I watched this move about ten years ago and don't remember much except that I liked it and James Woods was in it. I picked this up at an English language bookstore in Florence, Italy, mostly because it was 1.50 Euros.

I can say with some certainty though that the book moves a little slower than the movie. The first third or so sets up the characters: two police officers and two petty criminals who end up in an onion field outside Bakersfield California one night in March 1963. One of them dies. The latter two-thirds of the book are devoted to the many trials devoted to the case; the initial decision was reversed because of an ex post facto ruling, so there was a retrial, and many appeals.

After six or seven years there were 45,000 pages of transcript on this case. So there's a lot of primary resources to wade through, but Wambaugh does a good job of picking out the juicy bits. During the retrial the legal maneuverings get particularly absurd and surreal.

Not exactly 'gripping' as the back cover quotes attest, but still a good police/courtroom procedural.