Film rights secured by Robert De Niro

Fate singles some people out for hardship. The life of Dominique Loiseau, a Parisian gang unit detective, fell to pieces one day in 1986 when his name turned up on a list of corrupt cops, an internal housecleaning after a botched and bloody bank robbery arrest. He alone among the accused, knowing himself to be an honest cop, demanded a fair hearing. Not only was he denied this, but evidence—doctored reports, false depositions, backdated memos—led to an unjust conviction. Dishonored, disbelieved, his life in pieces, Loiseau would serve seven years of his twelve year sentence before a 1993 presidential pardon gave him back his freedom, but not his reputation.

Today, Loiseau lives on welfare with his mother. His record, as yet still not officially cleared, has kept him not only from the investigative profession that was his passion, but from earning a living in a variety of other careers. This book is Loiseau’s attempt, with the help of reporter Michel Naudy, to clear his name by launching his own inquest into the secrets and lies of the police administration that let a good cop go down with the bad to save its public image. Originally published by Éditions Plon in 1994, shortly after Loiseau’s release, the current revised and extended edition incorporates new findings as well as Loiseau’s reflections on his life since.