Vice Cop: My Twenty-Year Battle With New York's Dark Side [Paperback]

B. McCarthy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993

A veteran New York City cop recounts his one-man war against crime as former of head of New York's Public Morals Division, describing the city's drug dens, sex shops, and organized crime. Reprint. K.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Retired policeman Mallowe recounts his dramatic years with the New York Police Department, confronting race riots, police corruption and a mob kidnapping.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

McCarthy's career in the New York City Police Department spanned 20 years, culminating in his appointments as Commanding Officer of the Public Morals (Vice) Division and, later, of the Bomb Squad. This memoir concentrates on his years undercover as a sergeant on the vice squad and is full of details on how undercover investigations are conducted as well as how police work together. McCarthy, who comes across as a tough guy crusading to clean up corruption and vice, meets and describes a truly amazing array of characters (police and criminals). His depictions of criminal activities are very explicit--particularly in the area of prostitution. The narrative is disjointed at times, but the subject matter will be absorbing for general readers. In another recent book, What Cops Know ( LJ 12/90), Connie Fletcher's interviews with Chicago police officers offer similar insight into the psychological and technical aspects of police work. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/90.
- Mary Jane Brustman, SUNY at Albany Libs.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821740253
• ISBN-13: 978-0821740255
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for any law enforcement officer, July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Vice Cop: My Twenty-Year Battle With New York's Dark Side (Paperback)

As a former student of Professor McCarthy's I found this book to be everything he had ever said and taught me in class. The book details the struggles and problems with dealing with the criminal element and a corrupt hierarchy of beuracracy. Very well done.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars vice cop, December 4, 2000

By 

avdr (san diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vice Cop: My Twenty-Year Battle With New York's Dark Side (Paperback)

vice cop which is based on a true story,tells the life of bill mcarthy,a tough irish-american cop who wont give in to corruption.the book takes place in the 70's in a pimp infested new york city.the author mike mallowe takes us from bill mcarthy's first experience as a cop in public morals division,to the climax where an event changes the way the nypd operates now.an inside look into the life of corrupt cops and the cops that try to bring them down,filled with pimps,gambling,murders and the mafia.a good read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars o.k. for a biography of a vice cop, January 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Vice Cop: My Twenty-Year Battle With New York's Dark Side (Paperback)

THIS BOOK FOR THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES READS LIKE A EULOGY OF A VICE COP. THE REST OF THE BOOK HAS SOME GREAT STORIES ABOUT MCCARTHY'S EXPERIENCES AND CASES WHICH HE HAD WORKED ON. THE BEST QUOTES ARE AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CHAPTER AND ARE KNOWN AS "MOTHER'S MAXIMS"