From rape to murder, from bombings to hostage-taking, the world of the New York City Police Department's detectives is full of danger and full of opportunities for heroism. These accounts from top investigators tell how it really goes down: never have detectives spoken so openly and in such detail. Here are stories of what it takes: going undercover to catch dangerous and seemingly untouchable drug dealer, defusing a bomb factory located in an apartment building with over three hundred people in it; investigating a brutal and elusive rapist who poses as a gypsy cab driver and for every crime there is a deeper story: how a detective tracked the criminal from crime scene to arrest; how a hopeless case turned around on the smallest condemning detail; and how insight, experience, and courage stopped some of the country's fiercest criminals. With gritty authenticity, Peter Micheels, who brought the world of firefighters to life in Braving the Flames, captures the action of the street, the politics of the precinct, and the drama of the courtroom. Book jacket.