Haunting is a good word to describe it. I was 12 yrs old and read it in two nights so I would also say compelling. I saw the movie and was underwhelmed after the book.
I can’t recall any movies that did justice to Wambaugh’s books. The characters in the movies never matched up to what I had envisioned in my mind’s eye from reading the book.
I was an adult, and a policeman when I read The Onion Field. I remember cringing when I got to the part where Hettinger gave up his pistol. Understandable, but a real bad move.
I have found that in the vast majority of cases the movie sucks compared to the book.