Takedown - Abridged

Rick Cowan was born and raised in New Jersey, where he was employed variously as a corrections officer, welder and construction worker before beginning a law enforcement career with several small New Jersey police forces.  But he always dreamed of joining the New York Police Department. His dream came true, and it was as a member of OCID that Cowan stumbled into the undercover role that would eventually bring down the Mafia’s garbage empire. In the wake of the garbage cartel investigation Cowan was promoted to Detective First-Grade. For the past few years he has been detailed to the FBI Task Force assigned to Operation Pent-Bomb, the national investigation into the Pentagon and World Trade Center bombings. He is currently working as a detective on the terrorism leads desk.

Douglas Century is the author of "Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter" and "Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside of the Franklin Avenue Posse." He has coauthored several best-sellers, including "Under and Alone," with William Queen; "Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire," with Rick Cowan, which was a Finalist for the Edgar Award - Best Fact Crime; and "If Not Now, When?" with Colonel Jack Jacobs (Retired), Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Century's most recent book is "Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life, from South Central to Hollywood" coauthored with Grammy Award-winning singer and actor Ice-T.

Rick Cowan was born and raised in New Jersey, where he was employed variously as a corrections officer, welder and construction worker before beginning a law enforcement career with several small New Jersey police forces.  But he always dreamed of joining the New York Police Department. His dream came true, and it was as a member of OCID that Cowan stumbled into the undercover role that would eventually bring down the Mafia’s garbage empire. In the wake of the garbage cartel investigation Cowan was promoted to Detective First-Grade. For the past few years he has been detailed to the FBI Task Force assigned to Operation Pent-Bomb, the national investigation into the Pentagon and World Trade Center bombings. He is currently working as a detective on the terrorism leads desk.

Douglas Century is the author of "Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter" and "Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside of the Franklin Avenue Posse." He has coauthored several best-sellers, including "Under and Alone," with William Queen; "Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire," with Rick Cowan, which was a Finalist for the Edgar Award - Best Fact Crime; and "If Not Now, When?" with Colonel Jack Jacobs (Retired), Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Century's most recent book is "Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life, from South Central to Hollywood" coauthored with Grammy Award-winning singer and actor Ice-T.