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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Legal Thriller, August 25, 2010
This review is from: Blind Man's Alley: A Novel (Hardcover)
Duncan Riley has worked his way to the top of his profession and is at that place in his career as an attorney to be accepted as a partner. He has been groomed for the part by his mentor and brought in on many of the top concerns involving the very top clients of the firm, including Roth properties. They are working on a libel suit involving a story in the newspaper and Duncan is deposing the witness's, including the journalist as well as members of Roth properties. A section of one of Roth's holdings collapsed during construction, killing three of the workers. The Article suggested possible Mob involvement and kickbacks. The Journalist Candace Snow is a fierce competitor and does not give at all under the questioning. It in fact seems to make her even more determined that some hidden agenda is happening.
At the same time, Blake and Wolcott, the firm he works for has lost some of its shine as a Top firm and has Duncan also working the pro bono case of a family being evicted from one of the tenements that is now being upgraded and owned by Roth Properties. Duncan has some concern that this could create a conflict of interest but is assured both by his mentor Steven Blake as well as Simon Roth's daughter Leah that there is no conflict. Duncan works the Roth case by rote, researching information, filing information, putting together memos, and all the staid but important work that fills the company coffers through billable hours. He finds his mind occasionally straying to his other case involving a teenage boy Rafael and his grandmother. Rafael has been accused of smoking Pot and agreed to a plea bargain that was going to keep him out of jail and with his grandma. He denied quite vehemently that he ever had anything to do with drugs, but his court appointed attorney did not really care. With accepting the plea deal however he and his grandma are being evicted. Duncan has just won a stay on the eviction when one of the security guards for the building is murdered and a witness places Rafael as the murderer. Duncan is convinced that something is wrong and is planning to fight the case for Rafael. His firm slowly begins backing out and trying to pull the plug on the case, putting Duncan in a bad place, as he has promised to help Rafael and his Grandma. He is able to get the the testimony about gunshot residue being present on Rafael's hands thrown out of court based on expert testimony. He then is immediately encouraged to accept a plea bargain because all of a sudden Steven Blake has concerns about a conflict of interest. More people begin ending up dead and Duncan begins to wonder if his enemies are his friends and his friends and colleagues are actually his enemies. His world suddenly turns topsy turvey as he turns to Candace Snow as an ally. His job is no longer secure and the world as he knows it is no longer as absolute as he has always believed. This work brings to light the high stakes played out in the world of money and greed. Duncan and Candace become the hunted in this cat and mouse game of truth and justice. Who will win and who will escape with their life.
I found this book very slow at the beginning. I had to wade through lots of legalese which buried the beginning of the story and kept the book slow. About midway after establishing the ground rules the book really took off and became more interesting. I had a tough time and had to force myself in the beginning to keep on reading. I am glad I did as it was a good book and a great story.
I received this book as a free copy from Goodreads First Reads. I am not receiving any compensation and all opinions are my own based off my independent reading of this material
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Peacock keeps his finger firmly on the pulse of the graft, corruption and political conspiracy that marks NYC's newspapers, October 4, 2010
This review is from: Blind Man's Alley: A Novel (Hardcover)
Justin Peacock's first novel, A CURE FOR NIGHT, has been compared to the earlier works of such legal thriller authors as John Grisham and Scott Turow. With his second effort, BLIND MAN'S ALLEY, he firmly claims the gauntlet from them as this book resonates the way Grisham and Turow used to write earlier in their careers.
As a legal thriller, BLIND MAN'S ALLEY has it all --- corporate greed, murder, conspiracy, and a highly ethical young attorney caught in the middle of a moral dilemma that could make or break his career before it ever really gets started. Such is the case with Duncan Riley, a lawyer trying to make partner at the prestigious New York City law firm of Blake and Wolcott.
It seems that Riley has been handed a few easy tasks that will firmly implant him in the hierarchy of his firm and assure his financial success for years to come. First off, he is brought in by senior partner Steve Blake to help represent Simon Roth and his real estate development company, Roth Properties. The case features an unfortunate accident at one of their sites --- the deaths of three manual laborers working on the Aurora Tower condo development in SoHo --- who lost their lives when a weakened floor collapsed and plunged them to their deaths 300 feet below. Roth is a surly character who has been somewhat hands off with the management of his company in recent years, slowly passing the reigns to his son Jeremy and daughter Leah.
Riley is introduced to the Roth clan, and it appears that Leah takes an immediate liking to him. In an effort to make partner, a young attorney must also do a certain amount of pro bono work along the way. Riley's pro bono case finds him representing a young Hispanic man named Rafael Nazario, who is accused of killing a security guard at his Alphabet City project development. The case is not as open and shut as Riley would have liked. Upon further investigation, he finds out that Nazario and his grandmother were being threatened with eviction from their apartment and the guard who Nazario allegedly shot was accused of shaking down residents of this project in an effort to oust them and bring in higher-class residents. To make matters worse, the ownership behind both the Alphabet City projects where Nazario lived and the security company that employed the guards accused of wrongdoing was...Roth Properties.
When Riley finds this out, he approaches Blake and asks if he should drop the case due to conflict of interest with the other matter he is handling on behalf of Roth Properties. Blake assures Riley that the Nazario case is cut and dry with several witnesses and should pose no such conflict as long as Riley pushes the case quickly through the system. Unfortunately, this does not sit well on Riley's conscience and he continues to look into the matter to make sure there is no connection between Roth Properties and the murder of the security guard in Alphabet City.
Two relationships in Riley's life lead him to make the right choice. First off, Leah continues to pursue Riley in a less than professional manner, and they consummate their relationship in her bedroom. She indicates that he can do better than just shooting for partner at Blake and Wolcott and promises him a high-paying job as corporate counsel for Roth Properties instead. At the same time, Riley's path crosses with investigative journalist Candace Snow, reporter for the hard-hitting New York Journal, who claims to have proof that the two cases Riley is working on involving Roth Properties are not only connected but that Roth is liable for both the death of the workers at Aurora Towers and the railroading of Nazario for a murder he did not commit. What is Riley to do?
It is here where Justin Peacock's writing shines as he keeps the narrative moving forward like an out-of-control freight train. By doing the "right thing," Riley is taken off the Roth case, bounced out of his law firm and supplanted as Nazario's attorney by a court-appointed lackey. Even with the help of Snow and a mountain of subjective evidence, will it be enough for Riley to save Nazario from life imprisonment and salvage his now-defunct law career? BLIND MAN'S ALLEY never lets down, and Peacock keeps his finger firmly on the pulse of the graft, corruption and political conspiracy that marks the pages of New York City newspapers on a daily basis.
--- Reviewed by Ray Palen
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 Stars -- Peacock Scores Big-Time In His Follow-up To A Cure For Night!, January 13, 2011
This review is from: Blind Man's Alley: A Novel (Hardcover)
In my review of Peacock's debut novel, A Cure For Night, I commented that he deserves a large reader audience and has the potential to climb quickly to the top of the list of bestselling authors of legal thrillers. My belief in this opinion is now even stronger after reading Peacock's second book, Blind Man's Alley. In many ways, Peacock's books remind me of John Grisham's early books.
I won't go into a lot of detail about the plot since some of the existing reviews already do this and, in my opinion, "give away a bit too much of the store." I'll just say that Blind Man's Alley is a taut, topical, socially alert, multi-layered thriller set in the cutthroat world of New York real estate. It is a book that slowly, but steadily creates tension that holds the reader's attention until it erupts in a thrilling courtroom conclusion in which all of the layers of deceit, corruption and murder become stripped away.
In addition to Peacock's ability to tell a compelling story in such a way that the reader is willing to delay whatever else has to be done in order to find out what happens next, he once again demonstrates his strong narrative, prose and character development skills. This is not to say that the book is flawless. It has a few minor flaws, which is why, if possible, I would give it a 4 1/2 star rating. These flaws have to do with the characters of the lawyer, Duncan Riley, and the reporter, Candace Snow, being able to strip away the layers of deceipt/corruption/murder with a little too much ease. Nonetheless, this is fiction and thus the author is allowed some creative license in order to tell his highly entertaining legal thriller.
I am already looking forward to Justin Peacock's next book; but until then, I will be recommending Blind Man's Alley to my family and friends. Do yourself a favor and read Blind Man's Alley (as well as A Cure For Night if you haven't already done so)!
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