Abstract:
Kevin Conroy, a lonely and dedicated Vietnam veteran, achieves the rank of Inspector in the New York Police Department only to have his career end in a disabling shootout with an Eastern European mob enforcer. In retirement he careens into a useless life of drinking where he frequents some of New York’s legendary watering holes. Chance encounters in P.J. Clarke’s with a wealthy, beautiful, and determined recovering addict, and in Costello’s with a former subordinate of questionable character and a determined investigative reporter drive the story on to its surprising conclusion.