Ian Olds

A young ex-communicated seminarian, Ike "Vikar" Jerome, arrives in Los Angeles on the same August day in 1969 that a crazed hippie ''family'' led by Charles Manson commits five savage murders.

A former Afghan journalist seeking asylum discovers the dark underbelly of his new small-town home in Northern California.

Driven to contain threats to social order, American policing has exploded in scope and scale over hundreds of years. Now, it can be described by one word: power.