Edwin Torres (born January 7, 1931) is a former New York State Supreme Court judge and author of Puerto Rican descent, who wrote the 1975 novel Carlito's Way.
[5][6] Torres' tough upbringing in Manhattan and his work in the criminal justice system enabled him to create realistic crime fiction characters and plots.
Without Torres we might not have gotten Ernesto Quiñonez' Bodega Dreams, Carolina Garcia-Aguilera's Lupe Solano series, or even Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress.
The New Yorker praised Carlito's Way: "It is in the grisly tradition of Little Caesar, The Jones Men, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle, and it is the equal of any of them.
[9] Of the book, The New York Times noted, "Judge Torres infuses these nearly current events with so much life and style that you can almost smell the musty air of 100 Centre Street.