The Honor Farm — John Westermann

Veteran policeman John Westermann delivers his most explosive novel yet, a murder investigation set in the fascinating, brutal world of cops gone bad.

A lifetime -- nineteen and a half years -- of patrolling suburban Long Island without promotion has left Officer Orin Boyd one option: hang loose, stay out of trouble, and collect his pension in six months. Pure instinct makes him go after the two tuxedos harassing a well dressed black woman along Manhasset's Miracle Mile. But his instincts are too rough, and the heads he cracks belong to New York Senator Thomas Cotton and his top aide.

Now Cotton's got a grudge, and Police Commissioner David Trimble's got what he's been looking for: the perfect mole. To placate Cotton, he'll get Boyd sentenced to the Honor Farm, a Gold Coast mansion converted into a prison for dirty cops. No one but Trimble will know that Boyd's really working undercover, investigating the recent alleged suicide of Trimble's son, Skip, one day before his scheduled release from the Farm.

An ex-Marine and ex-drunk with some pretty colorful mistakes in his past, Boyd fits right in with the rogues on the Farm. His old pal, George Clarke, doing time for bigamy, is delighted to see him; Dominick Ril, who lost his freedom and his bankroll in Boyd's celebrated Belmont sting, would love to put a bullet in him. And Nick Morelli, former PBA president with a raging lust for women and power, has secret orders direct from Senator Cotton to make Boyd suffer -- big time.

But the next cop to die is poor, universally shunned Dick Pettibone -- another apparent suicide. While the press and politicians press for shutting the Farm down, Boyd's busy taunting the neurotic new warden, planting bugs, and thwarting a much too carefully planned beating. Then outside murders threaten his cover -- and unknown enemies stalk his wife and daughter. Now it's time to bust loose and hit back with some juice of his own.