Book Talk: Lorenzo Carcaterra, ‘Tin Badges’

I can’t help myself. When I see the bin full of remainder books at the supermarket, I must go dumpster diving. But truth be told, most times I come up with great finds at bargain prices. That’s how I came upon Lorenzo Carcaterra’s “Tin Badges.”

I recommend this book, with a little caveat. Set aside everything you know about police procedures and how money is appropriated from a city budget. In other words, approach this book as if it were a TV police drama because Carcaterra is a former writer for the television series Law & Order (among others).

Tin Badges (2019, 278 pages) is an easy and enjoyable read about retired New York cop “Tank” Rizzo, whose best friend “Pearl” Munroe was crippled during the last case that the partners handled as sworn peace officers. Pearl is now confined to a wheelchair, and Tank is given cases which an overworked police department either can’t handle or have become too “cold” to bother with. And that’s what landed him a case of breaking and entering, which developed into rape and vicious assault.