Saint Bloodbath
Frederick Douglass Reynolds
Deltonramsey (2023)
ISBN: 978-0578277325
Frederick Douglass Reynolds is a retired L.A. County Sheriff’s Homicide Sergeant. He was born in Rocky Mount, Virginia, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan where he became a petty criminal and was involved in gangs. He joined the US Marine Corps in 1979 to escape the life of crime that he seemed destined for. After a brief stint in Okinawa, Japan, he finished out his military career in Southern California and ultimately became a police officer with the Compton Police Department. He worked there from 1985 until 2000 and then transferred to the Sheriff’s Department where he worked an additional seventeen years, retiring in 2017 with over seventy-five commendations including two California Officer of the Year awards, one in 1994 and the other in 1998. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Carolyn, and their daughter Lauren and young son, Desmond. They have six other adult children and nine grandchildren.
Hi Frederick, thank you for joining us today at Reader Views. Tell us a little about your writing journey. (When did you start writing? Have you always wanted to be an author? What made you decide to actually sit down and write your first book?)
I am a retired Homicide Investigator after 32 years of working in one of the most crime-ridden areas in the country: South Los Angeles, and Compton. I have probably seen more than 600 dead bodies and personally investigated or been a part of the investigations of 400 murders. I have attended in excess of 300 autopsies. After I retired, I decided to write a memoir. I felt that I had a story to tell, particularly in the aftermath of the George Floyd incident. The book was a critical success, if not a commercial one. But I learned that I was a decent writer; I learned that people actually thought that what I wrote was good. They wanted to read it. There is nothing better than knowing that someone is reading something that you wrote.
What is “Saint Bloodbath” about?
It is about the murders of five homeless people living in an encampment in the city of Long Beach, California, around Halloween of 2008, and a subsequent murder of a teenager 100 miles away in the desert. The two incidents were investigated by different agencies, and the book tells how the detectives involved worked together to solve the cases and bring the culprit to justice. But the book is so much deeper than just the murders. It explores the working relationships between homicide cops, how police incompetence can jeopardize a case, and it really brings to light the plight of the people who are unhoused, and the significance of the homeless issue faced by the country.
What is the significance of the title and what inspired you to tell this story?
To divulge the true meaning behind the title would be too revealing of the story itself. Let’s just say that it is a juxtaposition of good and evil and leave it at that for now. I was inspired to write the story because I was involved tangentially; I knew some of the victims, I lived less than a mile away from where five of the murders took place, and I am good friends with the investigators involved in the case. There is a big problem in this country with incompetent police work, culture division, homelessness, children being placed in suitable foster care, and the amount of violence occurring on a daily basis. This story touches on every issue. It also highlights the goodness in most of us, and the desire to do the right thing.
“Saint Bloodbath” paints a stark picture of the societal issues plaguing our urban communities, such as homelessness, gang activity, and drug addiction. How do you hope your book might influence or change the public’s understanding or perception of these issues?
I hope that my book will shed light on the way that the marginalized among us live and the problems they face daily, how the things that most of us take for granted are literally life changing; that what most of us see as trash, they actually see as treasure. And the violence, and murder. The drug use, and the prostitution that some people have to do just to survive. All of these things are abstract, until they happen to you. I sought to remove the abstraction and immerse the reader in the daily struggle for food, the drug addiction, sometimes because of homelessness and sometimes as a result of it.
You have cleverly given voice to the victims within your narrative. What was the driving force behind your decision to do this?
As I stated before, horrible things are merely abstract concepts until they happen to you. Most true crime stories are clinical; they are sterile and without emotion or empathy for the victims. I sought to give life to them before the reader read about them in death. I wanted the reader to see what people like this go through daily, that they are people just like everyone else. Some good, some bad, all of them human.
Can you share some insights into your research process for “Saint Bloodbath”? Did you interview any of the people involved? What was the most surprising thing you learned during the process?
I interviewed the life partner of one of the antagonists, who had the best possible insight into him. I listened to hours of interviews by the investigators. I interviewed each investigator involved, which was easy because they are personal friends of mine and I have worked with all of them on other criminal cases before. I knew most of the victims. They panhandled at the entrance to the freeway that I took to work every day. One of them was an informant for the team of investigators that I supervised in the years before his murder. I don’t believe that anyone could have written this story better than I did, given the breadth of knowledge that I had regarding the investigation, victims, and investigators.
What was the most challenging aspect of writing “Saint Bloodbath”?
Depicting the victims was the proper amount of dignity given their travails and the lives that they lived. They weren’t the dregs of society. They were people, with wants and needs, struggles, and triumphs. It would’ve been easy to disregard them in the story and paint them as just six dead people. They were much more than that, and I wanted to illustrate this fact.
Our reviewer particularly enjoyed the dynamic between detectives McGuire and Cortes. Tell us a bit about their relationship and what motivates them to do such a hard job day in and day out.
I know them both extremely well. McGuire is one of my dearest friends. We go on annual family vacations, and he is at my house at least twice a month. I have also worked with him and Cortes on other cases. I have had extensive opportunities to witness their working relationship. They are both retired now, but when they were still working, they were champions of justice. They did the job the right way. “All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” They did something.
Authors all hope to leave a lasting impact on readers. What is the one emotion or thought you’d like your readers to carry with them long after they’ve finished “Saint Bloodbath”?
Good will always prevail. Always. To quote the great Thomas Fuller: “It is always darkest before the dawn.”
Many readers of “Saint Bloodbath” may feel a call to action after becoming more aware of the grim realities faced by many marginalized communities. What are some ways you’d suggest that readers could contribute positively to these issues in their own communities?
Support your local law enforcement. We have to get past this “us vs them” narrative. There truly is evil afoot in our communities. Trust must be re-established, particularly in marginalized communities. And there are all types of services for the unhoused. There are organizations that you can donate money to help support them. You can also participate in feeding the homeless events that occur throughout the year, especially during the holidays. Get out there. Be active.
You’ve truly found your niche writing about real-life crime and societal matters. Your debut book, “Black, White and Gray All Over,” has made waves in the literary world, earning multiple prestigious awards. What ignites your passion for exploring these narratives?
I am from a low-income area. I was homeless for a time. I have experienced the stigma of being marginalized because of the color of my skin. I was also a cop for a long, long time. I have experienced the fallout from what we are going through in this country from both sides. I am beyond qualified to tell the tale. Just as importantly, I want to leave my mark on the literary world. I don’t want to be thought of as a one-dimensional author, and I believe my future endeavors will prove that I’m not. I also don’t want to be known as merely a good “Black” author. I want to be known as a Great Author. Period.
You take a no-holds-barred approach in writing horrific crime scenes. Were you concerned about losing the reader’s engagement, or making it too intense?
I was never concerned about losing the reader. I knew that once I had introduced them to the characters, particularly the victims, they would have a vested interest. They wouldn’t be able to not read about what happened to them. No one looks away from a car wreck when they’re driving by. No one can look away from the fate of someone they have grown close to. I have always had a talent for describing horrific scenes with dignity while at the same time making the reader see just how gruesome the incident was.
As an author, how did you handle the emotional impact of writing such intense scenes?
I try to look at them just as I did when I worked as a homicide investigator. I have seen some things that will stay with me forever. When I wrote the police reports, I had to be sensitive, yet descriptive. I am to the point in my still-fresh writing career where I can illustrate blood-curdling scenes in a clinical way without taking the horror from them.
“Saint Bloodbath” has left a significant impression on its readers so far. What impact has the process of writing this book had on you personally, and how you might approach your future writing endeavors?
My first book was emotion-driven, and also with a desire to leave a history of the Compton Police Department, which was disbanded in 2000 and taken over by the Sheriff’s Department. There was a lot to unpack in that regard. Saint Bloodbath was difficult. I was hesitant to begin writing it. I had thoughts in my mind such as What if the first book was a fluke? What if that was all that I had to offer to the literary world? I was afraid that my second book was going to be a flop. But as I got into it, the fear went away. I began to think that despite my lack of formal education—I dropped out of high school in the 10th grade—perhaps I had a gift, a natural talent for storytelling. The words started flowing, and I was done with it in six months. I am of the opinion that Saint Bloodbath is even better than Black, White, and Gray All Over.
Do you feel you’ve grown as a writer since you wrote your first book? How?
Yes. I have definitely grown as an author. My first book was a memoir and written on pure emotion and pent-up frustrations and trauma. The book literally wrote itself. The keyboard was therapeutic for me. I cried multiple times as I wrote that book. I still cry today at certain parts that I think about. For my second book, Saint Bloodbath, I slowed it down. I learned how to write. I have always read a lot, but I prepared myself the second time around. I read Stephen King’s memoir/how-to-write book, On Writing. I read The Chicago Manual of Style and Strunk & White’s Elements of Style. I had learned that I was a decent writer after my first book—it has won 22 book awards and been a finalist in 16 other contests—so I decided to take my new craft seriously.
How do your family and friends support your writing career?
My family supports me wholeheartedly. When I get in a writing zone, I can disappear in my office for days at a time, my wife sliding trays of food under my barn doors (Just kidding, but not by much). But seriously, anything I need, any time required away from family matters when I’m in that zone, everyone understands.
What do you like to do outside of writing?
Wait, what? There’s something outside of writing?
Is there anything you’d like to add today?
No, seriously. There’s something outside of writing?
CONNECT WITH FREDERICK REYNOLDS!
Website: https://frederickdreynolds.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.Linked.com/in/frederick-reynolds-b92987139
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frederick.reynolds.7549
Twitter: https://twitter.com/deltonRamsey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fdreynol/
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