Fast-Paced True Crime Fiction From Former Real-Life Night Policemen Out Now

If you can't get enough of true crime podcasts, documentaries, and police procedurals, former law enforcement officers Chris Berg and Paul James Smith have written a book of linked stories that you'll be unable to put down. The Night Police (March 24, 2020) is a no-holds-barred, unflinching fictionalized version of real events that Berg and Smith experienced firsthand during their time in law enforcement in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. A look behind the curtain of the gritty world of policing, this is a book that will have readers turning pages and leave them wanting more.

Rebellious trooper Max Golden isn't content to spend his career as a humble, rule-following civil servant. Refusing to seek out danger isn't his style. And in the squalid, crime-ridden streets of Bristol City, he finds danger in spades. Undercover drug deals, murders, and more keep him and the other members of the Night Police bonded tightly in their self-made fraternity. Escape, when it's needed, is found in the dark and nondescript Solly's Tavern, where on one particularly damp, cold evening in 1991, this down-at-the-heels saloon hosts four of the Night Police for a cathartic night of drinking. The plan is to let loose and forget for a few hours, but the swapping of increasingly graphic tales leads to the unfolding of a stunning revelation. Will it change the course of their lives and careers?

While The Night Police is endlessly entertaining, it is also rooted in reality. Part of what makes the book so immersive and convincing is the real-life knowledge Berg and Smith bring to the table. The two of them have served in many roles in law enforcement - from patrolman to federal agent to counter-terrorism missions in the Middle East.

"This book is fiction, but it is based in truth," says Berg. "We were in the trenches, doing the job, and we revel in the adventures and friendships we made as part of the police force. We wanted to give people a glimpse into the world that we know so well."

Berg and Smith's real-life experiences are evident from the story arcs that are occasionally too fantastic to be entirely fictional, right down to the language they use in the book. Visceral descriptions of the sights, sounds, and even smells of policing the streets at night at the end of the millennium will make readers feel like they are quite literally riding along with the characters in this book. Fans of authentic thrillers and true crime stories like those by Joe Wambaugh and Tom Clancy will gravitate towards The Night Police.

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