What do you think?
Rate this book
Ryan & Gregory #1
14 Peck Slip
"It happened to cops all the time: guys work all night, sleep all day. They lose track of wives, kids, days, months, lies they've told, bars they can't get back into, women they've screwed, stories about them that aren't true..."
When two veteran New York City detectives, Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory, discover the body of a police captain floating off South Street Seaport's Peck Slip, their investigation threatens to turn their own force against them.
When two veteran New York City detectives, Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory, discover the body of a police captain floating off South Street Seaport's Peck Slip, their investigation threatens to turn their own force against them.
- GenresMystery
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1994
1 person is currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Ed Dee
10 books8 followersAKA Edward Dee
Graduated from Sacred Heart High School, then served two years in the U.S. Army. In 1962 he joined the NYPD and spent nine years in uniform in South Bronx precincts; the last 11 years of his career he supervised detectives in the Organized Crime Control Bureau. While working the streets he earned a BA from Fordham University.
Ed retired from the NYPD as a lieutenant. Then, answering a life-long desire to write, he left Fordham School of Law and earned a MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
His first novel, 14 Peck Slip, which was also his master's thesis, was named a Notable Book of The Year in 1994 by the link: New York Times. Bronx Angel ('95), Little Boy Blue ('97) and Nightbird ('99) followed.
The Con Man's Daughter, was released in fall 2003.
Ed has two daughters and four grandchildren. He lives in Delaware with his wife, Nancy.
Graduated from Sacred Heart High School, then served two years in the U.S. Army. In 1962 he joined the NYPD and spent nine years in uniform in South Bronx precincts; the last 11 years of his career he supervised detectives in the Organized Crime Control Bureau. While working the streets he earned a BA from Fordham University.
Ed retired from the NYPD as a lieutenant. Then, answering a life-long desire to write, he left Fordham School of Law and earned a MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
His first novel, 14 Peck Slip, which was also his master's thesis, was named a Notable Book of The Year in 1994 by the link: New York Times. Bronx Angel ('95), Little Boy Blue ('97) and Nightbird ('99) followed.
The Con Man's Daughter, was released in fall 2003.
Ed has two daughters and four grandchildren. He lives in Delaware with his wife, Nancy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Read
August 26, 2016An award-winning first novel by a retired New York City cop, 14 PECK SLIP starts out a bit slow but turns out in the end to be a superb piece of crime fiction. The writing style is strong and occasionally poetic but not flashy, reminiscent perhaps of Lawrence Block meets Donald Westlake.
I had avoided this title in spite of some recommendations because I'm generally not a huge fan of police stories or procedurals. 14 PECK SLIP is a missing persons story that ends up being a murder mystery, but the best part of the book is the relationship between the two main characters, the narrator Ryan and his occasionally unhinged partner Gregory.
It looks like Dee goes on to make this a series, so I'll be reading the next one (BRONX ANGEL) soon.
"The room smelled stale and metallic, the way your hands smell after counting coins."
"I carried [my granddaughter] Katie to the rocker, feeling the warmth of her body. I didn't like to admit it, but I couldn't remember many moments like this with my own children. Moments that I was so acutely aware of their love. I was too busy with cases or night school, or else I was hung over. Their loss, my loss. Katie sighed and held my shirt in her fist."
"The picture I'd knocked off the wall was an old black-and-white [my wife] Leigh had enlarged and framed. The kids and us in the back yard the first year we moved into this house. The trees were small, the kids wore knitted hats tied under their chins, diapers hung on the clothesline. Leigh and I were young, dark-haired. Anthony was a baby. Margaret looked like Katie does now. She was holding my hand. The trees are huge now, the clothesline carries only wooden pins, strung out like birds on a wire. Anthony is no longer small. Margaret no longer holds my hand. The distance between is is more than can be measured on a map."
I had avoided this title in spite of some recommendations because I'm generally not a huge fan of police stories or procedurals. 14 PECK SLIP is a missing persons story that ends up being a murder mystery, but the best part of the book is the relationship between the two main characters, the narrator Ryan and his occasionally unhinged partner Gregory.
It looks like Dee goes on to make this a series, so I'll be reading the next one (BRONX ANGEL) soon.
"The room smelled stale and metallic, the way your hands smell after counting coins."
"I carried [my granddaughter] Katie to the rocker, feeling the warmth of her body. I didn't like to admit it, but I couldn't remember many moments like this with my own children. Moments that I was so acutely aware of their love. I was too busy with cases or night school, or else I was hung over. Their loss, my loss. Katie sighed and held my shirt in her fist."
"The picture I'd knocked off the wall was an old black-and-white [my wife] Leigh had enlarged and framed. The kids and us in the back yard the first year we moved into this house. The trees were small, the kids wore knitted hats tied under their chins, diapers hung on the clothesline. Leigh and I were young, dark-haired. Anthony was a baby. Margaret looked like Katie does now. She was holding my hand. The trees are huge now, the clothesline carries only wooden pins, strung out like birds on a wire. Anthony is no longer small. Margaret no longer holds my hand. The distance between is is more than can be measured on a map."
December 21, 2017
Hard-boiled police detective drama with a couple of unlikable NYPD cops - Gregory is a lousy cop, and Ryan is a lousy husband. Using unorthodox procedures and possible criminal methods, they investigate the murder of another unlikable cop who disappeared 10 years ago. They solve the crime, which would have been better left unsolved since many skeletons and dirty laundry are unearthed. Try Ed McBain's 87th precinct mysteries for better cops and legal police procedures. First half of book takes place in December with several references to Christmas, so this can be considered a Christmas mystery, but second half takes place Jan-Mar.
January 18, 2020
This is a police procedural through and through, and rather a departure from my usual fare. Written by a former cop who spent 20 years in the organized-crimes division, it follows two cops who haul up a barrel and find the body of a police officer in it—one who was corrupt, and just about to run from the mob. It was very gritty and realistic, and everything meshed together satisfying[ly] in the end. I liked the fact that the narrator (obviously based on the author) was constantly thinking about his wife, re-assessing his life, and so on.
March 19, 2017
I couldn't get into this, so I stopped on the 13th chapter.
April 24, 2023
Written by an ex-cop who must be somewhat like the narrator. Gritty with realistic action. Well written.
December 24, 2025
In this debut book by Ed Dee, two New York Police detectives investigating mob activities, following one barrel dumped into the East River, find another with the body of one of their own. The victim, who was soon to be charged with various bribery charges, had been missing for 10 years. And now they must find out what happened to the man everyone thought had gotten away.
An interesting police procedural with two likable characters, Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory, two men coming close to 20 years and retirement but still in for the job. Gregory's father, a retired cop, returns home, and they soon find connections between Liam and the dead man's wife, along with the mobsters they hope are the murderers.
Gregory reminds me of Cletus Purcel from James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books — a hard drinking man who cares deeply but sometimes goes too far, while Ryan is more like the officers in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct. All three are good book series to read, although Burke's are by far the darkest.
An interesting police procedural with two likable characters, Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory, two men coming close to 20 years and retirement but still in for the job. Gregory's father, a retired cop, returns home, and they soon find connections between Liam and the dead man's wife, along with the mobsters they hope are the murderers.
Gregory reminds me of Cletus Purcel from James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books — a hard drinking man who cares deeply but sometimes goes too far, while Ryan is more like the officers in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct. All three are good book series to read, although Burke's are by far the darkest.
April 3, 2015
First in the series of the unstoppable duo of Anthony Ryan and Joseph Gregory, I have read books two and three. I really thought that I might not recover the first book. Bless my luck, I finally found it.
Although I haven't read it chronologically, I think that Bronx Angel is better than 14 Peck Slip. But nevertheless, both showed realism and true police work. Kudos to the police experience of Ed Dee, a former New York's Finest detective.
So, 14 Peck Slip is the story of a former missing person's case that developed into a murder. A corrupt cop declared missing for 10 years was found dead on the East River. Ryan and Gregory were called to the scene. As the detectives conducted their investigation, they reopen old wounds and would later find something incriminating close to home.
In conclusion, this is one of the best NYPD stories I have in a time since the past books were classics, general fiction and non-fiction. This broke the streak.
Although I haven't read it chronologically, I think that Bronx Angel is better than 14 Peck Slip. But nevertheless, both showed realism and true police work. Kudos to the police experience of Ed Dee, a former New York's Finest detective.
So, 14 Peck Slip is the story of a former missing person's case that developed into a murder. A corrupt cop declared missing for 10 years was found dead on the East River. Ryan and Gregory were called to the scene. As the detectives conducted their investigation, they reopen old wounds and would later find something incriminating close to home.
In conclusion, this is one of the best NYPD stories I have in a time since the past books were classics, general fiction and non-fiction. This broke the streak.
September 11, 2008
14 PACK SLIP - Ok
Dee, Ed - 1st in series
In 1982, while on a stakeout, detectives Joe Gregory and Anthony Ryan see a group of neighborhood enforcers dump a white barrel into Manhattan's East River. The divers who are sent to retrieve it find the wrong barrel, which happens to contain the body of Jinx Mulgrew, a detective who disappeared during an investigation of police corruption ten years before. Gregory and Ryan set about piecing together the fragments of this elaborate puzzle.
The story is very New York. I'm not certain why, but it just didn't grab me. It might be one of those I try again now.
Dee, Ed - 1st in series
In 1982, while on a stakeout, detectives Joe Gregory and Anthony Ryan see a group of neighborhood enforcers dump a white barrel into Manhattan's East River. The divers who are sent to retrieve it find the wrong barrel, which happens to contain the body of Jinx Mulgrew, a detective who disappeared during an investigation of police corruption ten years before. Gregory and Ryan set about piecing together the fragments of this elaborate puzzle.
The story is very New York. I'm not certain why, but it just didn't grab me. It might be one of those I try again now.
August 15, 2009
RATING: 4.5
PROTAGONIST: Anthony Ryan
OCCUPATION: Police detective
SETTING: New York
SERIES: #1 of 4
SUMMARY: Ryan and his partner see a mob type guy dropping a barrel into the river. They're pretty sure it's not full of fish. A different barrel is retrieved by the police with a body in it. Police corruption going back years is uncovered. Excellent plotting, characterization, setting and great writing get this series off to an auspicious start.
PROTAGONIST: Anthony Ryan
OCCUPATION: Police detective
SETTING: New York
SERIES: #1 of 4
SUMMARY: Ryan and his partner see a mob type guy dropping a barrel into the river. They're pretty sure it's not full of fish. A different barrel is retrieved by the police with a body in it. Police corruption going back years is uncovered. Excellent plotting, characterization, setting and great writing get this series off to an auspicious start.
October 23, 2007
This cop mystery from the 80s was pretty good. It was not my normal style of mystery (which is why it only gets three stars), but I can recognize how good it is. There is a lot of humor in the book and the cop characters feel very real in their actions and their their speech. It was also nice to get insight into how hard it is for police to manage work and family.
July 22, 2025
I love love loved riding in that smelly car, tailing fish market gangsters, the snow, the coffee, the chase. I don’t know if there’s another book out there that can deliver the same satisfaction of this time capsule.
July 30, 2015
Well written cop/detective book based in NY. Enjoyed the characters, mobsters, and dirty cops. Never would have anticipated the ending. Good suspense!
Want to read
October 10, 2018Synopsis: veteran detectives Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory conduct an investigation into corruption and murder.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews