Rating: 
Summary: Too bad the gems are hidden
Review: Like many other readers, I also felt that this book, which had the potential of becoming a classic, missed its mark. As I see it, there are two central problems with this book. First, Conlon, whose writings in the New Yorker prove that he is a master of the "short documentary article" genre, was not able to transition to the book form effectively. There is no real structure to help the reader figure out the main themes of the book. Rather, it feels like many short articles stuck together in chronological order. To this lack of structure, I attribute the editors' difficulty in shortening the book. Where do you cut if it is no obvious what is central and what is tendential? Second, Conlon was not able to articulate what I believe is the most interesting aspect of the book and that is the evolution within himself over time. His reaction to the events he witnesses, the organizational structure of the department and its culture are discussed, but not in sharp enough relief. I think the book would have been far more interesting if Conlon could more honestly have reflected on the man he now is as a result of six years of work. Rather than dancing around individual events, he ought to have engaged in the more interesting questions about the tension between the system and its individuals. This he failed to do. The author needed a powerful guiding hand to turn this into the real classic it could have been. This hand was missing.
Rating: 
Summary: Blah, Blah, Blah, Blood
Review: I've finally made my way through Blue Blood. If this represents the first seven years of author Conlon's career with the NYPD, I suppose we owe him thanks that he didn't wait until retirement to write his book. By my math, that sucker would come in at over 1500 pages, and if the first seven years are any indication, would've been as boring as watching Conlon count to one million (the rumored payday for Conlon on this tome).
Nothing happens in this book, or more appropriately, nothing of interest. Even most of the arrests seem to occur on Conlon's days off. I hope the fellas on the squad got a share of the advance; after all, it's their stories he's telling. Hey Eddie, I want my money back. P.S. Yes, we KNOW you went to Harvard. Give it a rest.
Rating: 
Summary: Very tricky
Review: I lifted this book up, flicked through a few pages and read a few lines here and there. The first thing that struck me was that it has a crammed feel about it. The whole layout, the type and space just sucked up a lot of air. I wondered why this is such a long book.
As I continued reading a bit here and there, I thought is this a cop writing about being a cop or is it a writer who happens to be a cop writing about being a cop. Or is it trying to be something else by a writer. I was getting a little exausted by this time and I put the book back up on the shelf. I was feeling sorry for the writer. This is a lot of writing after all and he had to go along with the packaging and editing, I suppose.
Then I began to feel sorry for the editor and the publisher. I picked up the book again and flicked through it. Basically, they all knew what they had and they had to put it together in book form. And I thought they had a big problem to solve. In fact they had a huge problem to solve. Who were they going to put in the book? The writer, his fellow workers, the contact with the public and the courts. Or did they add in past and present family life, big city events and big bits and bits about big people. I was getting tired now. The book seemed to be getting heavier. I put it back on the shelf.
Keep at it Conlon and the same to your publisher, packager and editor. Happy Bloom's Day.
(dictated, not edited)
Rating: 
Summary: Long, but worth slogging through
Review: The author is a Harvard-educated NYPD cop, son of an FBI agent, writing his memoirs seven years into his career on the force. Over the course of the book's 560 pages, he begins in Housing (drug busts in the projects), works with Narcotics, gets a feel for the midnight shift, sifts though the awful wreckage of 9/11 on Fresh Kills, and finally becomes a detective. Every so often, he interrupts his own story to tell some other facet of police or New York life, such as that of the real Serpico or the tale of the French Connection, stories of crooked and heroic cops and politicos of the past, the Black Panther cop-murder spree, and so forth. It's a very interesting book, with plenty of very funny bits (his descriptions of and banter with informants provide much humor) as well as food for thought. Certainly, though, it's no masterpiece. For someone who clearly bristles when talked to about police corruption, Conlon breezes over Abner Louima, and takes a very Blue Wall-ish view of the Amadou Diallo case. The book is also overlong; it could use some editing, especially given that there are no spectacular cases here (lots of gritty interrogation and stakeout stuff, but it is everyday police work). On the whole, though, the great writing, the eye for a relevant story, Conlon's intense devotion to the NYPD, and a real flair for characterization make this a memoir worth reading through.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Read
Review: Great insight into the wold of the NYPD!
Rating:
Summary: I Learn Again Not to Trust Reviews
Review: I bought this book because of enthusiastic reviews. But, "blah blah blah" is right! I wish I could remember which reviewers recommended this book. I want always in the future to do the opposite of whatever they suggest. (Maybe they were among Conlon's many relatives?) How did Conlon get through a Harvard English class? Boring disorganized worthless badly-written book. Sophomoric at best. Waste of money; waste of time. Mr. Conlon do not write again. Please.
Rating:
Summary: A long-winded bore
Review: I'm generally a fan of police procedurals. I have to say that last night I finally gave up on this book at page 335 (of over 500 pages). For the last 80 - 100 pages that I read, everything was just more of the same that had been said in the first 200+ pages. In excruciating detail. The same old housing project drug operations, over and over and over again. No fresh insights here that I detected.
On the plus side, as an earlier reviewer observed, this will make one heckuva doorstop.
Rating:
Summary: Up there with Bonfire of the Vanities
Review: This book is sui generis. The author takes the flotsam and jetsam of the streets and raises it to world class literature. I saw in the Roanoke Va newspaper review the author (Conlon) compared to Shakespeare; having finished the book, that is no stretch. BLUE BLOOD is one of the five finalists for this year's National Book Award. A Pultizer for sure! Long May His Tribe Increase. Tolle et Lege.
Jim Whalen, NYC
Rating:
Summary: captivating
Review: I do not regret that I bought this book. It is an interesting book. I like the author's style of writing and the police stories which I found exciting. I generally like cop stories and wasn't disappointed by this. If you ever want to know about the inner workings of New York City and the NYPD, then this is a recommended read. Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE
Rating:
Summary: "What is the world coming to
Review: when you can't trust a prostitute named Snake?"
This book is a fascinating, honest account of police work in the Bronx, much more realistic than Hollywood-style cop movies would have you believe. It's hilarious in places and will make you laugh out loud, as you must, to deal with the range of heartbreak, despair and desperate conniving Detective Conlon and his colleagues face daily. I agree that a little editorial cutting, not much, would have helped in the family biography section, but that is mostly because I wanted to hear more about the author's experiences in day to day police work. The book is very well-written. The author is intelligent about and compassionate toward the characters with whom he comes into contact, and he provides an insider's perspective on historical events from the French Connection bust, to the Knapp Commission, to 9/11.
An unrelated aside: I once asked a friend, who was a police detective in Brooklyn in the sixties and seventies, which of the 70's cop shows was the most realistic. To my surprise, he said Barney Miller, a sit-com some of you might remember. Although the rest of us think of police work as grueling, dangerous, daredevil-type work, it's actually grueling, dangerous, daredevil-type work for people with a sense of humor and the patience to listen to endless self-justifications and excuses and then spend the night wading through hours of paperwork. Detective Conlon provides excellent descriptions of the job, the camaraderie, the informants and the "perps."
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