The Whites

If you enjoyed the cop novels by W.E.B Griffin (Badge of Honor series) or those by Ed McBain (the 87th Precinct novels), then I believe you would enjoy The Whites.  Written by Henry Brandt (pseudonym for Richard Price), it is set in New York and is an intelligent, dark and  disturbing novel.  The title refers to criminals who don't pay for their crime because of a technicality.

In the mid 1990's Billy was a member of an anti-crime group called the "Wild Geese".  They were a group of seven young cops sent to the worst precincts in the East Bronx.  Now five of them are left and meet monthly as friends. Some became good detectives and earned a gold shield, and all of them moved up except Billy.   He gained notoriety when he shot  a ten year old boy accidentally while struggling with a druggie high on angel dust.  Because of that shooting, he was transferred from one dead end job to another.  Now years later he is a Sergeant and a member of the Manhattan Night Watch detectives who respond to all crimes committed after midnight.  His team responds to a slashing death at Penn station.  When it is discovered that the victim was once a suspect in a long ago murder, Billy's past begins to catch up with him.

This case ends up involving members of the "White Geese", busting up friendships and putting Billy's family in harm's way.  Some reviewers thought the book starts too slow, but Brandt/Price builds up the story and the characters brick by brick. If you want an intelligent crime novel that rivets you to the page, then I would highly recommend this book.