From the Publisher of the 2011 reprint:
THICKER'N THIEVES: The 1950 Factual Expose of Police-Pay-Offs, Graft, Political Corruption and Prostitution in Los Angeles and Hollywood is the full, fearless expose by former LAPD vice-squad Sgt. Charles Stoker. Twenty-years before SERPICO there was STOKER. The Stoker Story originally published in 1951 and written by a rank-and-file LAPD vice-cop, reveals 1940s Los Angeles as it was—“THE CITY OF ANGLES.” Inside these pages you will read how a Main Street street-walker, Marie Mitchell, zoomed to national fame as Brenda Allen—L.A.’s notorious vice queen—with the help and protection of the “city fathers” in cahoots with the underworld. You will “listen in” on the wire-tap recordings of Brenda getting her instructions from the high brass on the police force…you won’t believe the conniving, crime-full corruption, that cost Stoker his job when he finally trapped, call house madame, Brenda Allen. Sgt. Stoker’s expose provides us with a real-time ride-along with LAPD as they secretly wire-tap gangster Mickey Cohen’s mansion, then demand $20,000 in extortion monies for the incriminating tapes. You are present in the jury-room as Sgt. Stoker presents his secret testimony to the 1949 Grand Jury, detailing police corruption and pay-offs. His whistle-blowing revelations resulted in a felony indictment and the forced retirement of LAPD Chief of Police, C.B. “Cowboy” Horrall as well as causing formal charges to be filed against four of Horrall’s top command officers. T’NT is dynamite! In writing this story, and in his long fight to have it published most publishers considered it “too hot to handle”—the highest compliment paid to Stoker was the frequent remark, “Publish this book and it will cost you your life!” The 1949 Grand Jury Foreman agreed. Here is the actual headline from the Los Angeles Times dated. July 8, 1948: "Grand Jury Chief Fears for Life of Stoker After He Testifies Again" The L.A. Times article goes on to quote grand-jury foreman Harry Lawson: “Stoker is the real informer in this case. Brenda Allen is just peanuts compared to what he has given us. He should be under guard. If he continues to name names and situations like he did today he will be found dead on the curb within five days.”
From the dust jacket description:
“This is the full, fearless expose by former vice-squad officer, Charles Stoker, of the shocking and unbelievable graft and corruption which prevail in the city government of Los Angeles.
In writing this story, and in his long flight to have it published--most publishers considered it “too hot to handle”--the highest compliment paid to Stoker was the frequent remark, “Publish this book and it will cost you your life!”
Few men in his position in any city have ever had the courage to do what Stoker has done in this startling book. Here is an underworld--crime--racket story out of real life...with the true identity of those who play a part in it.
DESCRIPTION:
415 pages
8 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches
Second printing, hardcover with dustjacket
CONDITION:
This hard-cover book is in near fine condition with a good+ dustjacket. The tannish cloth cover is very clean and shows only slight wear at the corners and spine ends. There are what look like spots in the cloth, but I think these are inherent in the cloth itself and were not introduced after the binding. There is some light offsetting from the acidic paper of the sales slip which has sat between the front endpapers for years. The interior is othewise excellent with no names, marks, underlining, tears or odor. The paper is slightly toned with age. The hinges and binding are excellent with no loose or missing pages. The dustjacket is complete and very attractive--little to no soiling, stains or fading, but has some small chips out of the top of the spine area. It is rubbed and worn at the edges and corners. There are several small (1/2 inch or less) tears along the edges which have been stabilized on the back with acid-free archival tissue tape. This dustjacket will come protected in a new Brodart mylar dustjacket protector.
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