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I Am Not a Cop! by Richard Belzer — book cover

I Am Not a Cop!

by Richard Belzer, Michael Black
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Overview

IN THIS CAPTIVATING, OFTEN HILARIOUS DEBUT MYSTERY, ONE OF THE GREAT COMEDIANS OF OUR TIME BLENDS FACT WITH FICTION, AS LAW & ORDER: SVU'S RICHARD BELZER'S OFF-CAMERA PERSONA COMES TO LIFE ON THE PAGE, EMPLOYING INVESTIGATIVE KNOW-HOW AND COMEDIC TIMING IN EQUAL MEASURE TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A TRUSTED FRIEND.

When Richard Belzer meets Rudy Markovich, nyc medical examiner, for dinner in Brighton Beach, he has little reason to expect anything more than a friendly bull session. But in the next twenty-four hours Belzer finds himself in the middle of a vicious street brawl, splashed across the tabloid headlines as an out-of-control celeb, and fearing for the life of his good pal Rudy—who police assume is sleeping at the bottom of the East River.

As Belzer finds himself increasingly required to call upon the resources he taps to portray Detective Munch on nbc, he maintains his sense of humor and carries us along on a rollicking ride through the underworld of New York City. With Rudy kidnapped, or worse, it falls to The Belz to track him down and solve the riddle to the vanishing act.

The lives of Detective Munch and Richard Belzer collide and mesh in I Am Not a Cop! as one of America's great comics and TV cops brings all of his talents to bear in book form and provides a triumph of the mystery genre.

Synopsis

IN THIS CAPTIVATING, OFTEN HILARIOUS DEBUT MYSTERY, ONE OF THE GREAT COMEDIANS OF OUR TIME BLENDS FACT WITH FICTION, AS LAW & ORDER: SVU'S RICHARD BELZER'S OFF-CAMERA PERSONA COMES TO LIFE ON THE PAGE, EMPLOYING INVESTIGATIVE KNOW-HOW AND COMEDIC TIMING IN EQUAL MEASURE TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A TRUSTED FRIEND.

When Richard Belzer meets Rudy Markovich, nyc medical examiner, for dinner in Brighton Beach, he has little reason to expect anything more than a friendly bull session. But in the next twenty-four hours Belzer finds himself in the middle of a vicious street brawl, splashed across the tabloid headlines as an out-of-control celeb, and fearing for the life of his good pal Rudy — who police assume is sleeping at the bottom of the East River.

As Belzer finds himself increasingly required to call upon the resources he taps to portray Detective Munch on nbc, he maintains his sense of humor and carries us along on a rollicking ride through the underworld of New York City. With Rudy kidnapped, or worse, it falls to The Belz to track him down and solve the riddle to the vanishing act.

The lives of Detective Munch and Richard Belzer collide and mesh in I Am Not a Cop! as one of America's great comics and TV cops brings all of his talents to bear in book form and provides a triumph of the mystery genre.

Publishers Weekly

Those looking for a new crime series starring an author's fictional alter ego to fill the void left by Kinky Friedman's series that ended with Ten Little New Yorkers shouldn't expect too much from the fiction debut of actor and standup comic Belzer, best known for his role as Det. John Munch in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. When an old friend of Belzer's, New York City assistant medical examiner Rudy Markovich, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Belzer decides to investigate. After the actor finds a clue referring to four recent deaths, he and Kalisha Carter, the attractive woman his producer assigns to keep an eye on him, dig into those cases with mostly predictable results. Action sequences alternate with the detection, allowing Belzer to show off his martial-arts skills. Hopefully, Belzer's acerbic screen persona will be more on display in any sequel. (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author, Richard Belzer

Richard Belzer plays the acerbic Detective John Munch on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, after first portraying Munch on nbc's critically acclaimed drama series Homicide: Life on the Street for seven seasons.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Those looking for a new crime series starring an author's fictional alter ego to fill the void left by Kinky Friedman's series that ended with Ten Little New Yorkers shouldn't expect too much from the fiction debut of actor and standup comic Belzer, best known for his role as Det. John Munch in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. When an old friend of Belzer's, New York City assistant medical examiner Rudy Markovich, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Belzer decides to investigate. After the actor finds a clue referring to four recent deaths, he and Kalisha Carter, the attractive woman his producer assigns to keep an eye on him, dig into those cases with mostly predictable results. Action sequences alternate with the detection, allowing Belzer to show off his martial-arts skills. Hopefully, Belzer's acerbic screen persona will be more on display in any sequel. (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Library Journal

What's in a name? For many browsers, the probable answer is "a lot." Belzer is the equine-faced actor who has fashioned a career portraying wisecracking yet lovable Detective John Munch on TV's popular Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . A former stand-up comic and current conspiracy theorist, Belzer adds another string to his bow here as a detective novelist. With that level of name recognition, the fact that the book delivers the goods is almost superfluous. In the story, Belzer is busy filming the series. He's played a cop so long that maybe he thinks he is one; he's taking self-defense classes just in case. A good friend, a Russian A©migrA© and New York medical examiner, gives Belz a ticket to a fight, just before they are attacked by Ukrainian-spouting thugs. After Rudi mysteriously disappears, Belz receives a letter that includes four alphanumeric entries plus a cryptic message, and he's off on a chase that involves the Russkies, the blood diamond trade, and some similes that will make Raymond Chandler fans crack a smile as big as the Ritz. Deft comic timing, the gruff persona, and a lively, if predictable, story will satisfy fans and maybe even create some. Recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/06.]-Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO

Kirkus Reviews

Take a plot inspired by old Hitchcock movies, stir in bad guys cribbed from Dostoevsky, apply a wisecracking, well-read New York City detective transported from the set of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the result is this debut novel. Comedian, actor and nonfiction author Belzer (UFOs, JFK, and Elvis, 2000) applies his fondness for dime novels and conspiracy theories to hard-boiled noir. The book perfectly captures the author's comedic voice, primarily because he's made himself the metafictional hero. "Belz," the actor, is on his way to a championship fight at Madison Square Garden when he runs into a bunch of NYC cops searching for his friend Rudy Markovich, a Russian immigrant turned medical examiner. "I'd played a cop on TV long enough to assume, and had enough life experience to know, that when the men in blue show up, it's not usually good news," Belz comments. He soon meets Markovich's strawberry-blond daughter, Anna Katrina Doskeav, and receives a mysterious encoded letter from his disappeared friend. "The old Thirty-nine Steps routine," says Belzer, who name-checks thriller lore from Call Northside Seven-Seven-Seven to Three Days of the Condor. To assist him in his investigation, the ersatz detective enlists a lovely black media rep to serve as his Girl Friday and a Hong Kong superstar to give him kung fu lessons. The plot, involving Ukrainian politics, diamond smuggling and an icy member of the Russian mafiya, is disposable, but Belzer's snappy narration and behind-the-scenes look at life as a famous actor (frequently mistaken for CSI's William Petersen) gives the book a sharp, funny edge. A weird, surprisingly quick-witted comedic caper.

Book Details

Published
October 1, 2008
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Pages
272
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781416570660

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