Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation

Michael Cannell

Book cover for Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation
Book cover for Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation

Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation

Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation

Michael Cannell

View full details

Description

For the first time in forty years, former New York Times editor Michael Cannell unearths the full story behind two ruthless New York cops who acted as double agents for the Mafia.

No episode in NYPD history surpasses the depravities of Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, two decorated detectives who covertly acted as mafia informants and paid assassins in the Scorsese world of 1980s Brooklyn.

For more than ten years, Eppolito and Caracappa moonlighted as the mob's early warning alert system, leaking names of mobsters secretly cooperating with the government and crippling investigations by sharing details of surveillance, phone taps and impending arrests. The Lucchese boss called the two detectives his crystal ball: Whatever detectives knew, the mafia soon learned. Most grievously, Eppolito and Caracappa earned bonuses by staging eight mob hits, pulling the trigger themselves at least once.

Incredibly, when evidence of their wrongdoing arose in 1994, FBI officials failed to muster an indictment. The allegations lay dormant for a decade and were only revisited due to relentless follow up by Tommy Dades, a cop determined to break the cold case before his retirement. Eppolito and Caracappa were finally tried and then sentenced to life in prison in 2009, nearly thirty years after their crimes took place.

Cannell's Blood and the Badge is based on entirely new research and never-before-released interviews with mobsters themselves, including Sammy "the Bull" Gravano. Eppolito and Caracappa's story is more relevant than ever as police conduct comes under ever-increasing scrutiny.

About the Author

MICHAEL CANNELL is the author of A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc, and three other works of non-fiction. He has worked as an editor at The New York Times and contributed to The New Yorker and many other publications. He lives in New York City.

Critical Reviews

Praise for Blood and the Badge

"Disturbing... jaw dropping... Cannell paces the proceedings like a thriller." --Publishers Weekly

"Cannell depicts a mafia culture of violence and murder without remorse, with two cops who acted as the mob's early warning alert system." --Jason Schott, The Brooklyn Digest

"Michael Cannell's Blood and the Badge details the extraordinary investigation of the 'Killer Cops' investigation, a harrowing story of corruption and murder within law enforcement itself. Cannell misses nothing." --Nicholas Pileggi, bestselling author of Wiseguy and co-writer of Goodfellas

"Cannell pulls back the veil to reveal law enforcement's most lurid chapter, an entwined tale of decorated detectives on the mafia payroll -- a true account of police depravity unearthed with intensive reporting." --Joe Pistone, New York Times bestselling author of Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia

"Blood and the Badge is the definitive work on the subject that Brooklyn DA Charles "Joe" Hynes called the worst case of police corruption in the history of the New York City Police Department." --Michael F. Vecchione, Former Chief of the Rackets Division, Brooklyn District Attorney's office and co-author of Friends of the Family, The Inside Story of the Mafia Cops Case

"A sharp, richly detailed book that takes you deep inside the many layers of a shocking story and delights with new, surprising revelations." --Matt Birkbeck, bestselling author of The Life We Chose and The Quiet Don

"A spellbinding story of unthinkable treachery and brutal betrayal. Michael Cannell exposes the crimes of two New York City cops who murdered for the mob as he follows the good guys who were determined to bring them to justice. A gritty and vivid underworld tale like no other." --Dean Jobb, bestselling author of Empire of Deception; The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream; and the upcoming A Gentleman and a Thief

Publishing Information

Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pub date: 2026-02-24
Length: 384 pages

The Allstora Membership

Membership Perks:

  • Save 30% on all online store purchases
  • Exclusive access to author's content
  • You pay less, but authors still earn double

Membership Terms:

First Month: $0.00
Monthly price: $5.00
  • To access membership discount simply log in and add to cart, discount applied automatically.
  • One month free trial, cancel anytime. Membership renews on the 15th of each month.