Attorney writes legal thriller

Attorney R. Michael Bullotta has published his first novel, a legal thriller titled ''Hard Core.'' The novel is based largely on Bullotta's experiences as a gang prosecutor in the Hard Core Gang Division of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. The book combines the story turns of a John Grisham novel with the detective feel of Joseph Wambaugh's nonfiction. While attending Georgetown Law Center in the early 1990s, Bullotta represented indigent defendants in court as part of Georgetown's criminal justice clinic and wrote as an associate editor on The Georgetown Law Journal, the school's main law review. After graduating from Georgetown in 1992, Bullotta accepted a job as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles. There, he worked mainly in the Hard Core Gang Unit, where he prosecuted gang homicides in South Central and East Los Angeles. In 1997, Bullotta became an assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California, where he handled federal prosecutions of national and international drug trafficking organizations. Bullotta also started Project Short Stop, a ''scared straight'' type program for first time juvenile offenders which successfully diverted hundreds of young people in the greater Los Angeles area from criminal lifestyles. For this work, he was awarded the 2001 Public Service Image Award by the Federal Executive Board for Greater Los Angeles. In 2001, Bullotta returned to his home state of Michigan, where he accepted a position with the Detroit United States Attorney's Office. Currently, Bullotta investigates and prosecutes corrupt politicians, police officers and other government officials in Southeast Michigan. He also teaches trial advocacy to new federal prosecutors and guest lectures at local law schools, including the University of Michigan. This Thursday, Nov. 10, between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. there will be a book launching and signing at the Buhl Bar, located at 535 Griswold, Detroit (Buhl Building). Hors d'oeuvres will be provided, along with a cash bar. Copies of the book will be available for purchase, as well as a chance to meet the author and have copies signed. A donation from the proceeds of each book sold will be made to Forgotten Harvest, whose mission is to rescue surplus perishable food and deliver it to emergency food providers in the Detroit Metropolitan area. ''Hard Core'' is also available for purchase in both paperback and electronic formats on the websites of Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Published: Mon, Dec 5, 2011