I've read a lot of gritty, stunningly realistic first-person narratives of the seamy, seedy side of urban life, and even lived some. Usually, if the material is great, I lower the bar a bit with regard to literary expectations and still enjoy and am enriched by what I am reading. But every now and then we come across someone with an amazing story to tell, and real gifts as a writer. Here's a case in point: Daniel B. Silver. Don't get me wrong: he's not Jane Austen or Henry James. But he can flat out write. If this was 1956 and someone smart put Cop - A Novel into the hands of Lawrence Ferlinghetti or Gregory Corso and they read it, the inevitable result would be that they'd be calling him the Kop Kerouac and they'd be getting him to read at City Lights Bookstore and Allen Ginsburg would be trying to.... Never mind, and please pardon my lapse into time travel, but this is just a great piece of writing and a brilliant, funny, dark look into the realities of a cop's life. Check out the FREE sample, but don't be surprised if you end up buying the book. And reading it. And loving it. --S.W.