Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0765338092, Hardcover)
Jeff Buck thought he'd seen it all. Twenty years working undercover in the netherworld of drugs had left him burned out and grateful to assume the quiet job of police chief in the small town of Reminderville, Ohio. That is, until a simple domestic assault case turns out to have links to the murder of a drug runner in upstate New York and a syndicate smuggling billions of dollars in drugs across the U.S.-Canada border.
As Buck reluctantly plunges back into his old world of death and deceit, he uncovers a complex chain linking the Hells Angels to the Russian Mafia in a plot to use Native American tribal land to smuggle their deadly wares into the United States. From grow houses set ablaze in Quebec to the insular St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation, from board rooms and biker wars to the frozen rivers that serve as private turnpikes for the drug gangs, Buck opposes a serpentine criminal enterprise that has every reason to want to end his crusade in violence and bloodshed.
Ultimately, his efforts lead to an unprecedented slew of indictments on both sides of the border and prison terms for even the kingpins, toppling an empire once deemed invincible. Takedown spans the period of December 2007 to June 2009.
(retrieved from Amazon Sun, 24 Jan 2016 21:44:08 -0500)
Right from the beginning, Jeff Buck makes it clear that his passion is removing as many people and as much illegal substance as possible from the streets as often and in as much volume as he can. He describes several of his past cases and how those cases have helped him develop his style of meticulous and complete research to capture as much drugs and assets as possible. Buck talks of using "walk" money (cash forfeitures from previous cases) for undercover operations and "working up the food chain" (getting as high as possible in the criminal syndicate, to the criminal business owners, above the dealers, runners, and distributors) as far as he can. It was really enlightening to understand how it all works and more importantly how much time and how many people it takes for a large takedown to occur. Jeff Buck constantly reminds the reader that while he likes to lead the large takedown effort, that none of it could happen without the support of several enforcement agencies and offices and most importantly, countless men who believe in the same cause as Buck.
The book flows back and forth between the case Buck is working on and necessary backstory with ease. I can feel Buck's addictively frenetic energy at times oozing from the pages and all the while I feel like I am getting an education in the criminal drug world. The book is gritty and honest and yet still quite entertaining. I also appreciated that although there were a lot of names and places going on, the book kept it organized and straight forward enough for me to keep up with all of the players.
I would recommend this book to anyone, although it might be depressing to someone in the criminal drug world. I admire Jeff Buck's book and I admire Jeff Buck's drive to make our society a better place!
***I received this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway!*** (