The Other Side of the Badge - Paperback

by Barry Cronin (Author)

The nation is reeling from the political and social upheaval of a tumultuous decade. Trust in authority is at an all-time low, and on the front lines of a changing America, law enforcement is facing a seismic shift of its own. A new generation of idealistic, college-educated rookies is stepping onto the pavement, colliding head-on with a cynical, combat-veteran old guard who rule the streets with a swift, brutal hand.

In the middle of this squad-room powder keg stands Officer Malachi Coughlin: a living contradiction-ruthless and brutally efficient when provoked, yet fiercely protective of the innocent. Alongside his sharp, record-breaking partner and lover, Officer Murphy, Coughlin navigates a world where the line between peacekeeper and predator is razor-thin.
But the wolves are circling. When a local hunter named Urben Aikens commits an unspeakable act of depravity, a cascading wave of violence is unleashed-drawing in a ruthless Hawaiian organized crime enforcer, Chicago street gangs, stolen military munitions, and a lethal interstate drug ring.

As the bodies pile up from the backwoods of New England to the shores of Maine, Coughlin and his fellow "sheepdogs" find themselves caught in a high-stakes web of vengeance and survival. To stop a pack of predators, this gentle cop must unleash the fiercest, most frightening wolf of them all himself.

Driven by gritty realism, dark humor, and 1970s noir authenticity, The Other Side of the Badge is an explosive, multi-layered crime thriller that explores what happens when the protectors are forced to cross the line to keep the wolves at bay.