I am not exaggerating when I tell you I was in the first chapter of this book and immediately went to Amazon and pre-ordered a hard copy. As someone who spent almost 23 years in uniform, I loved, loved, loved this book. I laughed so hard because it is so RELATEABLE!! The author's humor is spot on. I have at least 20 quotes written down from this book because they just resonate with me so much. "I did not sign up for this". "You're either dealing with bad people or good people on their worst day". Truer words have never been spoken. I want to share this book with so many people and plan to add it to our "library" which my favorite FTO (now Lieutenant) maintains at our PD. I highly, highly recommend this book if you are looking for a light read and hysterical laughter. Most importantly, it does offer a realistic view into what officers deal with every day. The book in not always funny and at times is tragic/heartbreaking. But again, that's what makes it so real. Five stars and I truly hope the author has additional stories hidden somewhere that he can share in another book. I also loved the cover and title.

It was honest, emotional, and sometimes hilarious. He laid out many truths that I think the public is genuinely unaware of. Eric Tansey is a man of many hats, a husband and father, a sommelier, and what this book is about, his time as a police officer. Instead of giving the reader the play by play of every single step of his career, he outlines it in a recollection of stories (some are WILD). Originally, he wrote stories to keep his sanity, but after being fired from the police force (DUE TO POLITICS WITHIN THE FORCE), they were put into a book. His time as an officer at the Southeast District in Raleigh, NC, almost broke him multiple times. However, due to the unwavering support of his family and friends, in and out of the police force, he was able to trudge on for a while longer. There is a lot to unpack within these pages, but I will tell you that it is worth the read.

(TW: in some stories, the N word is used in some of the retellings. He is not the one saying it.)

#ThxNetGalley #EricTansey

This one is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It's not for the pearl clutches either. Officer Eric Tansey (with co-author Nick Palmisciano) brings the reader behind the blue line and into his life. The language is harsh. The book is descriptive and blunt. This is not a sunshine and roses look at the police department... and because it's so real, I believed every word. At the very beginning of the book, Tansey promised to tell us everything as it happened. He promised the complete story, warts and all, and that's exactly what we got.
I always feel a bit awkward rating someone's memoir. Who am I to say that they told their story wrong? In this case, it was easy to give 5 stars. I will remember many of these stories for a long time.

Note: I received an ARC of this book, at no cost to myself, from NetGalley.

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Cop books are always eye opening. This book is in turns hilarious and heartbreaking. Tansey doesn't hold anything back in his tales.
I have so much respect for LEOs and agree with Tansey's outlook on the political BS. Cops definitely are damned if they do, damned if they don't and that's detrimental to society and communities across the country.
Having witnessed a gang related homicide myself, I can only imagine the stress of cops having to make split decisions on what actions to take.

I know the author says he isn't trying to sway people's beliefs one way or the other about cops, just wants the readers to empathize with all the struggles of the job. But the story about Officer Serious ripping a person out of a car by their hair, punching them in the face repeatedly, and then throwing them to the ground and planting his boot on the person's face to keep them down, ALL BECAUSE THE PASSENGER DIDN'T GET OUT OF THE CAR THE FIRST TIME HE ASKED kind of makes it hard to have compassion? (Especially when all the officers on-scene were laughing and high-fiving after watching the body cam footage of the stop.) My first thoughts were " Why did Serious pull the car over in the first place?", "Did he have to chase them for a while or did they pull over right away?", "Did he ask the passenger to get out numerous times but it would have been too repetitive to add all that to the story?"

There were a couple different times where I would have appreciated more detail because the actions of the Officers seemed kind of heavy-handed without it. (And maybe that's what the author was going for? Showing that there are good AND bad cops?)

There are stories in this book that do show the emotional and mental toll the job can take on our Officers, but they might be overshadowed by stories like the one mentioned above.