"It's not the criminal things that are hardest to confess but the ridiculous and shameful." Rousseau

My blood pressure must have risen to dangerous levels as I read the terrifying sequents of events in "Criminal."

The action takes place in Atlanta, Georgia with much of the story taking place in 1974-75 and interspersed with scenes of the present day.

Two courageous female police officers, Amanda Wagner, daughter of a police captain, and Evelyn Mitchell, are at the heart of the story.

It's a time of racial unrest. Atlanta's first black commissioner of public safety is appointed. He replaces senior white Atlanta police officers with black police officers.

The white officers sue and while this is going on, Amanda, Evelyn and other women on the job were ridiculed and denigrated by their male counterparts who don't hide their feelings that women should be doing administrative things but not trying to solve crimes..

Amanda and Evelyn are sent to a case in a black dominated slum area where white women don't dare to go to. They learn that a number of prostitutes have gone missing. The missing women's bodies have not been found and it's difficult to get any help because no one cares what happens to prostitutes.  While at the scene, a pimp almost rapes Amanda but is eventually subdued by Evelyn and Amanda after they had been beaten by him.

In present day, Amanda is Will Trent's supervisor at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Someone is released from jail and soon after, a co-ed goes missing. Will learns something about his childhood and looks into the history of a children's home where he grew up.

I can't say more without revealing plot but get ready for a ride through scary city and be prepared for meeting characters who are gutsy, realistic and have one heck of a story to tell.