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A Cop's Life: True Stories from the Heart Behind the Badge [Hardcover]

Sgt. Randy Sutton (Author), Cassie Wells (Editor)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)


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Book Description

June 23, 2005
After September 11, 2001 Las Vegas Police Sergeant Randy Sutton began soliciting writing from law enforcement officers-his goal being to bridge the gap between the police and those they serve, with a book that offers a broad and thoughtful look at the many facets of police life. Hundreds of active and former officers responded from all over the United States: men and women from big cities and small towns, some who had written professionally, but most for the first time. Sutton culled the selections into five categories: The Beat, Line of Duty, War Stories, Officer Down, and Ground Zero.

The result is True Blue, a collection of funny, charming, exciting, haunting stories about murder investigations, missing children, bungling burglars, car chases, lonely and desperate shut-ins, routine traffic stops, officers killed in the line of duty, and the life-changing events of September 11. Here, officers reveal their emotions-fear and pride, joy and disgust, shame and love-as they recount the defining moments of their careers. In these stories, the heart and soul behind the badge shines through in unexpected ways. True Blue will change the way we think about the deeply human realm of police service.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Veteran Las Vegas police sergeant Sutton, who edited the acclaimed True Blue, brilliantly evokes the tormented inner life of the average cop with 20 short but powerful autobiographical sketches. With a novelist's skill, Sutton makes fresh situations that could, in lesser hands, come across as hoary clichés. The broken lives Sutton encounters—the suicides, gangbangers, the mentally ill, the burnt-out officers tempted to eat their guns and the innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time—come vividly to life. The memorable figures include a boy who attempts to protect the grandmother who cares for him from violent punks, and a young girl whose trust in the cynical Sutton helps him gain perspective on his job. The author doesn't minimize the temptation to respond with force that is often the officer's instinctive response to mindless cruelty, and unflinchingly portrays the stresses that plague him when his best efforts to protect or save lives fell short— stresses that led him to consider ending his life. Some may find the closing section, a fictional Christmas parable, slightly sappy, but that doesn't diminish Sutton's achievement in enabling the reader to pound the pavement in his shoes. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"If you want to enter hearts and minds of the men and women sworn to protect us, read True Blue. These intimate episodes, written by the law officers who lived them, are funny, sad, moving and powerful. With proceeds going to those law enforcement families who lost a hero on 9/11, everybody should own this memorable book."
--Joseph Wambaugh, author of The Onion Field and Fire Lover

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (June 23, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312338961
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312338961
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #660,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
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4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ, July 7, 2005
By 
Jacklyn Craft (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Cop's Life: True Stories from the Heart Behind the Badge (Hardcover)
This book is many things - amazing, shocking, overwhelming and so much more. It was written with unflinching honesty and emotion and will give you an intimate view of the life of a police officer. We see them almost everyday of our lives and are often oblivious to the pain, emotional scars and demons they face on our behalf. This will open your eyes to their world and, hopefully, will help all who reads it appreciate them for all they do for us. They pay a very high price in their efforts to keep us safe.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I've ever read on police life, January 3, 2007
By 
Copwriter (Kennewick, Washington) - See all my reviews
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I bought the book on the recommendation of a friend, and didn't expect it to be much different from other cop memoirs, which are generally amusing, but formulaic. Randy's book was none of that. Having been a cop for fifteen years, I knew that Randy was writing what I felt, but he said it like no one else I've read. I finished the book on an airplane, while returning from a business trip. I was self-conscious, looking around me to see if anyone had noticed the tears running down my face. I can't remember any other book having that effect on me. If you want to know what being a cop feels like, you need to read this.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars THIS COP CAN WRITE!, August 1, 2005
By 
Eric Cooper (Gardnerville, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Cop's Life: True Stories from the Heart Behind the Badge (Hardcover)
I served as a Las Vegas cop for thirty years, and I can tell you, Sgt. Sutton got it right. This is a gritty book that episodically depicts the author's experiences as a rookie city cop in New Jersey and as a veteran officer in Las Vegas--one of America's toughest cities to police. He doesn't just take us on patrol with him, he takes us into the dark corners of his mind and tells us how his street experiences affect him. This is not a summer book for escapist reading at the beach; it is a dark look at a good cop's life on the street. If you have ever worn a badge, you'll recognize a lot of yourself in these stories. If you are a "civilian," you will get an in-depth look at the grim reality of police work and the emotional toll it can take on the men and women behind the badge.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
MY LIFE AS A COP BEGAN WITH A DEATH ON A MUDDY LOCKER room floor. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Las Vegas, Doris Bentley, Johnny Rogerson, Merry Christmas, Officer Pete, Officer Griswold, Jesus Christ, New Jersey, Sergeant Taylor, Stocking Head, Ultimate Ninja Warrior, Ford Bronco, Gable Street, Luis Mendez
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