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One should not judge this gem of a book by its unimaginative cover. Stitt (Univ. at Albany, SUNY) was inspired to research this topic after being surprised to hear a colleague describe a pretrial diversion program into substance abuse treatment as a "scam" that is "set up to fail" (p. 147). She conducted fieldwork at a treatment program, its trainings, and courtrooms, interviewing officials, collecting hundreds of court docket entries, fielding an experiment with prosecutors, and conducting a national survey. The methodology is helpfully contained in the appendixes, while the body of the book is organized to highlight her findings. With devastating clarity, Stitt adds to growing concern that drug and mental health diversions are more "gauntlets" than "services" (p 147). In trying to make sense of when reforms work and when they fail, the author argues that these reforms aid "institutional entrenchment": they legitimize institutions facing criticism and assimilate the reform by bending practices to the dominant logic of the institution. Much of the transparency and safeguards applied to other areas of the institution do not apply to the reform, so the outcome can be harsher than taking jail time to begin with. Although it conveys a depressing message, this is a must-read volume to enable real reform.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.