Exchange Alley

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.

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.

Shrouded by international intrigue, graphic violence and a dense plot, Exchange Alley is a wild ride though an ugly world. Our hero is ambitious NYPD Homicide Lieutenant Francis X. Byrne who discovers his own personal hell as he tries to solve the case of a dead Danish consulate employee. From its fresh take on the Kennedy assassination to its portrayal of a family gone bust, Walsh's brilliant first novel is both disturbing and totally absorbing