Review - The Squad, Yoni Bashan
Sydney Daily Telegraph crime reporter Yoni Bashan has obviously used some insider knowledge of his own, alongside that of members of the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) to craft a true crime book that's very readable, informative and surprisingly moving in places.
The subject matter is unpleasant obviously - with an intermingling of families and organised crime activities that covers drugs, murders and some brutal turf wars. The Squad is a highly specialised police unit tasked with an incredibly difficult job - investigating the crimes, identifying the perpetrators and ensuring convictions in a highly charged, dangerous environment. There's inter-generational feuding, and a closed society which is incredibly difficult for them to penetrate and a group of criminals that never rat out their own, or the opposition.
Told from the point of view of the police, THE SQUAD is well paced, written in a very readable style, engaging and involving without being sensationalised or overtly moralistic. It's a warts and all "what it is, is what it is" style of tale of a group of cops who take their responsibilities very seriously indeed. There's plenty of background to the formation of The Squad within the pages, and some of the political / on-high pressure that they deal with as well, all of which combined to make THE SQUAD very interesting reading indeed.
A gritty and compelling account of an elite police group, the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS).
Middle Eastern organised crime in Australia is a dark, dirty and dangerous world of drug empires, murders and turf wars. Crime families dominate the suburbs and the streets are a labyrinth of dealers. Responsible for cleaning up this mess is the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS), a specialist unit of cops fighting an uphill battle against a deeply entrenched problem. The officers of the MEOCS are both fearsome and intimidating. They have to be, to deal with the rising violence, brutal mayhem and sheer brazen scope of the crime that they see every day.
Review | Review - The Squad, Yoni Bashan | Karen Chisholm
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Blog | #amreading The Squad, Yoni Bashan | Karen Chisholm
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