Snitch [Hardcover]

Robert Leuci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1997

When a confrontation brews between two decent men, aloof New York detective Nick Manaris and Diego Cienfuego, a Cuban immigrant and single father of three who is working for a cousin involved with criminals, the results are tragic and far-reaching.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As with his last novel, Fence Jumpers (St. Martin's, 1995), Leuci presents a character-driven story about New York City cops and brutal criminals. Leuci, himself a former NYC police detective and the subject of the book and film Prince of the City, knows the town and its inhabitants well. NYPD detective Nick Manaris is a good cop, but he is presently teamed with mostly rogue cops, a "proud, sacrificing hardworking group, but as close as you can get to outlaws themselves." The outlaws in question are a group of "Mafia wanna-be" Latin American immigrants. Caught, Manaris-like, in this evil web is Diego Cienfuego, a Cuban immigrant and devoted single father. The novel focuses on the vain struggle of Maranis and Cienfuego to understand and get along with his respective companions and the consequences when the two eventually meet of the two. Unfortunately, mediocre writing and plot development mar an otherwise fine treatment. Recommended only for libraries with comprehensive crime fiction collections.?John Noel, Tennessee Tech Univ. Lib., Cookeville
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Acting on intelligence from a snitch, New York City's finest stage a raid on a Latino nightclub in 1979, triggering a dramatic if far-fetched vendetta that's not resolved for over a decade in a twisty tour de force from Leuci (Fence Jumpers, 1995, etc.). Tipped by Cuban ‚migr‚ Rodrigo Punto that the proprietors of Los Campos are trafficking in guns and dope, detective Nick Manaris obtains a warrant for the Organized Crime Control Unit to search the popular Queens bistro. The off-hours bust degenerates into a shoot-out that leaves two police officers and several suspects dead. Also a casualty is Diego Cienfuego, an innocent falsely identified by the cuckolded Punto as a power in the local drug trade; he's hauled off to Rikers Island and brutally murdered on orders from the hardened offenders who've already killed Punto. In addition, DEA agents put the real villains of the piece, Benny Matos and his Colombian accomplice Cano, in the federal witness- protection program. Despite the operation's tragically inconclusive outcomes, all hands benefit to some extent. Along with Sonny McCabe (a silky-smooth lawman probably on the take), incorruptible Nick becomes an investigator for his mentor Andre. More than ten years later, the retired Sonny (now a celebrity author) is on the talk- show circuit while Nick soldiers on. At the same time, Natalia, the informant's widow, is preparing to take revenge on those she holds responsible for her husband's slaughter. Having helped in the assassination of lower-echelon hoods, Diego's comely daughter Maria Clara seduces Nick (whom the conspirators have marked for death). He soon figures out what she's up to, but faced with losing a last chance at happiness, Nick masterminds a scheme that, with an assist from the ambivalent Sonny, brings Benny and Cano to rough justice. Notwithstanding improbable plotting at the close, this is gritty, gripping fare from an ex-cop who knows the mean streets of Manhattan and also of the Big Apple's outer boroughs. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (February 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312147392
• ISBN-13: 978-0312147396
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,538,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.