A look into the case of Jimmy Burke who was a Chief of police but turned out to be much, much more once the trial was over. Well-researched and told in a way that will keep you wanting to go from page to page to just find out what all this man was into. Also more than just him but an interesting book

The murder of a 13 year-old boy startles a small Long Island town in 1979. A break-in by a pair of strung-out junkies occurring in December 2012 involves the Chief of Police. The connection between the cases is the presence of James Burke and Thomas Spota. Burke was a key witness in providing damning testimony resulting in convictions in the murder of John Pius. The case was tried by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Spota. Burke and Spota’s paths would diverge, but they’d link up later when Burke was a top cop in the Suffolk County Police Department and Spota was elected District Attorney. Burke’s life trajectory was wayward before the Pius case. Afterwards, he assumed a charmed life with a rocket-like ascension to the hierarchy of the Police Department, despite rumblings of malfeasance. The ramifications of Burke’s criminal behavior would be felt for years.

“Jimmy the King” reads similarly to a potboiler noir, yet is all too true. Author Gus Garcia-Roberts(co-author of Blood Sport) exposes the corrupt foundations of a troubled justice system in Long Island and leaves no stone unturned.

Impressively-researched, very compelling chronicle of the former chief of the Suffolk County Police Department

Jimmy The King is an in-depth look into the disgraced career of Jimmy Burke, the former Chief of the Suffolk County Police Department in Long Island, NY, and his unholy alliance with then Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota. The book also details the widespread corruption and incompetence within the homicide division of that police department, and the DA’s office complicity in their actions, which ultimately led to prison sentences for both Burke and Spota. Extensively researched and culled together from court transcripts, interviews and press articles, it’s a scathing look at power unchecked, and the devastating impact on the lives of people on both sides of the law. While it’s a powerful story, the author jumps timelines and subjects so often it interrupts the flow of the book, and can be disconcerting to the reader. Overall, it’s a harrowing and disturbing narrative of law enforcement run amok.

I found this book to be terribly confusing. It seemed to jump around in an almost illogical manner from one scene to the next. I struggled to find any continuity, much less to maintain any interest in it. After multiple attempts to finish it, I finally had to give up. Sorry.