Median Gray by Bill Mesce, Jr is an NYPD story showing the real grit and the extremes officers in New York go through with a compelling voice leading you to think you are there listening to Big Sid, Ronnie, and Captain Van Dyne as they work together to clean up the city streets and the corrupt station they belong to.
Ronnie is a rookie who has been paired up with Big Sid, a seasoned veteran of the NYPD. Under the leadership of Captain Victor Van Dyne, those officers who have not been involved in the scandal plaguing their precinct, work together to find out who is dirty, who is not and who they need to get off the streets. The story starts with a gripping view of Officer Meara when he was a rookie cop then jumps ahead to “now” when most of the precinct has been found to be corrupt. The story is believable and delivers a realistic depiction of true-life officers with the only confusion being that it is hard at the beginning to know who is on the good side and which precinct they belong to. Once the story starts moving it all seems to fall into place quickly.
I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars for a believable plot, relatable characters, and true-to-life New York City Police Department police officers. Fast-paced and engrossing you won’t want to put this book down until you find out how it all ends.
It’s not like he’s going to go hunting down those dark halls and stairways after the perp, that’d be stupid, that’d be fucking insane. He’s just going to find McInerney, keep him company until the ambulance gets there, maybe he can do some First Aid; maybe he can do… something. Anything.
He unsnaps the restraining strap on his holster and pulls out the .38, and he’s surprised at how light that pound and a half of steel feels, not tugging at his hand the way it does on the firing range at Rodman’s Neck, but popping clear of the leather like it’s on a spring because he’s got so much adrenaline going through him he could spin a Mack truck on his finger.
He steps through the foyer and into the must-and-cabbage smell of the hallway. It’s hot and close in there, he wonders why there are no fucking lights.
“I’m coming, Mac,” he says moving slowly down the hall, straining his ears, trying to find shapes in the dark.
Welcome to the blog tour for gritty crime thriller, Median Gray by Bill Mesce Jr.
“Smart, gritty, and authentic, Median Gray delivers a crackling tale complete with complex and damaged characters, and a keen eye for what cops know and think.” -– SFPD Sgt. Adam Plantinga, author of 400 Things Cops Know and Police Craft.
At a time when New York’s mean streets were their meanest, one NYPD detective at the end of his career takes one last chance to correct a 20-year-old injustice, and another cop at the beginning of his career tries to stop him before a police department already scarred by corruption investigations takes another hit.
“Mesce takes you on a blistering ride-along down mean New York streets with the most irreverent detectives this side of Richard Price. And with dialogue so true it feels wire-tapped; Price had better watch his back. This one’s a winner.” –David Breckman, co-executive producer of TV’s Monk and The Good Cop
Bill Mesce, Jr. is an author, screenwriter, and playwright living in New Jersey.
His first professional writing gig was the product of a screenwriting contest landing him an uncredited stint on Brian DePalma’s 1981 political thriller, BLOW OUT. Since then he has worked on a number of film projects, including the 1998 feature ROAD ENDS which was screened at a number film festivals.
Another writing contest led to his award-winning one-act play “A Good Kid,” which, in turn kicked off a series of related one-acts which were eventually rolled into his first full-length stage effort, A JERSEY CANTATA.
And yet again, a writing contest brought him his first published credit, the critically-acclaimed WW II drama, THE ADVOCATE. Since then, he has turned out a range of work from academic studies to literary short fiction and including several well-received sequels to THE ADVOCATE.
From 2010 to 2017, he was an adjunct instructor at several colleges and universities in New Jersey. He now teaches screenwriting at the University of Maine at Farmington.
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