Rating: 
Summary: Well-written true story
Review: As an ex-LA cop, Wambaugh in this book documents his facts well. However, this is the only true-crime book in his repertoire where he keeps in mind that a crime has been committed. The reason why? The victims were cops.Notwithstanding this detail, which takes nothing from the horrid crime and the pain to the victims' families, Wambaugh never downplays the brutality of the case (in respect to his fellow officers) while the criminals in this case he duly brings to justice, if it can be called justice. Two instances in the book represent Wambaugh's attention to detail, yet they give nothing to the character of either the cops/victims or the criminals. The fact that the detail appears also in the film (which Wambaugh scripted) demonstrates the immaturity of the man. One of the criminals has sex with his partner's girlfriend just before the other's arrival, and our culprit sniffs the air to gauge his probability of detection. Of the two police together, they wrestle down a gorilla of a man brought in for booking, and afterwards show a little of that macho party spirit, that in the end they had been victorious -- the perp was also gay. If you can avoid Wambaugh's actual personality, the book is a compelling work of presenting a horrible crime and its aftermath. If you can stomach any of his other "true-crime" books, give serious reflection to his Wambaugh's handling of things in this one.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe I waited so long to read this book.
Review: I lived in Los Angeles in 1963 and I've seen the movie several times, but not until I picked up a used copy of the book out of the Good Will this last week did I read the written account. As usual, the book is ten times better than the movie. It's gripping and very hard to put down. The sadness of what happens to the surviving police detective is so frustrating and seems, today, so unnecessary. Of course, we forget that seeking help from therapists and even talking about your innermost fears(called "burdening others" with your problems), etc. were not the vogue in 1963. If they had been, this story might have ended differently. I was particularly interested in the author's references to local landmarks which made the story come alive for me. What makes it eerier is that the area of the onion field where the murder took place is not all that far from the city but even so, it's strictly away from city life, kind of up in the hills, pitch dark at night and isolated with nothing but a big lonely highway running through surrounding fields growing a variety of crops. Oddly enough, regarding the two sleazoid criminals, at times they seemed more intelligent than some of the defense attorneys. Fantastic story! I predict it will stay with you for days after reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Master Storyteller Joseph Wambaugh shifts from fiction to non-fiction for this riveting account of the execution of a Los Angeles police officer and its aftermath. This excellent book was brought to the screen in a fairly accurate rendition starring James Woods and Ted Danson at the beginnings of their respective careers. Of the book I must say that my realization of the identity of the gardener late in the narrative was one of the most moving and dramatic experiences of my reading life. Wambaugh is a genius!
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Master Storyteller Joseph Wambaugh shifts from fiction to non-fiction for this riveting account of the execution of a Los Angeles police officer and its aftermath. This excellent book was brought to the screen in a fairly accurate rendition starring James Woods and Ted Danson at the beginnings of their respective careers. Of the book I must say that my realization of the identity of the gardener late in the narrative was one of the most moving and dramatic experiences of my reading life. Wambaugh is a genius!
Rating: 
Summary: If you like true crime
Review: Most true crime stories are very tedious, very detailed, which is necessary, but this one takes the cake. If this had been fiction I don't know if I would have been able to finish it. I had to keep telling myself the information was taken directly from the court records, otherwise it would have seemed ridiculous and unbelievable. It's only redeeming trait is the psychological profile of Karl Hettinger---excellent! This part of the story was very well written with great insight into the effect the occurence had on Hettinger and how that effect manifested itself. Since it is a true story, it shows alot about the workings of our justice system and how criminals use it to try to get out of their just punishment.
Rating:
Summary: It's so unbelievable it has to be true. Sadly, it is.
Review: The cruel slaying of LAPD Officer Ian Campbell and the sadistic hunt for his surviving partner, Karl Hettinger in a Bakersfield onion field is vividly recounted in this Wambaugh non-fiction classic. Additionally, in-depth and fascinating studies are made of the cold-blooded killers, Gregory Powell and Jimmy Lee Smith. Finally, the heartbreaking psychological deterioration of Officer Karl Hettinger, a victim of survivor's guilt and hard-nosed, ignorant superiors is recounted in painful detail. An agonizing, dark, and horrible page in California history.
Rating:
Summary: Wambaugh's Best.
Review: The Onion Field is a top shelf book. It's the in-depth analysis of the true story of a 1963 event in Los Angeles. Two cops pull over two crooks in an otherwise routine traffic stop. But the desperate crooks get the drop on the cops, get their guns, kidnap them, drive them out to an onion field in the countryside, and murder one of them. One of the cops escapes death, but is haunted by guilt over the death of his partner and his inability to help. The murderers are captured, tried, convicted, and then retried over and over again on appeal. The surviving cop is further savaged when the LAPD uses the case in training as an example of all the wrong things a cop can do when stopping and approaching cars. Haunted by horrific memories, saddened by the loss of his partner, wracked by guilt, ostracized by his own, and repeatedly tormented by defense attorneys in one retrial after another, the cop suffers emotional meltdown. Wambaugh, takes us meticulously through the crime, second by second, and then tells the surviving cop's powerful and moving story: the destruction of a forgotten victim. This is as good as it gets. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
Rating:
Summary: A true classic in the true crime genre
Review: This book remains one of the best true crime books ever written. It follows the lives of both the victims and the perpetrators, and explains how each winded up where they did. The surviving police officer's life eventually fell apart after he survived the Onion Field incident; this was long before they coined the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A fascinating read, and a must-read for fans of crime literature.
Rating:
Summary: eerie real life drama
Review: This is an eeerie real life account of what happened back in 1963. the details of the investigation both shock and frustrated me as I could not believe our justice system essentially allowed these two criminals so muck leeway. The surviving cop's life became a testament to why stricted laws needed to be put in place and why therapy is something that allows a cleansing of the soul for those who need it.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: This is an interesting book. See the movie, too. People mention Capote's IN COLD BLOOD in previous reviews, and Wambaugh used that book as a model for this one, and even used Capote's release forms to get interviews. Wambaugh could not get the surviving cop to tell the story so that Wambaugh could write the book. When Wambaugh told him about this book idea, and how it wasn't going to happen, Capote encouraged him to keep at it. So, with Capote's encouragement, Wambaugh finally got the surviving cop to cooperate, and the book got written. The whole subtext of the book is what I find fascinating, and that is: the surviving cop, who could not help his partner being killed, felt guilt that destroyed him emotionally. But the actual murderer and his partner felt no guilt whatsoever. Psychopaths can not feel guilt, even after they've murdered. The innocent man felt guilty, and the guilty men felt innocent. It's an incredible and wrenching and tragic contrast that underlies this whole book. I recommend it.
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