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Good Cop, Bad War
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, True Crime
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Summary
As an undercover police officer with the drugs squad, Neil Woods regularly risked his life on the streets, dealing with some of the most violent and unpredictable criminals in Britain.
Good Cop, Bad War is a unique story about a man with a striking ability to infiltrate and extinguish drug gangs but who, as the success of his operations grows, becomes disillusioned with the war on drugs, as he sees how it demonizes those who need help whilst empowering the very worst elements in society. This is an action-packed true-account listen like no other.
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What listeners say about Good Cop, Bad War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- RWL
- 01-12-16
Not just a good story but a good point well made
Would you consider the audio edition of Good Cop, Bad War to be better than the print version?
I've not read the print version so can't compare
What did you like best about this story?
It's a true story and is good in its own right, but it's the truth - the war on drugs is so counterproductive its bleeding obvious to anyone who thinks about it. This is someone who is extremely knowledgeable about his subject and his conclusions are based on practical reality as well as common sense.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
The best scenes are the ones where he's a virtual derelict and facing serious violence. Not enjoyable because he's in that state but because I was really impressed with his dedication. Also the scenes where he proves the jobsworth clipboard coppers how badly wrong they are
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
There were one or two amusing moments, I won't spoil them for you
Any additional comments?
I was riveted to this book. It's depressing that ever more violent criminals are getting ever more powerful thanks to the phony War on Drugs but it's cause for some optimism that at least someone with relevant experience is talking sense. I'd rather my kids brought up in a society run by this guy than with those currently in charge of drug laws. Neil, keep up the good work :)
17 people found this helpful
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- Michael Sweeney
- 19-04-19
Compelling and persuasive
Every now and then I have come across audiobooks that I just want to keep listening to. Good Cop, Bad War is such a book, I finished it 32 hours after downloading it.
It’s quite a tale, humane and full of insight into the living hell lived out by so many addicts on our streets. Highly recommended.
13 people found this helpful
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- Pusateri
- 05-09-18
Dangerous job
A considered and thoughtful story of undercover work, one which leads to the author questioning his role and the role of the justice system in dealing with drug addicts - the so called war on drugs. The situations this guy found himself in were truely terrifying, often with poor senior management. This was a great book and I enjoyed it immensely.
6 people found this helpful
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- MR R J SPENCE
- 13-05-19
Exceptional
This thinking could stop 90‰ all street violence. Just give it a listen. Eye opening
5 people found this helpful
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- Craig Hutton Cwh
- 09-04-19
intriguing
very interesting read full of facts and insight into a world you could never imagine.
4 people found this helpful
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- d j harris
- 06-04-19
Interesting and thought provoking.
Makes you shift your thinking and perhaps we should be tackling the issue very differently.
4 people found this helpful
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- Sigrin
- 03-11-20
Firsthand insight to a global problem
The drugs problem is such a global problem and governments are not making any progress. Is ra adical change of thought needed to make a difference?
Neil Woods had written an excellent and informative book about his often suicidal missions as an undercover police officer in the lawless world of drugs their use and distribution.
He comes to the book with the stance of a police officer wanting to put away criminals, however as the book evolves and he understands the problem from a grass roots perspective you can see his belief about how to tackle the problem drastically change.
I too have changed my opinion on this global problem, originally from reading Johans Hari’s book Chasing the scream which comes to the same conclusion as Woods.
Also another accompanying book is American dirt by Jeanine Cummins. This book highlights the problem from a Mexican mother just trying to save herself and what little family she has left from the drug cartels of South America.
This book has left me with feeling that we do have some very valuable solutions and answers to this drug problem but wonder why there has not been a global shift to tackle this problem.
Has the corruption of the underworld already influence governments and the like that they can not make a change?
3 people found this helpful
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- Mordecai
- 11-05-20
Informative and revealing
I enjoyed this book - no frills, just straight into tales of an undercover detective trying to take down some of the nastiest crime gangs the UK had seen during the late 80s and 90s. My only criticism is that the authors actual position on the so-called war on drugs is only made clear in the last 20 pages or so. The book is mainly a compendium of vignettes of life undercover; enthralling none the less but I was hoping for a bit more insight into Woods' actual position on drug reform and legalisation etc. I felt I had to wait until the end of the book to really get a good discussion on that. All that said, I flew through this and when I read a book quickly it's usually because I'm really enjoying it. Well worth a read, this is fascinating and well written.
3 people found this helpful
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- Andy
- 07-08-18
Absolutely excellent
Gripping, exciting, profound. Truly excellent read, eye opening in many ways. I only hope more people come round to this way of thinking.
3 people found this helpful
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- Dyl
- 01-06-18
Great story
Interesting insight to the UK Police force with a fascinating story to go with it.
3 people found this helpful