Synopsis – Marked Man
From Goodreads – 1971. Brooklyn, New York. Undercover cop Frank Serpico is knocking on a drug dealer’s door. His partners are there to back him up, but when the door opens, he’s staring down the barrel of a gun—and his partners are nowhere to be found.
For more than a century, the New York Police Department had been plagued by corruption, with cops openly taking bribes from gamblers and drug dealers. Not Serpico. He refused to take dirty money and fought to shed light on the dark underbelly of the NYPD. But instead of being hailed as a hero, he became a target for every crooked cop on the force.
In Marked Man, John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro bring this true story of police corruption to life. Join Frank Serpico on his one-man crusade to clean up the largest police force in the United States. And discover the price he had to pay for being an honest cop.
My Review
Marked Man: Frank Serpico’s Inside Battle Against Police Corruption by John Florio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is not a story I was familiar with nor had I even heard about a movie about Frank Serpico. The story begins in a very engaging way and definitely hooked me right away. I wanted to learn more about what happened.
I enjoyed the snippets told by Frank Serpico himself.
Marked Man is geared to a teen audience and I think it strikes the right tone and reading level for that audience. The information is interesting enough to keep even a reluctant reader going. However, the story does not delve deeply into the issues being covered. What this story does well though, is get the reader interested in this topic. I found myself wanting to go and read more about this issue and the ways Frank Serpico exposed the corruption in the NYPD.
I enjoyed the pictures dotted throughout the book that helped bring the cast of characters to life.
I read this book as a nominee for the Cybils 2024 High School Nonfiction Award.
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