TRUE BLUE: POLICE
STORIES BY THOSE WHO HAVE LIVED THEM was released
by St. Martin’s Press in February 2004. This
amazing collection of true stories is already being
hailed as “the first of it’s kind:
an unobstructed glimpse into the souls of our nation’s
police officers”.
TRUE BLUE began as the dream
of LT. Randy Sutton of the Las Vegas Metropolitan
Police Department shortly after the tragedy of
September 11, 2001. In the numbing
aftermath of that terrible time, LT. Sutton started
searching for a way to unify our nation's police
officers so as to show support for the families
of the officers lost in the attack. He began
asking police officers from all across the country
to reach deep inside themselves and to share not
only tales from their lives but their thoughts
and feelings too within the context of true stories. What
poured forth from America's law enforcement, from
officers who were writers and poets above and beyond
their calling of protecting and serving their communities,
was an inspiring and heartfelt collection of experiences
that will captivate readers everywhere.
Tales of courage and determination, tales of heartbreak and loneliness, fill
the pages of this incredible book.
All the contributers are active duty or former law enforcement officers. Some
are well-known authors in their own right but most of the authors in TRUE BLUE
had never written anything other than a police report until they heard LT.
Sutton's rallying call for help: help through the written word, through stories. Though
they responded out of their strong sense of fraternal duty - to help the families
of the fallen - the result from a literary standpoint is extraordinary: the
TRUE BLUE authors all have something humorous or poignant to relate and they
do so with great flair and style. No one who ever reads this book will
walk away without being touched or changed - it's truly that good.
When asked about TRUE BLUE in a recent interview, LT. Sutton, an award-winning
author in his own right, said "I knew that there were an amazing number of
incredible stories locked into the memories of police officers but it took
a combination of external tragedy and internal selflessness to inspire them
to be told. TRUE BLUE will stand not only as a monument to those officers
who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 2001, but also to those across
the nation who survived them and who refuse to let their fellow officers' sacrifice
be in vain. Those who shared of themselves in writing for TRUE BLUE are
heroes in their own right and with the publication of this book, we celebrate
them and their lives."
TRUE BLUE Police Stories by Those
Who Have Lived Them is a book like no other.
Within its' pages lies the stark truth, the colorful
anecdotes, the harsh cruelties, the personal pain
and the burning idealism of our nation’s finest.
Law Enforcement Officers from throughout our
nation have shared their own incredible stories.
In this unique collection, there are true stories
of life on the street in the words of real police
officers.
After September 11, 2001, Las Vegas
Police Sergeant Randy Sutton began soliciting writing
from law enforcement officers - his goal being to
bridge the gap between the police and those they serve
with a book that offers a broad and thoughtful look
at the many facets of police life. Hundreds of active
and former officers from all over the United States
responded: men and women from big cities and small
towns, some of whom had written professionally, but
most of whom were doing so for the first time.
Sutton culled the selections into
five categories: "The Beat", "Line
of Duty", "War stories", "Officer
Down", and "Ground Zero".
The result is True
Blue, a collection of funny, charming, exciting,
haunting stories about murder investigations, missing
children, bungling burglars, car chases, lonely and
desperate shut-ins, routine traffic stops, officers
killed in the line of duty, and the life-changing
events of September 11. Here officers reveal
their emotions - fear and pride, joy and disgust,
shame and love - as they recount the defining moments
of their careers. In these stories, the heart
and soul behind the badge shine through in unexpected
ways.
True
Blue will change the way we think about the
deeply human realm of police service.
"If you want an
adrenaline rush, forget about intricate mysteries
and so-called thrillers. These pages bring to vivid
reality the real stories of cops whose guts and glory
are seldom seen and rarely heard."
- John Langley, Creator of COPS
"If you want to enter
the hearts and minds of the men and women sworn to
protect us, read True Blue. These intimate episodes,
written by the law officers who lived them, are funny,
sad, moving, and powerful. With the proceeds going
to those law enforcement families who lost a hero
on 9/11, everybody should own this memorable book."
- Joseph Wambaugh, Author
of The Onion Field
and
Fire Lover
"I've been a Las
Vegas cop for twenty-five years and I got a rush reading
True Blue. This book achieves what all the police
shows strive for, hard-hitting action combined with
genuine emotion. The stories are real, the cops are
heroes."
- Sheriff Bill Young, Las Vegas
Metropolitan Police Department.
"Wanna know what cops really think when they're
under stress, and what makes them act and react? These
stories will tell you. Most telling their stories
in these pages are first-time authors; some are polished,
some are gritty, but all have a story worth reading."
- Dan Mahoney, Author
of Justice: A
Novel of the NYPD
"You may call me biased,
because I'm one of the authors in True Blue. ("The
Emotional Switch" Page 32.) However, the stories
by my fellow author/police officers included in True
Blue, beat anything I've read in terms of power, valor
and truth. Randy Sutton's, "Her Name Was Jackie"
is one of many such.
This book will make you laugh,
upset your viewpoint and let you know what it's like
to be on the gritty, and often extreme end of both
cops and citizen's real life stories. All proceeds
from this book go to the survivors of police officers
killed in the Sept. 11th attacks.
Randy Sutton wrote in my copy
of True Blue, "Thanks for being part of the True
Blue Family." No Randy. I'm honored. You, Cassie
Wells, St. Martin's Press, and all those who buy this
book are making a positive difference by giving back
to surviving police families who've all lost and given
so much."
- Rocky Warren LT. (ret.)
/ http://www.rockywarren.com
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