Bambara's cast of characters are intriguing, as some are fictional creations while others are public figures whose words Bambara documents from public records.

As expressed in the aforementioned interview, Bambara explains that the "fictional characters allow me to pursue the various theories, for example, about the murders and allow me to lift up the community voice without hustling anyone." And her description of the process of writing this book, contained in the "Acknowledgments," illuminates the fictional characters that are clearly developed in the context of the novel, and the real people that are only represented by their names in the work. While B. J. Greaves is a character Bambara describes as "originally devised solely to enable me to tell the reader about actual police officers," and Mason, Vernon, and Lafayette characters that "enabled me to tip my hat to the numerous vets and community workers who were on...