Blood Alley [Hardcover]

Tom Coffey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008

In this hard boiled detective novel, Patrick Grimes, a WWII veteran and reporter, investigates the murder of a young woman in a seedy area of NYC. He uncovers truths that jeopardize not his only his life but his sanity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Set in New York City in 1946, this superb crime novel from Coffey (Miami Twilight) will remind many readers of the hard-hitting work of James Ellroy. Soon after Patrick Grimes, a psychologically scarred WWII vet who's a reporter for a tabloid newspaper, arrives at a crime scene in a seedy Manhattan neighborhood known as Blood Alley, he realizes that the police are intent on framing the African-American watchman who discovered the body of society girl Amanda Price for murder. Grimes's independent investigation soon puts him at odds with Amanda's wealthy family as well as his own supervisors at the paper. The reporter doggedly follows a twisted trail of real estate transactions and corrupt businessmen to uncover a number of powerful people who might have wanted Amanda dead. Sterling prose (It was the voice of a girl who knew she would never be lonely because all her hellos were given to people who wanted her company) and a pulse-pounding plot combined with an authentic picture of a mob-ruled New York City make this a compelling read. (May)
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About the Author

Tom Coffey is a writer and editor with an extensive background in journalism. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, Tom has been a reporter and editor for some of America's leading newspapers. A staff editor at the New York Times since 1997, he has also worked for New York Newsday, The Los Angeles Herald- Examiner and the Miami Herald.

His first novel, The serpant Club, was published in 1999 to starred reviews. His second novel,iami Twilight, was published in 2001. Tom has been a member of the Mystery Writers of America since 1999.

Tom lives in Lower Manhattan with his wife and daughter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: The Toby Press; First Edition edition (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592642233
• ISBN-13: 978-1592642236
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,731,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and raised on Staten Island, where I attended Catholic schools. I graduated from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, and embarked on a career in journalism. I've had the good fortune to work as a writer and editor at some of America's leading newspapers. I've been employed at The Miami Herald, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and New York Newsday. I've been a staff editor at The New York Times since 1997.

My first novel, "The Serpent Club," was published in 1999, and my second book, "Miami Twilight," came out in 2001. I live in Lower Manhattan with my wife, Jill, and our daughter, Skyler.

And if I knew back then what I know now, I would have become interested in writing children's books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cut above most murder mysteries, May 25, 2008

By 

Roy E. Perry "amateur philosopher" (Nolensville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Alley (Hardcover)

In Blood Alley, Tom Coffey (The Serpent's Club, 1999; Miami Twilight, 2001) has written a powerful novel about a brutal murder in Manhattan and the Machiavellian financial shenanigans of those who worship mammon.

Patrick Grimes, 23, a lapsed Irish Catholic, is a rookie rewrite man for The New York Examiner. A decorated war hero--he was awarded the Bronze Star for fierce fighting against the Germans in Tuscany, north of the Arno River--he is "not blessed with faith but cursed by skepticism." In the story that unfolds, he has good reasons for not trusting those in authority.

In Blood Alley, a grimy, squalid. and blighted stretch of slaughterhouses, breweries, tenements. and flophouses wedged along the East River, the body of a rich young woman, Amanda Price, is discovered, and an innocent black man, William Anderson, is railroaded as her killer.

Post-war New York City, a great citadel of capitalism that boasts "the best police force money can buy," is a hotbed of rampant racism and corruption.

In seeking to establish Anderson's innocence, Grimes battles an array of ruthless, power-hungry adversaries, and puts his own life--and sanity--at risk.

Blood Alley is a cut above most murder mysteries. Grimes is quite the philosopher, a man who, in spite of his pessimism, is driven by a love of justice and struggles against all odds to find the truth.

The disturbing outcome of this novel, echoing the poet's assessment that "the world is too much with us, late and soon," reveals the fine line between cynicism and realism.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very retro, very noir, July 30, 2008

By 

David W. Nicholas (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Alley (Hardcover)

I've never read anything by Tom Coffey before. This book is unusual for a number of reasons. One odd one is that there's no dust jacket, for some reason: instead, the illustration you see above is printed right on the cover. Second, it's from a publisher I've never heard of before called the Toby Press. And thirdly, it's set during the era just post-World War II, and the author manages to capture the era, as far as I can tell, very very well. The result is a fascinating tale of betrayal, intrigue, and murder, set in New York City.

Patrick Grimes is a war-hero reporter, not really comfortable yet in his job as a "rewrite man" on the night shift. When a call comes in to the newsroom announcing the discovery of a dead body, Grimes and a photographer go to the scene and find themselves looking at a dead socialite who shouldn't have been in the neighborhood. The police soon show up and it's clear that the fix is in: they promptly arrest the local night watchman, who's black, and beat a confession out of him. Grimes is outraged, and decides to try and find out what happened.

This is a very good story, clean and swift and intelligent, and well-written. There's enough violence and sex to interest the popcorn and soda crowd, and there's enough political intrigue and cameos by real individuals (Rockefeller's name appears repeatedly; so does mobster Frank Costello's) to make it interesting for the more cerebral among us. I really liked the story too: it has overtones of Chinatown, but is more believable. I would recommend this book to most who are interested in mysteries.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart and brisk, October 3, 2008

By 

WDX2BB (New York State) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blood Alley (Hardcover)

Tom Coffey's novel, "Blood Alley," doesn't waste a word. The story starts in post-WW2 New York City as a young newspaper reporter gets involved in a murder in which the prime suspect obviously is innocent. The main character tries to do the "right thing" and investigate, but soon bumps up against forces that are larger than he ever could have imagined. The plot jumps from one page to the next. I'm no expert on this type of book, but I know what I like and this book hit all of my checkmarks. It conjures up a sense of place and time nicely, has a story that isn't too simple but doesn't get the reader lost, and is, at its root, believable. This is definitely worth your time, especially if you like crime stories.