Good Cop, Bad Cop

Rating:
Summary: The Good and the Bad of Good Cop, Bad Cop
Review: This book is basically a 90's version of biblical story of Cain and Abel. This story is about a Chicago beat cop, Aldo Bertolucci and his relationship with his brother Nick, the current superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Ever since childhood, Aldo has always had this deep-seated jealousy towards his brother's success. One day he gets his big chance when he uncovers a registration for a .38 colt gun that was the same gun used to kill a black woman in an illegal Black Panther raid in 1969. He tries to use this information to black mail his brother and ruin his career as a successful Chicago cop. However, Nick decided to do something because he didn't just want to give up without a fight. He uses evidence from a crime scene to try and frame Aldo for murder. When his brother hears of this he makes a deal with Nick in which they would swap for each other's information for the other. During the process of their exchange they get into a fight in the middle of a street. During their struggle a bus approaches them and accidentally hits Aldo killing him. At the end, Nick full of guilt because of his brother's death, decides to resign as the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

There were a few aspects of this book that I found disappointing. One, was the title. The title is misleading because it does not depict the characters of the book. There wasn't one good cop or bad cop. Both of the brothers deceived the other. Also, I don't think the author made it clear who the bad cop was. The story started out with Nick killing a woman in an illegal raid then later Aldo trying to black mail him then towards the end the table turns yet again with Nick trying to frame Aldo for murder. Another disappointing aspect was the lack of suspense and drama that the title implies. This story is nothing more than "Cop A fights with Cop B, Cop B dies " type thing. Although, one thing I did like about this book were the 3 dimensional characters. The characters emotions changed much like a real person in real life would. All together I fell that the author was going in the right direction with the plot but just needs to add more suspense and drama that the title insinuates.

Rating:
Summary: POSSIBLE AND PLAUSIBLE
Review: This book is my first experience with Barbara D'Amato and I want to read more of her novels. GOOD COP, BAD COP certainly brings back memories of Chicago (I live near) in the turbulent 60's. I remember well the Democratic Convention of 1968 and the Fred Hampton raid in 1969. The novel's characterization of the Bertolucci brothers is true-to-life, and the entire scenario is too plausible to be ignored. Is this historical fiction? Probably not in the strictest sense of the word, but it gives the reader a feel for the ways things were done then and how people can still suffer in the aftermath, even after 30 years. A good, fast read.