Bronx Justice: An NYPD Novel

Today I’m hosting Bob Martin, former NYPD captain, who has a new novel called, Bronx Justice. Bob, tell us about your book.

Sure, John. The book is based on a case I worked as a captain with the Bronx Homicide Squad in 1990. We had a black drug gang, The Crew, team up with some white “wanna be”  wise-guys, The Cowboys.Rival drug dealers were targeted. The Cowboys, dressed as plainclothes cops, would arrest, read, kidnap the victim, and turn them over to The Crew. Ransom demands were made. If paid, the dealers were set free. If not, a bullet in the head and another body dropped on a Bronx street. The year 1990 saw a record 2,605 homicides, with the Bronx alone recording over 600 murders. With some great detective work, the case was solved and all were convicted in federal court. Years later, as I continued to share this story, people kept telling me, “This would make for a great book.” I agreed, and after sixteen years of starts and stops I finally wrote the story.

Bob, tell us how you got started writing.

My writing journey began with a story I did about legendary Queens Homicide Lieutenant, Dan Kelly. He had been doing homicide work in Queens for over thirty years when I became his boss in 1989. I was pursuing my college degree at the time and taking a course called, NYPD History. I interviewed Dan for a term paper. My teacher, an ex cop thought the piece was good enough to get published, and in 1991 it appeared in The Badge magazine. I have had numerous articles published in various newspapers and magazines. In 1999 my “The Joint Terrorist Task Force-A Concept That Works,” appeared in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Most are personality pieces, law enforcement, terrorism or sports stories. My first writing paycheck came from a story I did for New York Newsday, “A Team and a Family,” published in 2008. Sticking to the concept of “write what you know,” it was a story about the NYPD football team. I was a charter member, played for a dozen years and founded the team’s alumni association, so I was on very familiar ground. Most recently I’ve had three law enforcement related Op-Eds published in the New York Post. My next project will be to publish a series of NYPD short stories. This will happen after I take a much needed break, after finally seeing Bronx Justice published.

Bob Martin NYPD.

Served with the NYPD for 32 years in a wide variety of commands that included the fabled Tactical Patrol Force (TPF), the Street Crime Unit, Mounted Unit, the 72nd, 69th, 6th Precincts, Queens and Bronx Detectives, and finally as the CO of the Special Investigations Division. Martin was a charter member and played for a dozen years with the NYPD’s Finest Football Team. He served for twelve years on the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) “ Committee on Terrorism” and traveled extensively, in this country and abroad, speaking on the subject. He retired as a Deputy Inspector in 2000 and began writing. His stories have been published in numerous magazines and newspapers. Bronx Justice, based on an actual case, is his first novel. He plans to continue his writing career.

 “There are no crime stories quite as good as a New York crime story. With Bronx    Justice, Bob Martin adds another good read to that list.”

Bill Bratton,former NYPD Police Commissioner