Dancing with the Devil Confessions of an Undercover Agent

INAMERICAN GANGSTER, THE FEDS TOOK DOWN INFAMOUS HEROIN DEALER FRANK LUCAS. BUT THE KINGPIN BEHIND LUCAS'S CRIMINAL REIGN, LEROY "NICKY" BARNES, REMAINED "MR. UNTOUCHABLE." UNTIL ONE UNDERCOVER AGENT PROVED TOUGH ENOUGHOR CRAZY ENOUGHTO INFILTRATE HIS DOMAIN AND NAIL THE MOST DANGEROUS DRUG CZAR IN AMERICAN HISTORY.Growing up in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where physical violence was a daily reality at home, at school, and on the streets, Louis Diaz had what it took to surviveand to one day become what he vowed to be: a man of uncompromising principles who is "compassionate on the inside, fierce on the outside." These were the qualities, along with his street fighter's steely nerves and hair-trigger temper, that drove Diaz from his savage beginnings and early forays in organized crime to become one of the DEA's bravest undercover agentsthe man who was instrumental in takshy;ing down some of the nation's and the world's most notorious crime rings.In an unforgettable and utterly engaging first-person narrative, Diaz tells his gritty, colorful, painful, and even humorous life storya story with all the raw emotional power and bare-knuckle action ofWiseguyorSerpico. From his headline-making cases of Nicky Barnes and the Medellin cartel . . . to his account of outwitting a key villain linked to the record-breaking heist known as The Great English Train Robbery . . . to his all-out confrontations with murderous gunrunners and drug dealers on the mean streets of New York . . . to leading commando raids on clan-destine cocaine labs inside the Bolivian jungles,Dancing with the Devilis an explosive memoir that stands as a classic of true-crime literature.

Neal Hirschfeld was a prize-winning reporter and editor for the Daily News. He has also written for O, The Oprah Magazine; Reader's Digest; The New York Times; and other publications.