A Piece of the Action - Softcover

Solomita, Stephen

3.6

15 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380721031 ISBN 13: 9780380721030

Publisher: Avon Books, 1994

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New York City police officer Stanley Moodrow investigates a case that his superiors do not want solved, and his questions lead him to discover devastating secrets lurking in the shadows of the city. Reprint.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Intense police melodrama, circa 1957, as Solomita takes his hulking cop-hero Stanley Moodrow (Bad to the Bone, 1991, etc.) back to his early, troubled days on the job. It may be set 25 years ago, but the elements that have made Solomita's modern-day crime thrillers so invigorating are in place: There's 6'6'' Moodrow, of course, just five years on the force but already relentless--as shown in the brutally exciting near-opening scene in which the young cop, face ravaged and nose broken, batters his way to victory in the Inter-Service Boxing Championships. There's Moodrow's beloved human ant-heap of a Lower East Side and its usual complement of skin-crawling villains, this time led by ruthlessly ambitious Jewish gangster Jake Leibowitz. And there's strong--if relatively clich‚d--human drama, sparked when an old family friend asks Moodrow to look into the slaying of a Hispanic neighbor that other cops are ignoring. Moodrow agrees but treads softly, not wanting to further alienate his future father-in-law, powerful Inspector Pat Cohan, who's just given Moodrow a gold shield but who's angered because Moodrow is balking at his new post as assistant to the precinct bagman. Moodrow's a pit bull for justice, though, and when he learns that the dead Hispanic was an innocent slain by Liebowitz's crew during a shakedown, and that Cohan (who Moodrow doesn't yet know is in the mob's pocket) has quelled the investigation, he swears to take Liebowitz down. Meanwhile, Leibowitz cuts a savage swath through the Lower East Side and the Italian bosses who have forsaken him, and Cohan swears to crush the insubordinate Moodrow, who prepares to fight back--but won't that mean losing the love of Cohan's daughter, the sweet and succulent Kate? Series fans already will know that Moodrow wins this battle, but Solomita's energetic evocation of the bad old days of New York's finest will keep them nailed to the page right up to the foregone conclusion. -- Copyright �1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

The author of A Twist of the Knife and three other suspense novels starring New York City police detective Stanley Moodrow, Solomita here goes back in time, weaving a satisfying, fast-paced tale of his character's first years on the force. It's 1957, and after winning a boxing match at which he represents the police department, beat cop Moodrow is rewarded with a promotion to the rank of detective. His "rabbi," or mentor, is inspector Pat Cohan, a proud Irish cop who has been on the take for years--a fact Moodrow is unaware of. Cohan allows Moodrow to court his daughter, Kathleen, and the young cop couldn't be happier--until a neighbor asks him to inquire about a homicide that the police don't seem interested in solving. Moodrow soon learns that higher-ups in the department have indeed quashed the investigation, and in his bullheaded way he pursues the few leads on his own, even though airing the complete story will tear his cozy world apart. Solomita offers a well-plotted narrative and nicely evokes New York City a generation ago. This is hard-boiled police fiction at its best.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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