After writing his first non-fiction
book “The Warrior In Me”, Gray decided
to write his second book titled “True
To The Blue”. Even though his second
book is a work of fiction, it is based
in part on a true story that includes
actual events that the author
experienced or witnessed while on the
job. Many of the characters portrayed
in “True to the Blue” are patterned
after real people who have either
worked or crossed paths with D. E.
Gray during his 42 year career as a
seasoned street cop.
After experiencing a 42 year high
working at the two police agencies,
Gray realized that he and others like
him were being replaced by a new breed
of cop, many of whom never had to
think outside the box or more
accurately, outside the police
manual. The new breed of cops had new
cars, new weapons, newer equipment,
newer training and even more modern
newly built police stations. This gave
Gray the idea for his third and newest
book titled, “Eclipse of the Blue”
(For Greater Glory). This story
follows the lives of twelve retired L.
A. police officers who band together
to commit the perfect crime, proving
to themselves that they aren’t too old
to out-smart and out-wit the newer
generation of cops that have taken
their places. This story is part “The
Sting” and part “Mission Impossible”
with a surprise ending that will have
you rooting for the twelve former cops
who call themselves, “The Retired
Blues Crew.”
According to the book description of
Eclipse of the Blue: For Greater
Glory, “For the “Retired Blues
Crew”, a small group of retired LAPD
police officers that meet once a month
to share old war stories and enjoy
each other’s company, accepting
retirement was a hard pill to swallow.
Once considered savvy street warriors
who risked life and limb protecting
the good citizens of Los Angeles, they
were now the forgotten hero’s whose
past heroic deeds were now only
remembrances visited through their
colorful story telling during their
once a month get-togethers. Like all
things in life, they were all
expendable and the guys in the
“Retired Blues Crew” had been replaced
by a new generation of street
warriors. To the old dogs who were put
out to pasture, the new centurions
were taking their places with new
technology and a confidence that
bordered on disrespect for those who
had paved the way before them.
The argument that the old days of
crushing crime without the benefit of
all the new-fangled gadgets was more
rewarding than the technology of the
future was a misconception of the new
breed that were now in charge of
protecting the citizens of Los
Angeles. For the select group of old
story tellers, they needed to add one
more chapter in their lives, something
for the street warriors of the present
to remember them by when their time
finally came and they were reduced to
second class citizens too old to do
the job anymore.
This small tight knit group of old
street warriors had enough and it was
time to prove beyond a shadow of a
doubt that they weren’t too old to
out-smart and out-wit the high-tech
rouges who have now taken their
places. Proving that computers and
gadgets could never replace the wisdom
and experience that the old dogs were
blessed with wouldn’t be an easy task,
but they were determined to challenge
the new breed and beat them at their
own game. They knew whatever it was
they were going to do couldn’t
replicate anything like the violent
movies you see were people die, get
hurt or cars get wrecked and buildings
are blown up, after all they were cops
or at least they were once.
That being said, the old dogs had to
pull off the perfect caper and they
had to do it without claiming any of
the bragging rights they so much
yearned for. It would have to be for
no other reason than “For Greater
Glory.”
In that one of their own had been
diagnosed with cancer with less than
six months to live, they only had a
small window of opportunity to get it
done. Since he was the architect
behind the perfect crime referred to
as “Operation Blue Eclipse,” their
success would depend on how well the
plan was executed with no room for
error. If all went as planned and
after all was said and done, the
Retired Blues Crew would truly know
who the best of the best was.”
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According to the
book description of True to the
Blue, “D. E. Gray’s first
book, The Warrior in Me, was a
collective memoir of his
forty-two-year career in law
enforcement, twenty-eight years with
the Los Angeles Police Department, and
fourteen years with the Escondido
Police Department in the North San
Diego County.
Even though his
new book titled True to the Blue is a
work of fiction, it is based in part
on a true story, along with actual
events that the author experienced or
witnessed while on the job. Many of
the characters portrayed in this story
are patterned after real people who
have either worked or crossed paths
with D. E. Gray during his
forty-two-year career as a street cop.
This story begins
in early 1999 and follows the
hardships of Sergio Ortega, a six-year
veteran of the LAPD who is assigned to
the elite CRASH1 gang unit of the
Operations Central Bureau. It follows
Ortega’s struggle to be the best at
what he does, getting the bad guys off
the streets while staying true to his
badge and the blue uniform that he
wears and that represents cops in
every city.
With the infamous
LAPD Rampart scandal about to break
wide open and Chief Bernard Parks’
hard-line approach with his officer
accountability policy, Ortega
eventually discovers that being a good
cop is more than he had bargained for.
When he is faced with protecting the
identity of an “ELA Dukes” gang member
who has turned confidential informant
for an LAPD Hollenbeck Division
detective, he finds himself in trouble
with the department. He soon realizes
that the Hollenbeck detective would
turn his back on him only to protect
his own career. Ortega’s 1 Community
Resources Against Street Hoodlums,
usually known by the acronym CRASH,
was an elite but controversial special
operations unit of the Los Angeles
Police Department.
His hard work and
dedication to the job would destroy
his marriage and alienate his friends
and partners who would abandon him in
his time of need. Ortega would have to
dig deep into his past to come to
grips with his downward spiraling life
to try to salvage it from the disaster
it had come to be.”
According to the book description of
The Warrior in Me it “offers readers a look back at the author’s distinguished career
with both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Escondido Police Department. It contains several accounts of true events
that happened in various locations of California from murder to robbery and chases. Along the way, Gray learned that there
were cops, and then there were real cops – the ones who worked the streets everyday. Gray further surmised that law
enforcement organizations are comprised of two groups of people – street warriors (who patrolled the mean streets) and
administrators (who worked their way up the ladder through promotions). Ultimately, this book emphasizes in detail the police
culture like no other book could.” |
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