WHEN CORRUPTION WAS KING: How I Helped the Mob Rule Chicago, Then Brought the Outfit Down

In this true-crime memoir, former Chicago mob attorney Cooley engagingly recounts his role in sparking Operation Gambat, a sweeping federal corruption probe into Chicago's political and judicial arenas. Operation Gambat succeeded in documenting the extensive ties between the mob and local government, thanks largely to Cooley's cooperation and courage. The author doesn't spare himself in recounting his descent into the world of crime, despite his loving family and policeman father; and his transformation from fixer and operator into avenging angel is plausibly rendered. Cooley does a nice job of taking the reader inside an undercover investigation, with its glitches, ego clashes and inevitable setbacks. Although his extensive involvement in graft makes Cooley less than fully sympathetic, his risk-taking to expose the crooked system goes a long way toward redeeming him. While the writing is more workmanlike than memorable, this is a nice counterpart to Gus Russo's The Windy City Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America , and Cooley's achievements deserve the wide acclaim this book should garner. Fans of Serpico, Prince of the City and The Informant, as well as those of Scott Turow's fiction, will enjoy this unfamiliar story. Agent, Nat Sobel. (Nov. 2)