The Force). Ο άρχων της ομάδος, Μαλόουν, είναι και ο Βασιλιάς του Μανχάταν. Έχει εκτιναχθεί σε δημοφιλία μέσα από τα κατορθώματά του. Ωστόσο πολύ γρήγορα θα έρθουμε αντιμέτωποι με τις πρακτικές της αστυνομίας από τα χαμηλότερα κλιμάκια μέχρι τα υψηλά αξιώματα. Δωροδοκίες, χρηματισμοί, κολλητηλίκια με μαφιόζους, ακριβή ζωή, ξενύχτια, μπουρδελότσαρκες - ό,τι κάνει δηλαδή ο κακοποιός με την μόνη διαφορά πως, όπως χαρακτηριστικά λέει κάποιος στο βιβλίο, αντίθετα με τον κακότυχο εγκληματία, κανείς αστυνομικός δεν πεινάει. Και φυσικά κάπου έρχεται η κάθαρση, το βιβλίο ανατρέπει την ρουτίνα και ξεκινάει η αντίστροφη μέτρηση. Winslow takes the reader into a concrete world of gangs and guns, the darkness of NYPD culture, and a racially combustible city set to incinerate. Told to the rhythmic beat of the NYC cop vernacular, this epic boils with vicious battles, blood-soaked hands holding dying cops, and double-crosses by rat bastards to brew up an atmosphere in which, as in Macbeth's Scotland, "foul is fair and fair is foul." Il vero Frank Serpico, oggi 81enne. Il protagonista del romanzo di Winslow, Denny Malone è proprio uno di quei poliziotti che Serpico ha combattuto.

Internal monologue is a staple in cop books. There are rules, things you do and things you don't, and if the cop in your cop book can't talk to himself in his own head, how are the readers going to know that he's tortured? That he's a good man going bad (or a bad man going worse)? That he has hopes and dreams that extend beyond these streets and the barrel of this gun?A wonderful book which I will admit to having my authors mixed up until today, weeks after reading the book. I thought I was reading Lou Berney which I very much enjoyed November Road I thought this book was by the same author. What only a few know is that Denny Malone is dirty: he and his partners have stolen millions of dollars in drugs and cash in the wake of the biggest heroin bust in the city’s history. Now Malone is caught in a trap and being squeezed by the Feds, and he must walk the thin line between betraying his brothers and partners, the Job, his family, and the woman he loves, trying to survive, body and soul, while the city teeters on the brink of a racial conflagration that could destroy them all. Malone and his partners have given every inch of themselves to the city. They've put themselves at serious risk of injury and death (and have the scars to show for it), and have witnessed the utter horrors that people inflict on one another, whether due to the influence of drugs and alcohol, for revenge or retribution, if they perceive someone is threatening their business interests, or simply out of boredom or cruelty. It's a job that wears you down, but Malone and his partners and his fellow officers love it anyway.

Unlike The Power of the Dog, Winslow’s sprawling saga of the international drug trade, The Force remains claustrophobically attached to Malone, so that you only know as much as he knows. This is important, because there is a lot going on. The layers of corruption through which Malone passes sets up a series of crosses, double-crosses, and triple-crosses that leave him (and you) guessing the loyalties of the other players. And there are a lot of other players: cops, Feds, street-slingers, mobsters, drug kingpins, and civilians caught in the crossfire. At one point he says something like – “I’ll fight fair when everyone else does.” In other words, following the procedure and observing constitutional and civil rights runs contrary to practicing the actual methods of bringing justice. Malone has tapped into a primitive, street justice where a beating – or even an execution – serves the greater good more than what is sanctioned by law. But, at the end of the day, Denny’s frame of mind, his thought process, is at the very center of the entire book, as is the mindset of the city, where the fight isn’t just on the streets, it’s in the twisted system, and is more about politics than keeping citizens safe. After eighteen years on the force, Denny had seen it all. Most despicable though were all the politicians, lawyers, police brass and drug dealers getting rich from all the dirty money. Big-time corruption was everywhere. It seemed everybody had their hands in it. Everybody except Denny. Except his crew. They were the ones that took the risks. They were the ones that went through the doors. Down the stairwells. Why shouldn't they be sharing in the cream? They were the most deserving of getting their just slice of the pie. Real money. Not just complimentary coffee and a donut. When Da Force makes the biggest heroin bust in the city, they're hailed as hero cops. Yet Malone and his partners actually steal some of the drugs and some of the money before turning everything else in. They're entitled. But this sends them down their slipperiest slope yet, and when Malone catches the eye of the feds for a fairly routine (but still illegal) thing, he finds himself caught in a trap, and has to decide whether to save himself or betray his fellow officers, something he vowed he'd never do.This is because Winslow continues to make excuses for Malone until the end by carrying on with the storylines regarding the outside corruption so it seems like he tried to split the difference and make Malone both the bad guy and the victim. Which I can see to a certain extent. It is ridiculous to nail a cop to the wall for taking a free cup of coffee while a politician can collect huge campaign donations from business people he can help, and that's all perfectly legal. However, what Malone did goes way beyond taking a cup of coffee, and he was happy to go along with the corruption while it helped make him one of the most connected cops in the city so him crying and beating his chest about it when he gets his hand caught in the cookie jar just came across as self-serving garbage to me after a while. Don Winslow has written many books. Some have been made into films. I have read none of them, so can offer no real insight into what carried forward from his prior work, or where new notions or techniques may have come into play. I read this totally as a stand-alone. Hi. My name is Don Winslow, and I'm a writing addict - by John Wilkins for the San Diego Union Tribune Ever since I learned Winslow would be writing this book, I couldn't wait to read it. Now that I have, I am so excited about the response it has received from critics and readers across the country. He is definitely a writer worth reading, and whether you start with this book or one of his others, you're sure to find an excellent, exceptionally written story. It’s also like watching The Gangs of New York – our gang is bigger than your gang. The NYPD is the biggest gang on the streets and it’s a turf war. But like in Scorsese’s film, the Feds are the biggest gang of all.