"Stratton’s latest book . . . details his treacherous trip through the federal prison system with an unfiltered voice and a knack for finding humor in the most desolate of spaces.”—New York Post
"Richard Stratton's powerful memoir Kingpin is a sharp reminder that 'Orange' in not the 'New Black.' There is nothing romantic or exotic about a trip through the criminal justice system and federal prison. Stratton's page-turning account takes us through the mendacity of the criminal justice system, with its relentless drive to turn him into an informer, and into the arbitrary and casual brutality of prison life. Spoiler alert: Stratton refused to snitch and emerged with his principles intact. But he paid a heavy price for fighting the war on drugs."—Ronald L. Kuby, civil rights and criminal defense attorney
"“There is nothing abstract or contentious about Richard Stratton's Kingpin, an indictment of America's severely flawed and corrupt system of criminal justice. He has experienced it all at firsthand, spending eight years on a journey through the squalid prisons and politically tainted courts, from Los Angeles to New York and points between. His story is told in the first person and present tense which gives it an immediacy and pace that catches the reader early and won't let go. At one point, recounting his harrowing experience, Stratton writes. ‘But then, just maybe I will make it through and live long enough to write about it. That is my secret desire, my solitary plan.’ He has fulfilled his desire, accomplished his plan, and succeeded brilliantly.” Convicting the Innocent: Death Row and America's Broken System of Criminal Justice." —Stanley Cohen, author of Convicting the Innocent: Death Row and America's Broken System of Criminal Justice
"Stratton's portrait of prison life is unsparing . . . This prison memoir stands out due to Stratton's elite criminal status and also the quality of his writing, which tends to be observant, mordant, and sometimes hilariously vulgar. A pulpy, well-crafted recollection of time behind bars packed with unsettling questions about society's embrace of mass imprisonment and the drug war.” —Kirkus Reviews
Kingpin
Prisoner of the War on Drugs (Cannabis Americanan: Remembrance of the War on Plants, Book 2)
