Jimmy the King

Murder, Vice, and the Reign of a Dirty Cop

By: Gus Garcia-Roberts

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

An incredible four-decade account of murder, power, and corruption in one of the country’s largest police departments

In 1979, the gruesome slaying of a thirteen-year-old boy riveted the suburbs of Suffolk County, New York. As the county hustled to bring the case to a dubious resolution, a wayward local teenager emerged with a convenient story to tell. For his cooperation, Jimmy Burke was rewarded with a job as a cop.

Thus began Burke’s unlikely ascent to the top of one of the country’s largest law enforcement jurisdictions. He and a crew of likeminded allies utilized vengeance, gangster tactics, and political leverage to become the most powerful and feared figures in their suburban empire.

Until a pilfered bag of sex toys brought it all crashing down.

Jimmy the King is the story of the rise, reign, and paranoiac fall of a corrupt cop and his regime—a crime family with badges and guaranteed pensions. Novelistic in detail and piercing in its political insight, this book will leave you questioning who modern policing serves, who it protects, and who it preys upon and abandons.

©2022 Gus Garcia-Roberts (P)2022 PublicAffairs

Critic reviews

“If Martin Scorsese were to write a true-crime exposé about crooked cops, it would read like Jimmy the King.”—Michael Imperioli, The Sopranos and Goodfellas

“Epic in scope and captivating in detail, the spellbinding story of a massive scandal from its very roots. You will be shocked by the twists in this story and the brazenness of its villains. But you won’t be able to put it down.”—Evan Ratliff, author of The Mastermind

“Jimmy the King is the kind of true-crime book we don’t get enough of: thoroughly reported, and engagingly written, and set in a downwardly mobile suburban world that is too often misunderstood. Highly recommended!”—Nate Blakeslee, New York Times–bestselling author of American Wolf and Tulia

One of the best audiobooks

Start to finish this book, has it all. Bravo to the author, and what if phenomenal job by the narrator

Brave and inspiring.

Gallant attempt to expose the insidious corruption that permeates our local government, law enforcement and judiciary. Thank you for your exposé.

Good listen.

Great non-fiction story. Narrator is really good. I have a feeling this is just the tip of iceberg.

Everyday, ordinary, ubiquitous corruption

As I listened to the story unfold, I had two, somewhat connected, thoughts running through my head. First, that, while the book kept my attention for the most part, the overriding theme was the sheer mundanity, and lack of creativity, of the corruption and, in fact, the corrupt individuals themselves. Perhaps jaded by a conception of evil masterminds and grand schemes, all of this seemed rather run of the mill. But maybe that's just the point, it happens all the time, everywhere. Anyone with even the slightest brushes with the criminal "justice" system can relate stories of how police, prosecutors and local government executives can manipulate law to an extent that it doesn't even bear a resemblance to justice . Which led me to the second thought. That many people would probably like to think institutional corruption like this is confined to by-gone less enlightened days, or sleepy backwater Southern jurisdictions. But of course, it is in every corner of society, it's just that some official criminals are more sophisticated than others. But then again, even the top fraudsters today don't require much polish for gullible supporters, just simplistic bromides and caps.

A Plus story, could see it being on big screen

This flows like a thriller and I could see it definitely ending up as a series or movie. Great narration and great storytelling!

Not all cops are bad, but this one was exceptionally BAD!

Gus Garcia-Roberts delivers an epic and well-detailed description of a once teenage hoodlum who grew up to become the Chief of one of the largest, and best paid, suburban police departments in the U.S. Garcia-Roberts takes the reader behind the curtain with dozens of sources who knew James Burke (aka “Jimmy the King”) and his ensemble of “palace guards”, his trusted gatekeepers within the Suffolk County PD and DA’s office. Any Long Islander or member of law enforcement should read this well written, and told, book. I would love to see a film made from this script.

Author takes a lot of liberty and assumptions

Knowing most of the players and stories and how things work I was disappointed that this author took many liberties filling in between the facts. He puts a lot of personal spin on SCPD and the minds of a Dept at large which was not true. The point about not seeing anything in Legos background about using force in at least 5 cases- if the defendant didn’t contact IAB to report alleged case then there would be no case - not a “ cover up”. Glad they were able to take these bad actors out to restore what is by and large a great Dept.