Takedown, Rick Cowan
Takedown, Rick Cowan
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Takedown
The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire

Author: Rick Cowan, Douglas Century

Narrator: Christopher Meloni

Abridged: 5 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/29/2002

Synopsis

Seldom has the netherworld of the mafia been revealed with such fascinating detail and sheer suspense. Like the classics of the genre-from The Godfather to The French Connection toWise Guy-Takedown leads us to the inner ring of a conspiracy of corruption and terror that held the city in its grip for nearly fifty years. 

Rick Cowan was a young NYPD detective in 1992 when he dropped by a Brooklyn waterfront warehouse to investigate a recent fire bombing-only one in a string of interviews he considered routine. But what he found there was far from routine, for it would take him on a five-year odyssey and nearly cost him his life. In fact, he had stumbled upon the lead of a lifetime-the suspicion that he might unearth the hard evidence police and federal agencies alike had been chasing for decades: the proof of collusion among the mob families to extort billions from the nation's most influential corporations that call New York their home. 

Featuring eccentric, larger-than-life New York characters and an undercover cop on the brink of being discovered-and murdered-at every step, Takedown is a riveting real-life procedural and one of the most important investigative books of the season.

About The Author

Rick Cowan was born and raised in New Jersey, where he was employed variously as a corrections officer, welder and construction worker before beginning a law enforcement career with several small New Jersey police forces.  But he always dreamed of joining the New York Police Department. His dream came true, and it was as a member of OCID that Cowan stumbled into the undercover role that would eventually bring down the Mafia’s garbage empire. In the wake of the garbage cartel investigation Cowan was promoted to Detective First-Grade. For the past few years he has been detailed to the FBI Task Force assigned to Operation Pent-Bomb, the national investigation into the Pentagon and World Trade Center bombings. He is currently working as a detective on the terrorism leads desk.Douglas Century is the author of "Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter" and "Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside of the Franklin Avenue Posse." He has coauthored several best-sellers, including "Under and Alone," with William Queen; "Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire," with Rick Cowan, which was a Finalist for the Edgar Award - Best Fact Crime; and "If Not Now, When?" with Colonel Jack Jacobs (Retired), Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Century's most recent book is "Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life, from South Central to Hollywood" coauthored with Grammy Award-winning singer and actor Ice-T.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Thomas on July 26, 2010

I really liked this book by NYPD detective Rick Cowan, about Operation Wasteland, the undercover investigation that crippled the garbage hauling rackets in NYC. I don't tend to be partial to books by police officers, maybe having been burned by the stunning dullness of Donnie Brasco early on in my t......more

Goodreads review by Rita on July 20, 2019

The book started interestingly as it was a take on a different side of the mafia that you usually don't read about: the garbage cartel. Anyone that has been to New York has seen the mounds of trash out on the sidewalks each night from restaurants and other places that mysteriously disappear the next......more

Goodreads review by Walt on February 10, 2010

This is a very well researched and written study of the mob in a particular industry. The authors do an excellent job describing the racket from its inception through the modern era and its dissolution. This is one of the best books on organized crime I have read.......more

Goodreads review by Nathan on July 01, 2018

This is a very gripping story to read, covering a real-life sting against some of the most influential mob families in New York City. The book mixes important information about the mob's historical rise with Rick Cowan's personal struggle to infiltrate the mafia without being caught by some of the g......more

Goodreads review by Brian on July 08, 2019

Crazy story of a NYC police detective who goes undercover to infiltrate the New York garbage mob. Apparently up to the 90’s, the five crime families in New York owned all the trash pickup in the city and colluded to set prices anywhere from 20 to 2,000% above market rates. Proof that in order to cat......more

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