90 Church: The True Story of the Narcotics Squad from Hell

Mad Men meets the Wire in this gripping true crime memoir by a former agent at the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1960s New York

From 1950 through the late 1960s, America feared two great enemies- Communism and illegal drugs. While the espionage stories have been well publicised, the war against drugs was far more violent and has remained mostly secret. In New York City, the centre of organised crime and drug import, the offices of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics were based at 90 Church Street. While the FBI refused even to acknowledge organised crime, these agents stood alone against a well-organised Mafia and vicious drug cartels. To survive against impossible odds, the agents used incredibly brutal and cunning tactics to make cases and bring the war to a stalemate. Using an ever-expanding network of criminal informants held together by secret immunity deals, the sinister reputation of 90 Church grew along with the rising body count.

In 1968, alarmed politicians launched an ill-fated investigation into the Bureau’s operations. Accusations were made against the agents, and now fighting a war on two fronts, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was dissolved and its agents discredited.

Though some names and sequences have been changed to protect identities, 90 Church is the real story of a young agent’s downward slide into hell as he falls victim to addiction, deception, violence, and shifting loyalties.