EXCHANGE ALLEY

by Michael Walsh

In the depths of the Cold War a Soviet defector comes to the CIA with a story no one wants to hear. In a dreary apartment outside Moscow a secret videotape captures a man and woman making frantic love that climaxes in a murder. In the woods outside a New York City suburb an NYPD detective looks at the nude, mutilated body of a man whose violent death will lead the cop into an underground world of forbidden sexuality and international espionage.

In this powerful debut novel Michael Walsh delivers an unparalleled jolt of dark, scintillating suspense that blends John Le Carre with James Ellroy. A murder mystery, a tangled espionage thriller, and a grown-up novel of desire and jealousy, EXCHANGE ALLEY is a tale of truths conceived in sin and exposed in blood.
Lt. Francis X. Byrne, a smart ambitious homicide detective on the rise, lives in a rundown Hell's Kitchen apartment and knows far less about his own life than he believes. Struggling with his temper, his drinking and his relationship with a woman who has him outclassed, Byrne is trying to solve the gruesome slaying of a Danish diplomat- and following the trail of Egil Ekdhal's short life into a world where beautiful people play the most dangerous of games.

As Byrne gets closer to Ekdahl's true identity he collides with the one man he loathes more than any other human his own FBI agent brother. Tom Byrne has broken every rule in pursuit of a spy's Holy the KGB's top secret file on Lee Harvey Oswald. It's a dossier that the FBI, the CIA and even the Mafia desperately want-- a file stained by blackmail, intimidation and suicide.

From the decadence of modern-day New York City to the twilight days if Soviet Communism, and stretching back to the hell of the Nazi death camps, EXCHANGE ALLEY pits a tough but-all-too human cop against a conspiracy of evil that is beyond his comprehension. Relentless and frighteningly realistic, this is a novel that captures the rage of history's fires and the darkness they have left behind.

“Gritty and gripping… EXCHANGE ALLEY delives the darkness and synthetic sheen of contemporary urban life… a fascinating read.” -- Wendy Wasserstein, playwright of The Heidi Chronicles

“Extraordinary and entertaining… Dark, ominous, and tragic, this violent, vivid glimpse into the underworlds of New York and Moscow grips the reader and never lets go.” -- Tim Rice, co-writer of Evita

“Michael Walsh lurches the reader through the labyrinths of several underworlds, riveted by his whiplash style, confident that he will be there at the final “No Exit” with his natural novelist’s scalpel to reveal his characters, amazingly. Hang on!” – Gail Sheehy, author of New Passages

“Without pity or indulgence, Michael Walsh summons up the bent world of sexual and political corruption. The people in this arena are neither fragrant nor wise, but in Walsh’s hands they are impossible to ignore. Enter EXCHANGE ALLEY and you will not be able to extricate yourself until the last paragraph.” – Stefan Kanfer, author of Tough Without a Gun and contributing editor to City Journal

“A darkly ingenious, disturbing story, told with ruthless energy, scathing moral impartiality, and bitter omniscience. Michael Walsh, a fine music critic, is at the start of a brilliant new career.” – Lance Morrow, author of An Investigation

“A classy thriller… intelligent…multi-layered, gritty.” – USA Today

Cover design of this digital edition was created by Ilana Esquenzi

Nook

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Michael Walsh was for 16 years the classical music critic for Time Magazine and has also worked for the San Francisco Examiner and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. He is the author of eleven books, including five works of non-fiction as well as the novels Exchange Alley, As Time Goes By (the authorized sequel to the movie Casablanca), and And All the Saints, a winner of the 2004 American Book Awards for fiction. His novel, Hostile Intent, was published in September by Pinnacle Books and hit the New York Times bestseller lists and shot to No. 1 on Kindle. The sequel, Early Warning, was published in Sept., 2010. With Gail Parent, he is the co-writer of the hit Disney Channel 2002 Original Movie, Cadet Kelly, at the time the highest-rated show in the history of the network.

Reviews

[Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I finished the book, I found it difficult to follow the many twisted plot lines and excursions between time periods. At times, the author tended to wander aimlessly with verbose stories and descriptions that offered little value other than taking up space. I have read one other book by this author and it was much better than this one.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long, rambling espionage mystery. It was very easy to lose track of the plot.

[Janelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

didn't like it, this guy likes blood and weird sex

[KateMoxie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Premise sounded intriguing and I love intrigue and mystery, but .... it's hard to find the words to describe how repulsed I was by this book.

The graphic sexual violence was ugly and unnecessary to the development of the story. The physical violence was excessive; really, someone needed to viciously murder a pet cat to make what point? I slogged through this, hoping it would improve, that it would start to come together. Half-way through I realized that it was simply taking me further down a deep dark hole and just was not worth the time.

I had borrowed two other books by this author, but they will be returned, unopened.

[Michael]

I was disappointed here. For some reason I thought it was about the stock exchange? Turns out to be a very scattered and long mystery. Lots of rants about the Jews and the Irish. And some kind of supposed connection. I like "And all the Saints" much better.