The Year of Dangerous Days

Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in Miami 1980

By: Nicholas Griffin

Narrated by: Pete Simonelli

In the tradition of The Wire, the “utterly absorbing” (The New York Times) story of the cinematic transformation of Miami, one of America’s bustling cities—rife with a drug epidemic, a burgeoning refugee crisis, and police brutality—from journalist and award-winning author Nicholas Griffin.

Miami, Florida, famed for its blue skies and sandy beaches, is one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, with nearly twenty-three million tourists visiting annually. But few people have any idea how this unofficial capital of Latin America came to be.

The Year of Dangerous Days is “an engrossing, peek-between-your-fingers history of an American city on the edge” (Kirkus Reviews). With a cast that includes iconic characters such as Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, and Janet Reno, this slice of history is brought to life through intertwining personal stories. At the core, there’s Edna Buchanan, a reporter for the Miami Herald who breaks the story on the wrongful murder of a black man and the shocking police cover-up; Captain Marshall Frank, the hardboiled homicide detective tasked with investigating the murder; and Mayor Maurice Ferré, the charismatic politician who watches the case, and the city, fall apart.

On a roller coaster of national politics and international diplomacy, these three figures cross paths as their city explores one of the worst race riots in American history as more than 120,000 Cuban refugees land south of Miami, and as drug cartels flood the city with cocaine and infiltrate all levels of law enforcement. In a battle of wills, Buchanan has to keep up with the 150 percent murder rate increase; Captain Frank has to scrub and rebuild his homicide bureau; and Mayor Ferré must find a way to reconstruct his smoldering city. Against all odds, they persevere, and a stronger, more vibrant, Miami begins to emerge. But the foundation of this new Miami—partially built on corruption and drug money—will have severe ramifications for the rest of the country.

Deeply researched, “well-written” (New York Journal of Books), and covering many timely issues including police brutality, immigration, and the drug crisis, The Year of Dangerous Days is both a clarion call and a dramatic rebirth story of one of America’s most iconic cities.

Very Interesting

Really enticing especially if you live or have lived in Miami.
interesting about the riots and the cocaine

Fabulous book! It really describes what went on in Miami in the late 70s and 1980s

I moved here in the mid-70s and lived through everything described in this book. It was so fascinating to hear it in the big picture form and be able to see the way everything intertwined. Truly fabulous read. A must for anybody who grew up in Miami. Or for anyone who wants to understand its history

Fascinating history

It was a very well written, gripping story. I didn’t want to turn the audio story off at the end of my drive!

May you live in interesting times

I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to live in certain parts of Miami at that time. We as a country continue to let people in. They have no value to life people call them psychopaths. However, killing and stealing it’s just a way of life in some countries. You certainly have wonderful people in those countries and kind people and generous people and all of that stuff but when it really matters, they just value life less than we do in the United States of America. I have no idea why any political party why any Group of social people would want to bring that standard of Life into United States? But I would certainly hope that we won’t elect someone again that just opens our borders to the world without any thought. This is an a political post or a go Trump post or anything like that. This is a common sense post. This book reflects a time in our country when we had poor political leadership from Jimmy Carter. It should be required reading in high school. Thank you for this book.

Gripping Narrative

This is a terrific book—grabs you like a great novel, but it’s non-fiction. I grew up in Miami and was a teenager in 1980, the year documented in this book, so I have a special interest in the subject, but it was riveting.