Tag: True Crime

85 Grams – Art Williams: Drug Czar

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85 Grams: Art Williams: Drug Czar
by Daryl Ashby

Edmond Gagnon‘s review

Jan 04, 2023 

Being a retired police officer who spent five years in narcotics, some of that time working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, I found this book interesting and somewhat comical at times. The story takes place a few years before I was a Narc, but the good guys vs the bad guys scenario that played out in the plot rang very true to me.
Granted, most of the drug dealers I had contact with where nowhere near as smart and cunning as Art Williams, the Mounties main target. I was blown awaybyt the lengths he went to stay under the radar, yet taunt the police at the same time. It was like he was always one step ahead of them.
The story contains personal accounts from various people who knew Art Williams before he ‘disappeared’ under mysterious circumstances.
I don’t want to give away the whole story but can easily recommend this book as and entertaining read.

Cold Cases – Cheyna Roth

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Cold Cases: A True Crime Collection: Unidentified Serial Killers, Unsolved Kidnappings, and Mysterious Murders (Including the Zodiac Killer, Natalee Holloway’s Disappearance, the Golden State Killer and More)
by Cheyna Roth
Edmond Gagnon‘s reviewJan 12, 2022  


This book was recommended to me by a friend and I’m disappointed that I had to pay the full purchase price. It was a decent read for those who like to follow notorious serial killers, but most of the content in the book is already public knowledge.
I did learn some new things, where the author had dug up parts of the old investigations that weren’t made public. And although she is a former district attorney, the book reads more like a gathering of media clippings presented as short stories by a former journalist – which the author is.
For those who’ve never heard of the cold cases in this book, I’m sure they’ll find it more interesting than I – a former police investigator who is well aware of most of the cases in this book.

Horseplay – Norm Boucher

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Horseplay: My Time Undercover on the Granville Strip
by Norm Boucher
Edmond Gagnon‘s review May 05, 2021 

For his first true crime novel, I think retired police officer Norm Boucher hits the nail right on the head in recalling and writing about his personal experiences while working undercover in one of the worst heroin neighborhoods in Canada.

Being a retired police officer, with some experience working in narcotics, I was impressed how the rookie author checked all the boxes in putting together a book that gives an unadulterated view of what life is really like on the street within the heroin subculture.

Horseplay takes readers into the underbelly of society, revealing what went on behind the scenes in the early 80’s, in one particular area in Vancouver, British Columbia.