False Stature

Rating:
Summary: McGowan is an excellent yarn spinner!
Review: Dennis J. McGowan has had a distinguished career in law enforcement, including being a member of the Village of Suffern Police Department; holding posts in the Rockland County Patrolmen's Benevolent Association; as an instructor in Criminal Justice at Rockland Community College; and as liaison to various legislative branches of government. He is also a member of the Mystery Writers of America and National Writers Union, as well as Police Writers Association and the Retired Police Association of New York State.

McGowan's compelling story begins with two West Bronx friends, both who dream of entering the police academy. But their story diverges when they both witness a bizarre murder as kids. When a corrupt policeman comes after Frankie Driscoll's relative Joey, Frankie suddenly finds himself in Sing Sing on a trumped-up charge. He knows who killed his cousin; a corrupt cop named Reardon. Frankie's friend, Jim Mackery, makes it through the academy and catches a cop killer the first day on the job. Thus their paths diverge, until Frankie agrees to work undercover after his release from Sing Sing to catch "wise guys." Frankie and Jim team up together to catch Reardon, when it becomes apparent that the vendetta has something to do with a shelter called "the Castaways" and Frankie and his cousin Joey's involvement in it when they were young:

"'Wilson told me he was a security guard there,' Driscoll said. "Told me about a cop who had the run of the place. Said Reardon was up in the executive offices all the time.' 'Then we're probably right. The Castaways could be the connection between Joey and Reardon,' he said. 'Reardon was looking for Joey the night he killed him. Why else would he be out of his command?'"

McGowan sets up almost a stream of consciousness plot full of action and dialogue, to build up tantalizing characters so real the reader squirms throughout the entire book. His knowledge is incredible, and the inside story he concocts is a page-turner. Instead of the reader waiting for the book to produce results, False Stature fairly drags the reader through a wringer of adventure, mystery, and action. Beware to anyone who opens this book...it is impossible to put down once it is started. McGowan is an excellent yarn spinner!

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: False Stature is a gripping who-dunnit from the very first page! The excitement and suspense will keep the reader on the edge of their seats. McGowan's talent is immense and one of the brightest new talents to shine in this or any other genre. I highly recommend this author who is destined for the best seller lists, right along side James Patterson. I can't wait for his next release, Echoes of Ignorance.

Great job!

Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: False Stature is a gripping who-dunnit from the very first page! The excitement and suspense will keep the reader on the edge of their seats. McGowan's talent is immense and one of the brightest new talents to shine in this or any other genre. I highly recommend this author who is destined for the best seller lists, right along side James Patterson. I can't wait for his next release, Echoes of Ignorance.

Great job!

Rating:
Summary: False Stature is the best cop story I have read in some time
Review: Fast paced story with totally believable characters! You can almost smell and hear NYC as you read this story! The plot is so believable..you`ll think it came from the front page of any major city newspaper!! I couldnt put it down..kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page. I can hardly wait until Mr. McGowan`s next installment, and you won`t be able to either after reading this one! A great book for any fan of police or whodunnits! Very dramatic, fast paced, well written story!!

Rating:
Summary: FALSE STATURE
Review: Move over Joseph Wambaugh, there is a new guy on the block, and he is taking over.

If you have read any of Wambaugh's books (New Centurions, The Choirboys, etc) and liked them, you will absolutely love Dennis McGowan's FALSE STATURE.

Frankie Driscoll and Jim Mackery grew up together in the same West Bronx neighborhood. One evening while exploring the alleys of their neighborhood, the boys happen on a murder in progress. Unseen by the perpetrator they manage to get out of there and safely back home.

Both boys dreamed of becoming members of the NYPD. But this dream soon turns into a nightmare. Frankie witnesses his cousin, Joey, being murdered by a rogue cop. He suddenly finds himself "set-up", and spending his first years as a rookie cop in Sing Sing in an undercover operation. Jim, on the other hand, seems to flourish in his quest to become a detective. On the first day of service, he manages to catch a cop killer. Something that even the more seasoned detectives had not been able to do. Mistrust between the two childhood friends starts to manifest itself, and things just don't seem to be working out like they had dreamed it would.

After Frankie's release from prison, he agrees to work as an undercover cop, and in doing so Jim and Frankie team up together to catch the cop that had murdered Joey.

From page one, Mr. McGowan grabs the reader in this very real story. FALSE STATURE is not only a book about the NYPD, but also a story about friends. How their friendship is tested, and how they handle that testing. It is a story of what goes on behind the scenes of the police department, and in the neighborhoods of The Bronx. The descriptions of the scenery are so vivid, and real that you can hear the Ell as it thunders overhead, smell the exhaust from the cars, hear the sirens as the police cars scream around the corner to yet another emergency, and smell the urine and body odors that emit from the jail cells. You actually feel the fear that the characters feel, as they find themselves in terrifying situations.

Mr. McGowan sets up a sensational plot full of action. His characters are so real that the reader has a difficult time remembering that FALSE STATURE is a book of fiction. He tells a story, one that you can't put down.

FALSE STATURE is an absolutely wonderful, dramatic, fast paced book that has been written by a talent who knows how to grab your attention, and doesn't let it go. I cannot recommend this book too highly. You have just got to read FALSE STATURE, by Dennis J McGowan.

I will repeat what I said at the beginning, "move over Joseph Wambaugh, there is a new guy on the block, and he is taking over". And Dennis J. McGowan is that new guy.

Rating:
Summary: A Spine-Tingling Crime Thriller!
Review: Secrets drive this fast-paced police thriller. Two young men, childhood friends, with dreams of serving on the prestigious New York Police Department, find their lives headed in opposite directions. ...

Author Dennis J. McGowan is a natural storyteller, and his characters are finely-drawn and believable. As surprise after surprise is sprung on the reader, a bond forms between his characters and the reader, particularly the vulnerable Frankie, who cannot tell anyone that he is working as an undercover officer. His angst grows as his buddy receives accolades and achievements, while Frankie is consorting with criminals in the course of his undercover work. He begins to act rashly, desperately wanting to be known as "one of the good guys," yet realizing that if he tells anyone all his hard work will be destroyed.

This first book by retired police detective McGowan offers the promise of even more wonderful, and authentic, work to come.

This book is a keeper.