It's every cop's worst nightmare: a violent felon he put behind bars paroles out and comes after him and his family. Five years ago, homicide sergeant Ismail O'Dwyer arrested Boyo Slade after a bar brawl left a man slashed in Old Yvor City, a fictitious suburb of Washington, D.C. Found guilty at trial in large part due to Ismail's testimony, Boyo has been stoking a grudge before his release from prison. When Ismail returns home at the end of a grueling shift, he finds the threatening note Boyo has left. It's payback time, and Ismail is on his guard. Cops Like Us is a gritty, intricate, and character-driven cop novel appealing to the readers of police procedurals and hardboiled crime novels.