Exchange Alley

Rating:
Summary: Intelligently written, good read, but somewhat flawed
Review: I read this through to the end - it starts out as an interesting cross between police procedural and international espionage novel, then ends up in almost a "Manchurian Candidate"-like family melodrama. Although the author is very knowledgeable, and weaves in all sorts of interesting allusions, and is a much more creative writer than you find in your general airport bookstore, the whole novel is somewhat of a tease, files never revealed, the title location (Exchange Alley, New Orleans)never visited, certain potentially intersting sexual liaisons between main characters that are raised as potentials but never consummated. Kind of an odd book overall. But I give it four stars, and, like I said, I read it through.

Rating:
Summary: COMPLEX READ
Review: This book is not for reading piecemeal. I found it most confusing because of the series of plot lines that we followed, slipping back and forth between. Nothing unusual there. I'm not certain but we were mostly moving through time lines that eventually brought us to the "present". The author was perhaps too clever with this device. Did he write the multiple stories and then just cut and paste them together? I have never read chapters that changed timelines every paragraph as they did at the end. There was a lot of bigoted characters -- at first I thought the author himself might be reflecting his own thoughts -- but the the characters were just mostly unsympathetic. No one was clearly heroic. First novels are a mixed blessing. I am happier with my current Cornwell.

Rating:
Summary: COMPLEX READ
Review: This book is not for reading piecemeal. I found it most confusing because of the series of plot lines that we followed, slipping back and forth between. Nothing unusual there. I'm not certain but we were mostly moving through time lines that eventually brought us to the "present". The author was perhaps too clever with this device. Did he write the multiple stories and then just cut and paste them together? I have never read chapters that changed timelines every paragraph as they did at the end. There was a lot of bigoted characters -- at first I thought the author himself might be reflecting his own thoughts -- but the the characters were just mostly unsympathetic. No one was clearly heroic. First novels are a mixed blessing. I am happier with my current Cornwell.

Rating:
Summary: Homicide, espionage, kinky sex!
Review: Walsh's first effort is an engrossing piece that weaves Oswald, the CIA, KGB, the Mole Theory, the Holocaust, and the more exotic sexual mileu of modern New York into a neat plot as hot-headed Detective Francis Byrne tries to unravel the killing of a Danish diplomat. Part thriller, part police procedural, and all great writing. The history and tradecraft are accurate, the plot never lags, and the reader is defied to guess the ending before arrival, probably in the wee hours of the morning. This one is VERY tough to put down.