Shamrock Alley [Hardcover]

Ronald Damien Malfi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

When Secret Service agent John Mavio infiltrates a ring of organized crime leaders involved in an elaborate counterfeit money operation, including two violent Irish criminals from Hell’s Kitchen, he risks his life to stop what may be the most sinister operation in the country’s history. Every step of drugs, booze, and blood brings him closer to his own demise in a gory, dangerous undercover world far removed from his own personal reality, which includes his pregnant wife and terminally ill father. But when these two worlds meet, Mavio must implement every skill he has learned to save himself, his family, and the people of New York City.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Malfi (The Fall of Never) draws on the experiences of his Secret Service agent father, who infiltrated the Irish gang known as the Westies decades earlier, for this plodding crime thriller. Secret Service agent John Mavio seeks to bring down two violent gangsters, Jimmy Kahn and Mickey O'Shay, in New York City's Hell's Kitchen. To do so, Mavio poses as a fellow crook interested in buying counterfeit money from Kahn and O'Shay, the latter, despite a long track record of bloodshed, having avoided jail even after a police officer witnessed one of his murders. Will Mavio be able to overcome Kahn and O'Shay's suspicions to get evidence to prosecute them? Few readers will care, given the predictable plot and ponderous prose (e.g., Manhattan has a way of leading its occupants to certain destinations without said occupants necessarily realizing he or she has been led). (Sept.)
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Review

"The author's previous books have garnered him acclaim and a small but devoted audience; this one could easily life him into the mainstream."  —Booklist

"This is a bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out, grand slam home run of a book."  —Lorenzo Carcaterra, author, Sleepers and Chasers

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Medallion Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933836946
• ISBN-13: 978-1933836942
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,874,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting Manhattan police procedural, September 5, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shamrock Alley (Hardcover)

Secret Service agent John Mavio goes undercover in an effort to break up a particularly violent Irish gang working out of Hell's Kitchen. He plans to end their lucrative counterfeiting operation. As a collateral action, Mavio also hopes to bring to justice two predominantly nasty gang members, two twenty-something age killers Jimmy Kahn and Mickey O'Shay.

To achieve his objective Mavio pretends to be a criminal wanting to buy counterfeit money from Kahn and O'Shay. They do not trust him and he knows it making him wonder if a snitch is in his office working for the gang. Still he persists trying to obtain evidence to send both behind bars even knowing the danger if they uncover his identity to himself and his family; and the realism that O'Shay has never been convicted of any crime even when a cop witnessed him killing someone; which adds to his fear for his loved ones.

This is an interesting Manhattan police procedural that looks closely at the gangs, drugs, and those living at the peripheral on gangbanger waste and charity scraps in the cesspool. Ronald Damien Malfi paints a dark gloomy Manhattan based on a real 1980s case. Although the story line is very straightforward and in some regards narrow, SHAMROCK ALLEY provides readers with a solid undercover investigation and more fascinating in a sad macabre way the life of gangbanger groupies, hanger-ons and dependents.

Harriet Klausner

4.0 out of 5 stars extremely factual, December 1, 2009

By 

David A. Spearman (Harbor Beach, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shamrock Alley (Hardcover)

Even as stated this is a work of fiction we know that more than 90 percent is true. The conquering and intimidating neighborhoods by a few over the years has become a regular review. Due to the lawyers these criminals run free and do as they please. As in this story though there are times a certain few fearless men stand and deliver. So this story shows. A young secret service agent teamed with a older man strike out because of counterfiting and find two criminals the worse of the worse. There is nothing they do that would ever couse you to beleve they are sane. The story continues to a very interesting conclusion. I would suggest this book highly.