In the roughest precinct in New York one cop tries to hold back the flood of crimeIts a lovely autumn in the Big Apple and the weather is perfect for trouble Over the weekend a teenage gang rumbled on the playground leaving a fifteen yearold stabbed and a younger boy beaten half to death a highspeed chase left one dead and two badly injured and a fire in a tenement killed twoand the police found the arsonist standing outside relishing his handiwork It was a beautiful weekend in the city and every deadly incident found its way across the police blotter of the FiftySecond Precinct and into the hands of Lieutenant ClancyOne of the hardest detectives on the force Clancy will be tested with everything from a recluses murder to an assassination attempt at the United Nations this fall It may be his job but it is never routine