This is the first book I have read from this author and am now Hooked!! It was as If i could sense just what was happening to the caracters but still ws not sure of the true agenda off each . It was as If I was actually in those places after the crimes took place. It made we read non stop. He is an exceptional author and hope to find more on this author.

THIS STORY IS AN EXTRAORDINARY NOVEL THAT KEEPS YOU IN TURNING PAGES AND KEEPING YOU IN SUSPENCE. THAT BRINGS TO LIFE TWO HARDENED STREET DETECTIVES. DETECTIVE LIEUTENANT TEDDY LUCAS IS THE HEAD OF A SQUAD OF THE NEW YORK CITY DETECTIVES. ANDREAS VASSOS IS A VETERAN GREEK COP THAT FOLLOWS JUSTICE AND A NEED FOR VENGEANCE TO THOSE WHO BRAKE THE LAW. THIS TWO DETECTIVES ARE UNITED TO BE AS UNLIKELY PARTNERS. TRYING TO SOLVE AN UNUSUAL CASE THAT WOULD GET THEM TO CRASH THEIR CAREERS. BOTH OF THEM WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS. LUCAS SEARING LOVE AND VASSOS WITH AN OBSESSIVE PASSION TO JUSTICE. BUT WHEN THEY COME TOGETHER THEY MAKE THE PERFECT COUPLE BRINGING DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS TO THE WORD DETECTIVE OR COP. MAKING US TO LOOK AT THEM WITH RESPECT AND HONOR THEIR BRAVENESS OF WHAT THEY ENCOUNTER EVERY SIGLE DAY OF THEIR LONG, MYSTERIOUS, AND POWERFUL LIFE. BOTH DETECTIVES HAVING TO GO EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THEIR LIFE BEING AWARE OF TAKING CARE OF THEIR BACKS. BUT THEY WON'T STOP FIGHTING, SEARCHING, AND THINKING FOR THEIR ONLY PURPOSE, SOLVE THE CASE. THIS STORY IS FAST PACED, ACTION PACKED THAT WILL BLOW UP YOUR IMAGINATION AND MAKE YOU THINK INTELLIGENTLY OF THE WORLD WE LIVE ON. WILLIAM J. CAUNITZ IS AN INTELLIGENT WRITER THAT USES HIS TWENTY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, TO ABSORB YOU IN HIS STORY AND BRINGS TO LIFE THIS TWO DETECTIVES THAT MAKE THIS STORY AN INCREDIBLE STORY.

When the body of Sara Eisinger, travel agent is found, it is just another homicide for Detective Lieutenant Dan Malone and his detectives. Then a few of her possessions are checked and things don't add up. A key that gives access to an exclusive sex club. Two phone numbers that are unlisted CIA. Definitely not your typical travel agent.

These cause Malone and his team to become embroiled in a mystery involving the NYPD, CIA and Mossad. His bosses try to stop the investigation from proceeding but it's already too late and the action carries on until the inevitable violent conclusion in Brooklyn.

Overall this book is a good read. As the author is a retired Detective Lieutenant of the NYPD, you can't help wonder how much of Dan Malone is based around William J. Caunitz. As would be expected, the routine police work is detailed and is interspersed well with some of the action sequences.

This is the authors first book, which is maybe why everything is oriented around the main character, whom just happens to be something that the author once was. Not that this is a negative point, the story line works well and although the main story-line itself is not too plausible, IMO, the way that it is constructed has given the book a feeling of authenticity that someone without the authors background would maybe not have been able to do.

David Lucas (davidlu@sco.com).

The drab, dangerous and often funny details of police work give One Police Plaza a hard-boiled realism. Caunitz shows how government hacks, Mafiosi, reporters, spies and even New York's Catholic Diocese are linked to the cops and each other by a system of favors Malone's manipulation of his superiors and his relentless dedication give this novel the page-turning pull we expect from a good thriller. Its special strength is its carefully exacting depiction of what the working life of a big city police department really is like. With the same bold clarity that served him as a New York City police detective, first-novelist Caunitz delivers a powerful tale of murder and espionage. . . Caunitz expertly depicts the stark reality of the police officer's life and work, and his hard-edged prose drives the story to a stunning conclusion.

Strong character development, plausible plot, realistic dialogue with a splash of sexuality. Opening pages can be a bit disturbing; not for the faint of heart. Well worth reading; a good book to read when you don't sleep alone. And hope no one you care about ends up in the scenes he describes!

Be prepared for shocking sexual scenes and a kinky world of police drama. A good mystery revolving around the psychological problems of the protagonist. Seems Lt Scanlon lost his sexual manhood when he lost his leg. As an amputee, he nevertheless makes good use of his experience in the department to ensure justice, even if not perfect procedures. New York's finest, it would seem, break numerous little laws in order to get their man. They sleep with hookers, hire them for their stag parties, and constantly lie to get witnesses to cough up information. Obviously, Caunitz is no armchair detective, but an author who has lived the life of his characters.

Author Caunitz is the complete police/detective thriller author and every other writer in this genre should be measured against him. His inside knowlege of police procedures, interactions of the characters, squad room banter, and all-around details of the world of law enforcement, contribute to a fascinating read. Nothing is spared here; the plot gives all the details of gory murder, sexual perversion, double lives led by some police, and political intrigue. Caunitz is as close as you can get to living life as a police investigator. Fascinating!

Alejandro Monahan is the son of a NY cop and Mexican Indian mother. The old man "retired" to raise his family in the Baja and was killed by drug lords tied to the title drug. Alejandro is now a sexy club singer and also Chilebean, a deep cover agent with the NYPD looking to avenge his father's death.

Ther characters are great: Che-Che, Roberto Barrios and Pizzaro on the drug side; Too Tall Paulie, Sal Elia and Joey the G-man for the cops. You're never sure who's the real boss is or where the line between undercover agents and the drug business is drawn. Amidst a lot of action Alejandro convinces Che-Che he can guarantee safe importation of heroine using a military guided parachute technology.

With 100 pages to go, the shipment has landed and the multiple Cleopatra lines develop: the drug, the queen and a woman whose father called her that. I had it at five stars until the end, which was just too Hollywood and dropped it down to four. A lousy ending, but an otherwise great cop / druggie story.

I'm used to reading page turners. There were too many characters in this book and I found it a bit hard to catch up to them, and who was the good guy or the bad guy. However, there were plenty of action going on enough to make this book into a movie--people getting shot and killed, cars blowing up, etc., drug abuse, sex, blood everywhere, and ridiculous spy devices put inside genital orifice unheard of in real life. I wasn't too happy about the ending and I thought the Alejandro character wasn't appropriate. A latin singer and a cop? Come one! I found that tacky!

Author and former lieutenant of the NYPD Caunitz is the best of the police procedureal novelists, the most innovative, and one writer who gives you uncensored dialogue. You recognize it as fact; he's been there. His other books tell stories from the police side of things. This one tells about the narcotic trade from the inside as the reader follows the dangerous life of a detective who goes undercover. There is a crushing anaconda, a mysterious feminine killer, and much more. Novelists are able to deduct travel from their income tax which is why we see so many exotic locations in these books and this one is no exception. Some authors end up sounding like travel writers but Caunitz makes it work. Other thriller writers have achieved more fame but no one makes police/detective stories LIVE the way this author does. Try it, you'll like it.

This is a well-written and interesting book about the work, and lives, of NYPD detectives.

As a police officer in a small city north of New York for the past 10 years, I have had many opprotunities to relate with NYPD Detectives. This book has the feel of a war story, with the depth of many experiences that will give a serving police officer the ability to learn more about situations that he/she may find themselves in. If you are a cop and enjoy reading books that can give you an edge on the street, and are also entertaining, this book will not disappoint you.

As the wife of a NYC police officer, I highly recommend this book to those who seek a true, "insider's" look at the life and work of the NYPD. With each page it becomes increasingly evident that the author lived, breathed, ate and slept the often disturbing, sometimes humorous and always chaotic lifes of New York's Finest.

The last of the novels by Caunitz is his best since One Police Plaza. He offers accurate depictions of the true workings of a large police dept.It is safe to assume that what he describes about the NYPD is probably true about most other large police departments. He presents many characters and slowly develops the web that connects them all. This book was very hard to put down once I started reading it. It is a shame that the author passed away so young and we are deprived of more excellent works from him.

Somehow I know people are going to say I took this too seriously, but this book was bad. What made it worse is that the writer paints anyone and everyone of color in this books as animalistic and sub-human. I dare anyone to show me one positive reference to a african american in this book. Can you use the [N-word] more !?! It uses all of the stereotypes that plauge our police forces today and makes no excuses for them. He seems to embrace them. Perhaps if the writer (an x-police officer) actually knew some real black or hispanic people (away from the police force) his book could actually be something better than the bad rantings and fantsies of a x NY cop. Really, anyone in this book that ancestory was anything other than northern european is portrayed as inheriently flawed to down right scum. This was my first and last book by W. Caunitz and if I could get my [money] back I would. If I wanted to hear myself (yes I am an african american male) portrayed as blacks were in this book, I'd go to my local Klan rally. In my opinion this book is no better than the god awful black gangster rap music video that portray black people in this same unrealistic manner. Maybe if Mr. Caunitz wants to meet real black people he'll drop me a note. I can introduce him to the doctors, lawyers, garbage men, Secratries, construction workers and cops who he seems to have no regard for. Well now that I've ventend I think I'll go read something that is both entertaining and realistic. Hey can I get my [money] back.. I'll even take pennies and you know everybody hates pennies. I just hate this book more.

The writing was just bad. The author may be a veteran of the NYPD, but he is just not a convincing writer. A lot of the word choice was inappropriate. The writing struck me as forced. The plot, particularly the ending, was wholly unbelievable. There are better books out there. Give this one a miss.

The bad news here is that the author died while working on this book and it was skillfully completed by Christopher Newman. Nevertheless it snaps and crackles with the dialogue and insider information that only Caunitz (a 30-year cop) could provide. You can read all of the police novels you want but you will NEVER find an author that gives you as much of the inside scoop on police work, language, and character. His plots are fascinating, his characters different yet utterly believable, and his mastery of giving a lot of information in a few words is unmatched. Caunitz was, quite simply, the best of them all at this kind of a novel. Rest In Peace, William J. Caunitz...I'll be re-reading your books from time to time until (hopefully) we meet in the beyond.

"Exceptional Clearence" is a book with no outstandings qualities. There's no great detective work or a gripping and interesting mystery to solve. The characters are poorly developed and I remember Ed Mc Bain's 87 Precint novels as a good example of how to built a convincing and weel structured police novel. Caunitz has too much to learn in this way before reaches a respectable position among the great police writers, like Mc Bain, Chandler and others.

I enjoyed the tactics used by these cops to solve their case, but I never really felt any sense of mystery or suspense. It's easy to read, it passes the time, and it's not bad... but it's not that exciting either.

This is author Caunitz's shortest book and that is my only complaint. He does not write "mysteries" in the classic sense; he writes police-procedural novels. You get the salty cop dialogue, an authentic inside look at what a cop's life is like, and all of the political, criminal, and hectic details - since the author is a former NYPD lieutenant. If you want a read "with the bark off" and enjoy hearing what a cop's life is REALLY like, you will enjoy this book immensely. If you are looking for something clever and Sherlockian, this isn't it. I love Caunitz's stories and reread them every once in a while.