Brooklyn crime fiction, written by someone who lived it.
An ex-NYPD officer runs Brooklyn's biggest illegal book, and it's the only justice East New York still trusts.
For readers who want crime fiction that feels lived-in: real precinct politics, real Brooklyn streets, and a hero who settles things his own way.
An ex-cop, an illegal book, and a Brooklyn that plays by its own rules.
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About Joel
Joel Sansone writes the Brooklyn he grew up in.
He was born and raised in Brooklyn, one of New York City's five boroughs, the son of two deaf parents. He grew up in the Pink Houses projects in the Brownsville neighborhood, one of three children, with an older sister and a younger brother rounding out a family of five. He started college at Kingsborough Community College and went on to earn his bachelor's degree in English literature from Hunter College, part of the CUNY system.
After college he spent time commuting to and from New Jersey for work, and after a few brutal winters decided the cold had lost its appeal. He moved south to Coral Springs, Florida, where he met and married his wife, Ann, and together they raised two daughters. As a family they rescued dogs from the local pound and stayed active in sports, with Joel coaching basketball and soccer. He built a career in the insurance industry, and for a time ran a successful bookmaking operation on the side, until local authorities caught up with him and he had to walk away from both. Unable to hold onto the thrill of that old life, he decided to write about it instead. Rick LeKashi, the hero of the Blue Book series, is Joel's vision of what a strong, independent bookie would look like if he got to build one from scratch.