Investigating the death of small-time mobster Beansy Rutolo, NYPD Lt. Matthew Stuart must infiltrate a web of police corruption with ties to a huge mob scam and a gang war, in a gripping novel of suspense that is based on a true story. Reissue.
The book was good, but seemed to dwell a lot about the sexual escapades of the police. I am not a prude, but this did not add to the story. The story dealing with police corruption was interesting and well done. The story ended well and I enjoyed the work of the honest policeman. It's good when the rats get what's coming to them
A gritty, well written police procedural along the lines of Joseph Wambaugh's fiction or Ed McBain's 87th precinct novels.
I am terrible when it comes to classifying genre, having said that, I would consider this to be something of a hard-boiled police story.
An older mid-level mobster's body is found stuffed in a refrigerator. The ensuing investigation sets in motion a series of events that exposes long term police corruption at the highest levels. Lt. Matthew Stuart is in command of the 71st Precinct Detective Squad, with the deck stacked firmly against them he and his detectives are determined to set things right and put an end to the status quo.
I really enjoyed this novel. It made me think alot of the Ed McBain 87th precinct book series - Though the cops are not as edge-of-the-seat, roller coaster ride crazy as in McBain's book. I think fans of McBain and Joseph Wabaugh's police fiction would enjoy this book.
***Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book
This was another good NYC detective fiction novel based upon a true story. Great action and descriptions of police procedures without bogging down in the CSI-like morass.
Action is set in the early '90s when cell phones are just starting to become common. No smart phones, just the old basic cell phones that were nearly Marine-proof. Early days of computerization too - lots of typewriter use, fax, pager, and other analog things long resigned to the analog dust bin. Before email, Google, and the internet which is so common today.
Got tired of the Italian Mafia hit man's use of the phrase "done like a dinner" ever time he was given an assignment to kill someone.
Would've been a good book but what made things turn around is the way of telling how the investigation happened. Okay, so this thing goes from New York City to New Jersey then to Chicago. There were too many characters to follow and I somehow didn't understand what really was going on. The main character Lt. Matt Stuart has a good back story and he has good intentions why he's still doing his job. Pigtown is the book that tells the events before Caunitz's last book, Chains of Command. Almost all were replaced in the latter book. The sequel is what redeemed the first one.