2 and possibly 3 gunmen in the hotel. Lack of communication and coordination among the various police and fire departments made a terrifying situation even worse. Eventually a Marine helicopter "on leave" from Vietnam was called in to carry police sharpshooters above the rooftop in an attempt to find and exterminate the snipers. I watched this unfold on TV from my home across the river from New Orleans---the first time such an event had been followed live on TV as far as I can remember (long before "Cops", or OJ and the Bronco.) This account by a journalist took me right back there, and even though this time I knew how it was going to end, the suspense was maintained in the telling---it reads like a movie-thriller. Then there are the underlying social issues of racial tension, officially sanctioned discrimination, disillusioned youth, racial hatred and bureaucratic incompetence, none of which have disappeared in the 30 years since this drama played out. ( )