In the Heat of the Night

Rating:
Summary: I read this book, it's entertaining, and interesting
Review: I have watched the movie when it came on TBS. Then I decide to read the book. I thought the book was going to be boring, but I couldn't put it down. The book takes place in an Carolinan city call Wells. There's the chief, William Gillespie and the officer, Sam Woods. Suddenly, an African American dectective name Virgil Tibbs, which is from Pasenda, California, was coming through Wells, but the cops caught him. At the station, Tibbs told the chief he was a detective from California. This book will enlight and anger people on how blacks was treated in the deep south.

Ok, in the book, they are busy trying to solve a murder of some musician. So, Tibbs decide to help them, because he was a detective. They finally find the criminal, and they find out Sam Woods was a pervert. And at the end, Tibbs return back to California and Gillespie decide to become friends with Tibbs. Ok, I read this book 2-3 times. I also watch the series on TNT and WGN and I can't even change the channels... Read the book today, because you won't be able to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: A book on prejudice
Review: In grade 9 my teacher made me read this book. Now I have read it and seen the movie. I am 39, and I still need to watch the movie every time its on T.V. Why me?Please allyou people, don't read it. you'll be John Ball Junkies.

Rating:
Summary: In the Heat of the Night
Review: In the Heat of the Night

In the book "In the Heat of the Night" by John Ball, a murder happens in a small south during the 60's in a town called Wells. A police officer by the name of Sam Wood, found a body in the middle of the highway on a hot night. After the medics and other officers arrived, Sam went to the train station to see if the murder would try to skip town. He found a black man sitting at the station, so he took him in. When he took the black man in he finds out his name is Virgil Tibbs and that he is a police officer from Pasadena.

Virgil then is put on the case, and is given a car, and a place to stay. Virgil and Sam go up to the Endicott place to ask the murdered mans daughter a few questions. They leave and go back to the station, and the police have found two suspects. Virgil questions them for a while and then lets them go.

The book is sensationally; I strongly suggest that you read this book. It's and good mystery novel, I absolutely love the book.

Rating:
Summary: A mystery novel of a classic detective that solves the case
Review: The novel by John Ball is exciting from start to finish because every page is signifacant and important. The details described by Mr. Ball is so vivid that I felt as if I was actually besides Virgil Tibbs, who is a black detective in Wells. He is convicted of a murder, mainly because of his skin color. But mr. Tibbs proves that he is a 15 yr. vet as an investigator for the Pasedena Police Department. He helps the inexperience of the wells police by solving the immposible murder case. Mr. Ball uses descriptive action verbs and adjectives that captures the readers attention. This is a geat mystery novel because Mr. Tibbs reminds me of a great detective named Sherlock Holmes.

Rating:
Summary: In the Heat of the Night
Review: This book is not bad at all, but it isn't good either, if you read it you will have a nice time, but at the end of it you will have nothing, is a good reading if you don't have another book to read, the story of the black investigator is simple and is not a page turner book, so maybe you won't finish it.

Rating:
Summary: better on race than its more serious rivals
Review: Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery and subsequently made into an Academy Award winning movie and successful TV series, In the Heat of the Night is only a decent mystery, but it's a great book about race. Though the book is different in many respects from the better known film, at its core it is still about the dilemmas faced by a proud black detective who is forced to help with a murder investigation in the Deep South, and by the white police officers who are forced to confront the disparity between their prejudices and the reality of this competent, likable fellow officer.

Though the main clash of characters occurs between Virgil Tibbs and Chief Gillespie--particularly in the movie where Poitier and Steiger were the stars--in many ways the key character in the novel is Sam Wood, the conscientious patrolman, later a suspect in the crime, who is young enough, open-minded enough, and resentful enough of Gillespie to give Tibbs a fair shake. More than anything, Sam is enamored with his own role as a law enforcement officer. He's clearly looking for a role model and it's fascinating to watch him struggle with the idea that Virgil, though black, may be the ideal person to emulate.

The racial and moral questions that animate the story help to overcome some rather stilted dialogue and a too frequent recourse to ending scenes with a shocking cliffhanger revelation from Virgil--for instance : "You see, sir, I know it for a fact that you've got the wrong man." Then again this was Ball's maiden effort, and some lapses into formula are to be expected. The book deserves to be read and remembered for its groundbreaking presentation of an unreservedly heroic black and its salutary message : that men should be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. The online magazine Salon ran a column several years ago suggesting that the film version of In the Heat of the Night might be one of the most profound movies ever made about race in America. The book too can stand its own ground alongside other, more "literary," texts like Invisible Man and Native Son; and it's message of hope and the possibility of progress has proven it more prophetic than its more revered rivals.

GRADE : A-

Rating:
Summary: better on race than its more serious rivals
Review: Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery and subsequently made into an Academy Award winning movie and successful TV series, In the Heat of the Night is only a decent mystery, but it's a great book about race. Though the book is different in many respects from the better known film, at its core it is still about the dilemmas faced by a proud black detective who is forced to help with a murder investigation in the Deep South, and by the white police officers who are forced to confront the disparity between their prejudices and the reality of this competent, likable fellow officer.

Though the main clash of characters occurs between Virgil Tibbs and Chief Gillespie--particularly in the movie where Poitier and Steiger were the stars--in many ways the key character in the novel is Sam Wood, the conscientious patrolman, later a suspect in the crime, who is young enough, open-minded enough, and resentful enough of Gillespie to give Tibbs a fair shake. More than anything, Sam is enamored with his own role as a law enforcement officer. He's clearly looking for a role model and it's fascinating to watch him struggle with the idea that Virgil, though black, may be the ideal person to emulate.

The racial and moral questions that animate the story help to overcome some rather stilted dialogue and a too frequent recourse to ending scenes with a shocking cliffhanger revelation from Virgil--for instance : "You see, sir, I know it for a fact that you've got the wrong man." Then again this was Ball's maiden effort, and some lapses into formula are to be expected. The book deserves to be read and remembered for its groundbreaking presentation of an unreservedly heroic black and its salutary message : that men should be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. The online magazine Salon ran a column several years ago suggesting that the film version of In the Heat of the Night might be one of the most profound movies ever made about race in America. The book too can stand its own ground alongside other, more "literary," texts like Invisible Man and Native Son; and it's message of hope and the possibility of progress has proven it more prophetic than its more revered rivals.

GRADE : A-