Cop Talk: True Detective Stories from the NYPD

by Count

A collection of true stories follows the adventures and exploits of the NYPD, recounting such cases as the Preppy Murder, Mafia kingpin "Big Paul" Castellano, the Central Park Jogger, and the Christmas rescue of a little girl. Reprint.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[D.G. Chichester · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sat on my shelf forever, from back in the day when I consumed volumes of non fiction as fodder for my own writing, especially things associated with NYC. This has great anecdotes and language from real life cop stories, but it reads like Studs Terkel without his ability to stack the stories in a way that leads to a greater whole. The assembly is uneven, and some of the tales are more transcription - which are quite dry. I probably would have highlighted more in the past, but finishing it now was more about getting through it - and without the context of "needing" the content, it was somewhat more of a slog.

[Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read this book brought up an urge to read other books from a LEOs perspective. It brings a realism to what NYC was in the 70s to 90s. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would recommend to historical true crime buffs.

[Mickey Bits · Rating 5 out of 5]

The info about the Central Park jogger case is wrong and out of date. Other than that, very enjoyable. Typical of the genre. War stories and interesting anecdotes from folks On the Job.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cops tell stories from the streets. Entertaining.

[Joshua Emil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to stop reading this for a while because of specified reasons. I can only say this: the detectives did most of the talking and the author did a compilation. It's a good compilation but there are some inconsistencies on the detectives part.

It had some good 'war stories' and you can learn some investigative procedure as well as some legal procedure such as trials and grand jury hearings.