Jimmy the Wags

the long version

After twenty years as a New York cop, James "Jimmy the Wags" Wagner thought he'd seen everything, but it wasn't until he retired and set up as a private investigator that his real education began. Now, in his own inimitable voice, a surprising mixture of street wisdom and a disarming, hard-earned compassion, he tells a true-life story with all the action, adventure, and atmosphere of Wiseguy or Serpico--a colorful cautionary tale that reads like fiction. His first private job is to bodyguard a gaggle of hard-partying Saudi princes, and right away, with the help of a colorful cast of seasoned fellow P.I.s, he's learning the ropes: debt collections, blackmail, custody interventions, movie stars, private jets, car chases, even a helicopter getaway under fire. As the stories pile up, the money gets better and the players get bigger, until he suddenly finds himself trapped between the Mafia and a psychotic enforcer for the Russian mob. An up-close-and-personal look at a world we rarely see, from a man who lived on both sides of the law.--From publisher description.