Chains of Command : Completed by Christopher Newman [Hardcover]

William J. Caunitz (Author), Christopher Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

An electrifying new thriller from The New York Times bestselling author, one of the originators of the big-city police novel

William J. Caunitz, the author of such classics as One Police Plaza and Exceptional Clearance, is back in bestselling form with his latest New York City cop thriller, Chains of Command. When a young police officer is shot and killed in his girlfriend's apartment in Washington Heights, investigators suspect that he had been taking money from the Dominican drug gangs that rule the neighborhood. An ambitious female deputy police commissioner and a daring detective lieutenant go up against the forces of greed, rivalry, and long-buried secrets to protect the ones they love and solve the crime of their careers. These two cops are the best of the true blue, brave, and loyal.

* Caunitz's first four novels were New York Times bestsellers

* Cleopatra Gold was a New York Times Notable Book in 1993

"He knows more about cops and what moves them [than] Joseph Wambaugh or George V. Higgins. Its special strength is its carefully exacting depiction of what the working life of a big-city police department really is like."--The New York Times Book Review (on One Police Plaza)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New York City cops fight corruption and murder while drug rings battle one another in this stellar, labyrinthine police procedural from the bestselling Caunitz (One Police Plaza). The shooting of Officer Johnny Rodriguez, a corrupt street cop in the mainly Hispanic neighborhood of Washington Heights who doubled as a spy for Internal Affairs, threatens the future career of Deputy Police Commissioner Suzanne Albrecht, to whom he reported. Albrecht wants to be New York's first female commissioner, and a scandal around her informants could quash her chances. So Suzanne transfers her old flame Lt. Matt Stuart (familiar from Caunitz's previous novels) out of his post in Intelligence, setting him up as the new head of Washington Heights' 37th Precinct, and charging him to investigate Johnny's death. The obvious suspect is local drug lord Tio Paco, but Stuart discovers a dirtier cop with a vengeful agenda, and a deadly female shooter on the Italian mob's payroll. Info from Matt's undercover sources, and some timely wiretaps, hint at a bigger story. Colombia's Cali cartel and the Russian mafiyah have jointly controlled the supply of drugs to Washington Heights' Dominican bosses and largely black street pushers. But now the Italians and the Chinese tong gangs are teaming up to try to displace the Russians and Colombians. Bodies pile up, secrets accumulate and power shifts and shifts again as Matt and his crew join forces with the Intelligence division to find major corruption in the police and intrigue among the drug dealers. The narrative lures the reader down one bloody path and onto another, dropping just enough clues to keep the big secrets till the end. Once again, Caunitz, himself an NYPD officer for 30 years, combines suspense with details about the milieu he knows: here, however, greater power is accorded to women, both within the NYPD and in the ranks of the drug dealers. All five city boroughs, along with Long Island, play roles in the novel; all the locations are crisply rendered, and the busy characters sharply drawn. The narrative pace never fails, and a perfect ending provides justice for all without a maudlin note. (Sept.) FYI: Caunitz died in 1996, leaving half of the manuscript for this novel. It was completed by his long-time friend Christopher Newman.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Caunitz, a 30-year veteran of the NYPD and author of six best-selling novels, wrote half of this novel before his death in 1996, leaving friend Christopher Newman (creator of the popular Joe Dante series) to complete it. The book begins with the murder of a cop (with $5000 in his pocket) and his mistress (who has ties to the Cali drug cartel) in Washington Heights. Their deaths signal serious trouble for First Deputy Police Commissioner Suzanne Albrecht, who is in line to become the next commissioner and is worried that a scandal in the Heights will ruin her chances. So she enlists the aid of Matt Stuart, a lieutenant in the NYPD's intelligence division. When two street dealers are murdered, threatening to set off a territorial battle over the area's drug market, Albrecht and Stuart must act fast to avert a blood bath and save a political career. Caunitz is known for his thoughtful writing and accurate portrayal of procedure and police personnel, and his talents are displayed here to great effect. Readers everywhere will miss him. For all libraries.AJo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 323 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525945148
• ISBN-13: 978-0525945147
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,764,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in San Francisco, California, Christopher Newman was educated in Bay Area Catholic schools, the University of California at Santa Cruz and Birmingham University, England. He traveled overland from Europe across the Asian subcontinent to Singapore alone in his late teens. Before he was 21 he'd worked for a year aboard a tanker plying trade between the Persian Gulf and ports around the Pacific rim. He wrote the first draft of his third published novel, Manana Man, while in residence in Cali, Colombia his senior year in college. At 27, he moved to New York City, working as a trim carpenter for five years in Manhattan before publishing his first Joe Dante novel, Midtown South, in 1985. When that title met with considerable commercial success, his publisher convinced him to turn his protagonist into a series character. Eight more Joe Dante novels followed, all making various national best seller lists. Midtown North, published in 1991, was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Chains of Command, left unfinished at the time of best-selling author William Caunitz' death in 1998, was completed by Mr. Newman at the estate's request. It was named a 1999 New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

Mr. Newman left New York in 2002 and returned to Santa Cruz, where he currently works as a pioneer in the world of aquaponic fish farming.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caunitz has Improved with Age...and Death!, October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chains of Command : Completed by Christopher Newman (Hardcover)

I have read all of Caunitz's other books, however I thought that I read his last with Pigtown. Sometimes publisher's print questionable efforts after an author's death just because they can get away with it. Chains of Command is one of Caunitz's best books.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Of The Big City Police Thrillers, April 27, 2002

By 

Joseph L Burke - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chains of Command : Completed by Christopher Newman (Hardcover)

The bad news here is that the author died while working on this book and it was skillfully completed by Christopher Newman. Nevertheless it snaps and crackles with the dialogue and insider information that only Caunitz (a 30-year cop) could provide. You can read all of the police novels you want but you will NEVER find an author that gives you as much of the inside scoop on police work, language, and character. His plots are fascinating, his characters different yet utterly believable, and his mastery of giving a lot of information in a few words is unmatched. Caunitz was, quite simply, the best of them all at this kind of a novel. Rest In Peace, William J. Caunitz...I'll be re-reading your books from time to time until (hopefully) we meet in the beyond.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not his best but still worhtwhile, November 16, 2000

By 

C. Upthegrove (Marin County, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chains of Command (Paperback)

Read this book quickly or you might lose track of the plot. It is a bit confusing and maybe not all that believable. I've really enjoyed Caunitz's other books. I don't know how much of this was finished before he died and I'm not a reader of Newman but it is not quite up to One Police Plaza, Black Sand and Pigtown. If you like NYPD books though it's well worth the price of a paperback.