Jersey Tough: My Wild Ride from Outlaw Biker to Undercover Cop

In this immensely entertaining memoir, Bradshaw chronicles his path from violence to redemption on the gritty streets of Asbury Park, N.J., during the cocaine-fueled 1970s and '80s. Bradshaw went from being a ruthless enforcer for the Pagans Motorcycle Club gang to prosecuting those same bikers and other criminals as an undercover police officer. "The undercover persona I selected came naturally," Bradshaw writes. "I knew that drill because I'd lived it... and I'd stick with the same Jersey tough attitude I already had." Bradshaw's book spans his life in 35 chapters. He first saw violence in the U.S. Army (where he once pummeled a guy's face over a bottle of wine). Upon leaving the military, he fell in with the Jersey Shore Pagans and spent his time relieving rival gang members of their drugs and their teeth. Bradshaw's redemption came when he left the gang and biker lifestyle, found a new path that led to becoming a police officer, and then went undercover for the Monmouth County Narcotics Task Force, staring down many a drug dealer's gun barrel. This fascinating book is true-crime writing at its best and will appeal to anyone interested in the sordid dealings of America's criminal underworlds. (Mar.)