Bronx Angel: A Novel of the Nypd - Hardcover

Dee, Ed

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446517747 ISBN 13: 9780446517744

Publisher: Grand Central Pub, 1995

Synopsis

Bronx Angel is a riveting murder story and a gritty, authentic portrait of a "cop's knowledge" - the knowledge that tells you how to decipher a murder scene, how to beat a traffic jam, and what lies to tell your commanding officer or wife.
From late night talk in cop bars to the haunting sounds that come over a car radio, from the spectacle of a battered homeless man who lives to fight policemen to the fresh-faced young recruits in sweatshirts and jeans, Bronx Angel weaves together an unforgettable portrait of men and women on the job - and the dangerous games that sometimes make them heroes, sometimes make them dirty, and sometimes get them killed.

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Reviews

Fast-paced, gritty, funny, this is an absorbing tour of some of New York City's meanest streets. Middle-aged NYPD detective Anthony Ryan, who narrates, and his partner, Joe Gregory, get the case of a murdered off-duty cop whose slashed, semi-clothed body suggests the work of a hooker. The investigation takes the pair from the Bronx to Times Square and beyond as they encounter drug dealers, topless dancers, crazies, transvestites and citizens of every other stripe. Ryan himself is a terrific character, fretting over his wife's diabetes, trying to understand his oft-married daughter, worrying about his partner's drinking (and his own), working at accepting the wildly diverse New Yorkers he meets and salting his narration with street smarts galore, from asides about the best routes through the city and the timing of traffic lights to the observation that it's "impossible to find an unexplored trash can in this economy." As Ryan and Gregory turn over the city's cobblestones, not unexpected culprits slither out: crooked cops, heroin, greed-but the ending takes an odd, bittersweet bounce that's just right for this especially satisfying and savvy cop tale. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This excellent procedural covers several days in the lives of New York City detectives Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory, who were introduced in 14 Peck Slip. Ryan is a family man and a recovering alcoholic, and he's even computer literate; he uses his home PC to track the notes of his open cases. He's not nostalgic about the old days, and he accepts the diversity of the modern NYPD. Gregory, divorced and edgy, is more old-fashioned. He's not adverse to using a little muscle to get information, and he's enthusiastically campaigning to be elected president of the Emerald Society, a vestigial fraternal club from the days when the NYPD was composed almost entirely of Irish men. The partners are investigating the murder of a cop in the Bronx, apparently by a hooker. Dee, a retired New York detective, has created an eclectic mix of characters. His cops are tired and wary but not burned out. They still care about nailing the bad guys; they've just surrendered some of their quixotic notions to the realities of the street. Highly recommended. George Needham

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Pub
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446517747
• ISBN 13: 9780446517744
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 287