THE BRASS WALL: The Betrayal of Undercover Detective #4126

Part police drama and part exposé of corruption in the New York City Police Department, this book captures the divergent aspects of heroism and dirty politics that have become intertwined in the complex world of law enforcement. Kocieniewski focuses his story on Vincent Armanti, an alias for an undercover cop who, in the process of trying to take down a gang of drug-dealing, murdering mobsters, is betrayed by another cop whose father just happens to be a powerful NYPD inspector. During Armanti's struggle to have his betrayer brought to justice, he faces the NYPD's "blue wall of silence," the department's unspoken policy of protecting their own at all costs. The varied personal stories of Armanti and such people as FDNY Lt. Thomas Williams, Det. John Wrynn and the members of the Ferranti gang range from poignant to intriguing and demonstrate a paradoxical familiarity between cops and criminals. While the court cases and office politics of the book's second half dampen the thriller aspect of the tale, the author's experience working as the police bureau chief for the New York Times allows him to clearly portray and analyze the myriad lawsuits, backdoor deals, personal vendettas and political agendas that arise out of an undercover mission compromised by a dirty cop. Though the ending is somewhat anticlimactic—more front-page news than Hollywood blockbuster—it supports the book's premise that the world of the NYPD is a murky place. (Oct.)