Staff Pick
Like you perhaps, I'm in the habit of being especially tough on a book in its early going. If it doesn't draw me in or make a valid case for itself, I will set the book aside with only a slight twinge of regret. But with Uncle Janice, I started reading and before I knew it, was on page 100. Matthew Burgess is a born storyteller, and this book is the real deal. It's funny, varied, believable, and thoroughly impressive. Highly recommended, and especially so if you enjoy Elmore Leonard. Recommended By Bart K., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
24 year-old Janice Itwaru is an "Uncle" — NYPD lingo for an undercover narcotics officer — and the heroine of the most exuberant and original cop novel in years.
On any given day, Janice Itwaru might be found trolling the streets of Queens for drugs. Janice is an "uncle" — an undercover narcotics officer — trying to meet the impossibly high quota of drug busts needed to make detective, or be sent back down to uniformed patrol. So Janice is out there in her secondhand hoochie skirt, trying to get potential drug dealers — criminals, addicts, dumb kids, whomever — to commit a felony on her behalf. Other days are spent in the "Rumpus Room" at the precinct, trying to keep up with the bantering lies and inventively cruel pranks of her fellow uncles while coping with the insane demands of the big bosses. With an ailing mother at home, her cover nearly blown, four more buys to get her gold shield and rumors circulating that Internal Affairs has her unit under surveillance, Janice is running very short on luck as her quota deadline approaches. Now she has to decide which evil to confront: the faceless bureaucrats at One Police Plaza, or the violent drug dealers who may already be onto her identity. Bursting with the glorious chaos of the streets of New York, Uncle Janice is an uproariously funny portrait of how undercover cops really talk and act, and a compelling story of their crazy, dangerous and often nonsensical lives.
Review
"Like Richard Price and the late, great Elmore Leonard, Matt Burgess is one of those cool, quick and funny writers who can turn a seemingly routine crime caper into something special." Carl Hiaasen, bestselling author of Bad Monkey and Strip Tease
Review
“Uncle Janice is a lowdown masterful contribution to Urban American lit, charismatically written with terrific sly humor and a joyous dead-on ear. An addictive read, one of those books you wish would never end." Richard Price, bestselling author of Lush Life and Clockers
Review
"Smart, funny, big-hearted, and utterly entertaining — this is an apt description of both Uncle Janice the novel, and Janice Itwaru the character. Matt Burgess is a gifted and generous storyteller; Uncle Janice is a triumph.” Scott Smith, bestselling author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins
Review
“Uncle Janice is that mythical sixth season of The Wire for which we have all been pining. Yeah, that good. The daily trials and tribulations of one Janice Itwaru — undercover drug officer, fallen daughter, all around wrong way gal — in that mythic, urban kingdom known as Queens, make for that rarest of reading experiences: at once comic and enthralling, always surprising, and unexpectedly touching. The eye, ear, voice and heart of this novel are bulletproof. Whoever the hell Matt Burgess is, dude does not sleep for one sentence. Neither will you.” Charles Bock, bestselling author of Beautiful Children
Review
“This is a terrific novel, because Janice is terrific, a brilliantly realized character. She’s strong, vulnerable, funny, maddening — human, and just great.” Roddy Doyle, bestselling author of The Guts and winner of the Booker Prize for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Review
“[A] vivid portrayal of life on the streets, which swings from funny to gut-tighteningly suspenseful… a tour-de-force.” Booklist
Review
"[O]utstanding....This fresh take on the cop novel genre retains the madcap energy of Elmore Leonard's best fiction while introducing the most irresistible police precinct this side of Joseph Wambaugh's Hollywood Station." Library Journal
Synopsis
Twenty-four-year-oldJanice Itwaru is an uncle NYPD lingo for an undercovernarcotics officer and the heroine of the most exuberantand original cop novel in years.
A New York City cop who can last eighteen monthsin Narcotics, without getting killed or demoted first, will automatically get promoted to detective. Undercover narc Janice Itwaru is at month seventeen.Ambitious, desperate for that promotion, she hits the sidewalks of Queens in her secondhand hoochieclothes, hoping to convince potential criminals drugdealers, addicts, dummies, whomever to commit afelony on her behalf. And things aren t any easierback at the narco office, where she has to keep upwith the bantering lies and inventively cruel pranks
of her fellow uncles while coping with the ridiculous demands of her NYPD bosses.
With an ailing mother at home, her cover nearlyblown, quota pressures from her superiors, and rumorscirculating that Internal Affairs has her unit undersurveillance, Janice is running terribly short on luckas her promotion deadline approaches. Now she hasto decide which evil to confront: the absurd bureaucrats at One Police Plaza, or the violent drug dealers who may already be on to her identity.
Bursting with the glorious chaos of the New YorkCity streets, Uncle Janice is both a deeply funny portraitof how undercover cops really talk and act, and acompelling story of their crazy, dangerous, and complicated lives."
About the Author
Matt Burgess is the critically acclaimed author of Dogfight, A Love Story. A graduate of Dartmouth and the University of Minnesota's MFA program, he grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Matt Burgess