Diary of a DA

The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Took on the Mob, Fought Corruption, and Won

An “extremely well written” firsthand account of taking down corrupt government officials and organized crime in 1970s New Jersey (Publishers Weekly).

In 1961, twenty-five-year-old Herbert J. Stern stood in his green army uniform in a New York County courtroom to be sworn in as an attorney. In the years that follow, the idealistic young Stern would sharpen his skills in the criminal courts of New York City and emerge as the lead trial attorney for the Justice Department, charged with breaking the back of organized crime in New Jersey.

Stern’s highly charged account of his outright war against government officials and the Mafia takes us deep inside the mechanisms of law and order during a time when cities were burning in race riots; when racketeering and graft were so prevalent in the Garden State that its own senator called it a “stench in the nostrils and an offense to the vision of the world.”

Before Stern and his dedicated colleagues on the “strike force” are finished, they will have successfully prosecuted the mayors of Jersey City, Atlantic City, and Newark for being on the take; a congressman for conspiracy, tax violations, and perjury; and blackened the eye of organized crime.

“Herbert J. Stern . . . is a legend in American law, and this extraordinary memoir tells the story of how he became one.” —Jeffrey Toobin, bestselling author of The Nine, American Heiress, and The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson

“For any fan of the . . . Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire television shows.” —Observer-Tribune

“An honest and thorough examination of how the justice system really works. . . . A page-turner of a true crime story.” —The Star-Ledger

“Stern is a fascinated observer, thoroughly honest in both his job and his writing about it. . . . [Diary of a DA] details the gritty realities of a prosecutor’s office that few people witness.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer