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Lieutenant Ross Koepp of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is
the author of Culture Shock. According to one reader/reviewer Culture Shock, “is the absorbing first person account of the investigation of the murder of Gisela Pfleger
in the Californian San Jacinto Mountains. The perpetrator was an Asian youth whose family was in the process of trying to
adjust to a new society and culture. The investigating officer shows the human side of his police work: long working hours,
empathy with the victims, thoughts, feelings, and even tears on the long road to justice. That's what makes this book worth
reading, the necessary toughness, which is tempered by sensibility. I am not really a reader of detective novels, but I enjoyed
this one because it rings true.”
According to one reader, Culture
Shock is an amazing book. Gisela Plefger, a German tourist, is murdered on a mountaintop in California. Her
murderers are themselves from a distant land. Her husband, Klaus, is also shot and he makes a harrowing trip down the mountain
for help. Sgt. Ross Koepp, the detective in charge of the investigation, takes us on a journey He leads us not only into the
heart of the investigation, but into amazing speculations of the socio-political atmosphere that contributes to the local
Asian community gang dynamic.
We know, from the preface of this book;
a quotation from Simone Weil on the nature of ruthlessness, that this is no ordinary true crime book. Koepp's fast paced
writing keeps us engaged as we follow the story from the woman's shocking death to the complex and lengthy investigation
of the crime. This book is captivating and alive, the characters are well described and captured in all their humanity. This
book will have the audience asking along with Sgt. Koepp, "Why?" and applauding his efforts at arriving at an understating
of the nature of the roots this kind of senseless violence.
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