I can’t find much about author Edward J Hogan. It looks like he wrote one novel, this one. He was an ex-undercover Federal Bureau of Narcotics agent in New York. He did actually take on the mafia. And, if it’s the same guy, I found a motion to exclude his expert testimony in a case (a tight case?) from 2003. After his stint in the Feds he worked for Mastercard.
Tight Case was published in 1987 and has name drops on the back cover such as Serpico and the Godfather. I guess that’s fair as far as subject matter.
Federal Narcotics agent, Ed Flemming is in a slump. He can’t make a case as of late. Then his ex-pro footballer junkie snitch comes up with a mafia man. The nephew of one of the bosses has been selling coke. Flemming sets him up for a bust and once he has him on the hook, he gets the guy to flip. Now it’s how high up can Flemming take down in the ranks of the mafia but it’s not going to be easy as the mob has an inside man at the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN?) whose giving away the game plan.
If I’m reading a book with this plot line from the 80s, I have a certain expectation of it to be gritty and ultra-violent, with testosterone filled iron balls swinging to and fro. And let me tell you, it delivered.
The Feds have no problem planting evidence, setting up illegal stings, beating the fuck out of people or whatever it takes to make the case. They drink on the job to the point of passing out while still arresting guys. The agents’ character reminded me of that show the Wire but obviously predates it.
Everyone in this book has a nasty disposition. Every. One. At one point Flemming walks into a bar to meet someone. He looks at some random old bastard and the guy goes, “what the fuck are you looking at?” There are moms in station wagons with kids in the back seat flipping people off. Flemming is a complete prick to everyone, and I don’t mean just the mob guys and street urchins, he’s shitty to coworkers, bartenders, witnesses etc. I loved it. I mean in real life, fuck this guy but in the book, it was a cathartic release. I enjoyed watching this guy plow through the grit of 80s New York. This was one of the coarsest books I’ve ever read. Flemming walks out of a bar and steps in a pile of shit. Not only did I appreciate the moment for its obvious metaphorical value but was delighted by its raw and vulgar simplicity.
The mafia characters were the stereotypical mooks you’d expect. On this point I was kind of disappointed as the author was a real-world Federal Agent who dealt with the Mafia. But then again, I would imagine there isn’t a lot of depth to the real-world mob guys so maybe there wasn’t much the author could do to round them out without taking away the authenticity. On the same note, they were very violent. Like torture porn horror violent. If that’s the way those dudes are in the real world that’s insane.
There were two back-to-back chapters of somewhat explicit sex scenes that made me chuckle. Completely gratuitous. One is with Flemming and his wife that is loving and tender but still manly. Ha! The other is with the mafia guy and is more like porn. They were hilariously and awkwardly plopped right in the middle of the book.
The end is satisfying but the journey was so much better. It’s Goodfellas and Sopranos from the point of view of the cops. But the cops are almost as ruthless as the criminals. It was like that heavyweight fight between George Foreman and Ron Lyle where two huge dudes trade the most brutal punches non-stop the entire fight. Hits that would kill us mere mortals. If you’re looking for a complete deprivation of proper procedural conduct in your cop crime then look no further, these cops carry two burners at all times. Great shit, man.
St Martin’s Press 1987
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