Customer Reviews

Payback

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

During the '80s building boom in New York, Billy Adare was a sandhog (tunneler). He attended school at night with a goal of getting a law degree. His brother, Paddy, is an enforcer for Jack Tierney, who runs the construction racket in the West Side.

We learn of the difficulty these sandhogs had building the tunnels under the skyscrapers. Most of the sandhogs were Irish and the Mob wanted to replace the Irish with newly immigrated Poles, pay less and pocket the difference.

When a union rep is beaten to death by Tierney's crazed brother, Butcher Boy, Billy's friends ask him to check with his brother, Paddy, to see if he can learn who is strong-arming them.

The author does a good job in describing New York amidst the building boom, and with the music and views of the time. There is a great deal of violence and much of it is against these sandhogs who want nothing more than to make a living.

We also see the view of the wealthy towards the working man, represented by Billy. This is seen in the way he is treated by the family of a girl he was fond of. He was considered less than a desirable person for their daughter because he uses his hands to make a living.

Well done and interesting.

Shades of "Waiting for Lefty" and "The Sopranos" This guy Kelly Had me smelling the freshly dug rock and damp soil down in that aqueduct. He's a Tom Clancy in coveralls. The feel of NYC was there page after page. I'd like to be as eloquent as the other critics,but it's not in me. My gut tells me if this guy Kelly keeps his feet on the ground ,as indicated in this novel, he's gonna be around for a spell.

I never heard the word "sandhog" before I met Thomas Kelly on a plane. I bought Payback the next day. Now, driving through a tunnel, or taking the subway or something as simple as turning on a water tap in New York City will never be quite the same. A gripping thriller set in a New York underground water tunnel and the bars of Hell's Kitchen, the book deals with union politics, graft and the struggle of the common man who must risk his life to earn a paycheck, keep the union alive and functioning, keep his family relatively intact, get an education and earn a place in a society that doesn't really care or know about the struggle. If I wondered about who dug those tunnels and at what cost, I think I know.

In "Payback," Thomas Kelly introduces us to a grueling line of work-that of the sandhogs of Manhattan. "Sandhogs," says one proudly, "we build all the tunnels. Subway tunnels, water tunnels, sewer tunnels." Tunnel-building, we're told, is "the job with the highest death rate in America," and-no surprise-union man Kelly depicts the book's union guys as brave and forthright, a bit coarse but square shooters. The sandhogs are caught in the middle of the book's colorful plot, which stays exciting even as it collapses into near incoherence. There's a crooked contractor, wiseguys with monickers like Tommy Magic and Vito Romero, a sadistic crime boss "like an evil octopus," a thief cleverly (way *too* cleverly) named Mickey Lawless, and Jack Tierney, who, "through creative use of threat and force...ran the lucrative construction rackets on the West Side." And don't forget the requisite crazed-killer hit man, dubbed-no kidding-Butcher Boy.

With this crowd, you'd expect rub-outs and drive-bys on every other page, and Kelly doesn't disappoint. While the first few deaths carry some impact, "Payback" deteriorates into a gleeful litany of mob maimings, anti-union bludgeonings, and on-the-job coronaries and decapitations. Motivations: power, cash, bloodlust, and "the cold comfort of vengeance." By the time detectives are ready to blow the whole mess open-though there's no indication they understand it any better than we do-there's no one left alive to arrest. Luckily, it's not all mayhem-Kelly gives us a pair of characters who we like and even care about: Billy Adare, "son and grandson of sandhogs," and his brother Paddy, a boxer-turned-mob-strongman yearning to live a quieter life. Billy, working one last summer in the tunnel to put himself through the first year of law school, is the reason "Payback" is worth your time.

Billy is trapped between his future, out of the rough neighborhood of his upbringing, and trying not "to lose what had shaped him." On the brink of leaving to pursue a higher-minded life, he h! as grown "to care less what the people at school thought of him and more about what they thought of him at home." Kelly makes us like Billy and sympathize with his you-can't-go-home-again feelings of dislocation, along with delivering some exceptional passages depicting 9-to-5 life 800 feet beneath the city: "Strings of incandescent bulbs lined both sides of the tunnel, fading into the mist. The wet air was a garrote of diesel fumes and rock dust." After all the blood dries, those scenes are what stay with you.

I admire Kelly's loyalty to his roots, and like many readers, I was struck by the descriptions of the "sandhogs" work. His writing really flows well. All the same, I thought the book excessively violent, and I thought women were depicted in demeaning stereo-types. In that sense, I hope the book isn't too authentic. Maybe I should just steer away from best-sellers with reviews like "gritty" on the front jacket...

This book is a real page turner; never slow or boring. The story reminded me of the true crime story "The Westies", another excellent book. I can't wait til Thomas Kelly's next book comes out, this is definitely a writer to watch for!

This book had me hooked from the first page on. I felt like I actually knew the characters, and the many twists and turns in the plotline kept me hanging onto every word. The author's writing showed glimpses of an Irish poet, wrapped up in a tough guy suit. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Crime novels, particularly those written about New York, are predictable and this one is no exception. But Mr. Kelly's writing is strong and at times poetic, and makes for a good read. His description of unions and their direct and indirect ties to the underground crime world may anger purests, but for most it is a unique and interesting education. He has a few too many characters, but his woman are strong and have a grounding affect on the otherwise male dominated environment. Kelly's description of violence is stunningly detailed and will make you wince, so the faint at heart should stay away. This is a good first novel, and if Mr. Kelly sticks to what he knows your first edition hardbacks will likely be a solid long-term investment.

This man has the uncanny ability to translate the unspeakable grit, grime and passion of New York City into the printable word...then pound you over the heart with it.

Not enough can be said about the true backbone of the city. The construction crews that pulled together and built the greatest city in the world. Tom Kelly stepped up and did it with his novel PAYBACK. Who really knew the thankless job of the sandhogs? How many think of them when drive through the tunnels or turn on our faucets?

The story circles around an Irish/American family in Hell's Kitchen, torn between greedy "bosses" crooked politicians and yearning to fit in somewhere. There is a lot going on here in Payback, but Tom pulls it all together with grit, spit and good old "Irish humor". Well done!