Tim McLoughlin

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Stories and Essays by Tim McLoughlin This small package holds a beast of a narrative voice.
The book is divided into two sections, stories and essays about the life of cops and detectives in a world that is both just and corrupt. Like the world, the protagonists in Mr. McLoughlin’s stories and essays reflect the same hard-ass, yet frequently empathetic, ways toward crime and criminals, often trampling the gray line between what is acceptable and what is purely show more criminal.
The characters that fill the pages are losers. Not “lovable losers,” just losers. They’re down on their luck, or they see an easy way to steal a dollar. While this is the truest element in the book, it may also turn off some readers. However, if you need a source book for big city crime, this book is for you.
The downside for me? Some of the stories ended too quickly. After pages of set up, the author draws a rapid conclusion. In the author’s future works—which I would buy and read—I would hope he spends more time with the endings. After all, a good ending sells the next book.
Did I like the book? Yes. And I found it disturbing. The strongest element in this book is the author and his voice. A reader may find a story morally questionable, but there is no doubt that the author’s/narrator’s voice is pervasive. McLoughlin fills in the gaps between right and wrong with “right for me” or “wrong for me.”
This is a voice you don’t usually hear, but one you should not miss.
4 stars. show less

I have written this review as a Library Thing Early Reviewer, having received an Advance Reading Copy from Akashic Books.

Tim McLoughlin introduces his collection of 'Stories and Essays' thusly, "At the end of the day I tell ghost stories." I'm not buying the concept, perhaps I lack the imagination to fully understand it.

Having been born in Brooklyn and spending my early years in Brooklyn and its environs I have known, and even befriended, people not much different than those he portrays in show more all his writings. So, rather than being ghosts in the general sense, they are real life, flesh and blood people, in the individual experience. And I suspect any who were in my orbit in my New Yawk days would find McLoughlin's characters to be quite familiar to them.

All the stories and essays are written in the first person. I found that to be a very creative mechanism to make them more vibrant, more alive, more personal. As a result of this technique I never really found a delineation, a demarcation between those labeled stories and those identified as essays.

McLoughlin excels at phrasing and description, he is never wordy. His characters and their situations are grim, dark, stark, often those involved in the undercarriage of city life. They are compelling stories, riveting, baring the souls, or lack thereof, of those who inhabit The Five Boroughs.

I loved the book and found it all rang true and is demonstrative of McLoughlin's exceptional talents in seeing, understanding and capturing his environment. I highly recommend this book. Even though it is a short read it will draw you in and hold you there as you ponder the vagaries of the human condition. Enjoy a very unique experience by reading it! show less

McLoughlin, editor of the Brooklyn Noir titles (some of these stories were previously published in various Akashic Noir volumes), draws on over thirty years of experience working in the New York City criminal justice system for these stories and essays on the lesser-seen aspects of being a cop in the Big Apple. Change is a recurring theme; many of the protagonists (including, in the essays, McLoughlin himself) find themselves dealing with changes—to their circumstances, to their city, to show more the changing nature of crime and criminals—beyond their control. The book is evenly divided between stories and essays. My favorite stories include "Scared Rabbit," about a cop near retirement involved in a questionable shooting; and "The Amnesty Box," about the consequences of a postal policeman not carrying out a duty that wasn't legitimate to begin with. Favorite essays include "Ralph and Sam," about cops trying to stop the selling of unlicensed merchandise at concerts (the title is a reference to the wolf and sheepdog in the Chuck Jones Warner Brothers cartoons; if you’re familiar with those, you have an idea how well that works); "Surfing the Crime Wave," about changes in NYC crime and New York’s response to it since the days of Son of Sam; and "Maharaja for a Year (1999-2000)," about the time McLoughlin was pursued by an Atlantic City casino as a high roller. I enjoyed the essays a bit more than the stories because they ran slightly more to the humorous, but everything except the briefest is memorable. Recommended especially if you like the Akashic Noir series. show less

Reading this book took me back to watching Barney Miller as a kid - no it wasn't a comedy, it just had that gritty kind of feeling to it. I don't think this book is for everyone to read because it is a little too honest about the reality of crime and the stories that span the world, but for those who can take it Tim McLoughlin's book will make a nice read. The stories are cohesive and move very quickly but leave thoughts and questions behind in your mind. The essays leave more questions than show more answers. Definitely worth the time to read. show less