Blind Man's Alley: A Novel

By Justin Peacock

From the author of the Edgar Award–nominated legal thriller A Cure for Night, an ambitious and compulsively readable novel set in the cutthroat world of New York real estate.

A concrete floor three hundred feet up in the Aurora Tower condo development in SoHo has collapsed, hurling three workers to their deaths. The developer, Roth Properties (owned by the famously abrasive Simon Roth), faces a vast tangle of legal problems, including allegations of mob connections. Roth’s longtime lawyers, the elite midtown law firm of Blake and Wolcott, is assigned the task of cleaning up the mess. Much of the work lands on the plate of smart, cynical, and sea­soned associate Duncan Riley; as a result, he falls into the pow­erful orbit of Leah Roth, the beautiful daughter of Simon Roth and the designated inheritor of his real estate empire.

Meanwhile, Riley pursues a seemingly small pro bono case in which he attempts to forestall the eviction of Rafael Nazario and his grandmother from public housing in the wake of a pot bust. One night Rafael is picked up and charged with the mur­der of the private security cop who caught him, a murder that took place in another controversial “mixed income” housing development being built by . . . Roth Properties. Duncan Riley is now walking the knife edge of legal ethics and personal morality.

Blind Man’s Alley is a suspenseful and kaleidoscopic journey through a world where the only rule is self- preservation. The New York Times Book Review said of A Cure for Night that “[Peacock] heads toward Scott Turow country . . . he’s got a good chance to make partner.” This taut, topical, and socially alert thriller delivers on that promise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9780385531078

Reviews for Blind Man's Alley

[rgaryrasmussen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Duncan Riley, the protagonist, is the attorney I would want to represent me, if I were ever charged with murder or, indeed, had any other need for a lawyer. Not because he always wins -- he doesn't -- but because he always puts his client's needs ahead of his own, and he always does his best to protect his client's interests and win in court.Duncan is a corporate lawyer, working an average of 60 billable hours per week for Blake and Wolcot, a large New York City law firm. They represent, among others, Roth Properties, a commercial real estate developer. Simon Roth, son of the firm's founder, is the family patriarch and CEO. His children, Jeremy and Leah, are senior vice presidents who are being groomed to take over the family business. Jeremy is weak, and irresponsible. Leah is strong, and resolute and is herself an attorney, but not a practicing one. At the outset, Duncan, who like the author, was born in Detroit and is now practicing law in NYC, is representing Roth Properties in a wrongful death case resulting from shoddy workmanship at one of the Roth construction sites. He is also representing, pro bono, Rafael Nazario, an indigent resident of a city housing project, whose family is being evicted because of some poor legal advice he had received earlier from a public defender. Other key story elements include Steven Blake, founder of Blake and Wolcot, and Duncan's mentor; Candace Snow, an investigative reporter; Jack Pelletieri, a corrupt cement subcontractor; several murders and murder attempts; some retired cops doing private security work for the Roths; Darryl Loomis, the sinister head of security; and lots of suspense. Like TV's Law and Order, it involves both crimes to be solved, and their resolution in court. Unlike the TV show (usually) it also involves the personal lives of the main characters.With its nearly 500 pp, I must admit, at the outset, I thought this book to be much too long. I was wrong. This is a page-turner. Once you start it, it is nearly impossible to put down. Once you finish it, you yearn for more.This is one terrific book. Most highly recommended!

[bluepigeon-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had a hard time with this one. It was long and not really my thing, I suppose. I found the subject matter and the legal language a bit too dense and so it was hard to get into the murder mystery part. I only read it because I got the book in first reads and so I wanted to give it a try and be able to say something about it. I think people who like murder mysteries and do not mind some heavy duty legal jargon, especially at the beginning, will enjoy this book.
Note to self: Don't enter giveaways involving real estate and legal jargon. Just not my thing.

[ennie_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's probably not a good sign that I don't remember much about this book, which I read less than 3 years ago. OK, I've read a lot of books since then, but this is a thick book (465 pages) so I must have spent some time on it. I gather it's about rich people, lawyers, real estate, community activists, and politicians in New York City so it's the sort of thing I like (I like to stay close to home, even in my fiction) ... but I just can't remember much.

[brn2run67 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book took me forever to read. I just had a hard time following the characters. I was halfway through it, asking myself why was I wasting my time to read this. I disagree that he is like Grisham. I love reading John Grisham books. He hooks me right from the beginning. Definitely won't be reading more by this author. Now I am trying to decide if I should loan the book to others or use it for kindling.

[etrainer_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Blind Man's Alley is a satisfying mystery, if not a legal 'Thriller'. The suspense arises from uncertainty about how the truth will be proven in a court of law rather than who committed the crime. Trying to follow the clues and deduce 'who done it' is most of the fun of reading mysteries for me. I am sure I have read other mysteries where the truth is known to the reader, and the struggle is to prove it. Here, suspense builds through the first half of the story until the villain is suddenly revealed. From that point on the question is how will the wrongly accused be vindicated. The courtroom resolution comes somewhat (disappointingly) out of the blue - something the reader is given no clue to anticipate. Despite this, Peacock has produced an interesting story that I enjoyed reading.

[xxixu_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book took me forever to read!! You can tell its written by a real lawyer. I would have been more interested in real a real court transcript than to ever read this book again. There were so many characters some major, but others very minor that played a role in this book making sense. Since I didn't care about any of the characters, I had a hard time following the path of the storyline and all the little storylines in between. The dialogue was boring and predictable. I was rooting for the wrongfully accused guy but this book is so predictable I was certain he would get off. It left me with little intrigue or motivation to finish the story. I was annoyed by some of the race/ethnicity comments in the book. Like the whole. half black/white guy and half black/chinese girl or whatever it was. It really didn't have anythign to do with anything. It was just irritating and distracting, like the author was just trying to be cool by bringing in mixed race. Lame!It seems like a lot of people liked this book. There are just soo many other much better books out there in this genre that I would never recommend someone wasting thier time on this one. I

[doondeck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book began well and just got better as it went along. Peacock keeps the suspense going and ties it all together pretty well. My only complaint is his use of somewhat confusing flashbacks. I agree with other reviewers that this author reminds me of Grisham.

[levasssp · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Contrary to some other reviews, I do not think that this book started slowly. Although there is no real "action" in the early part of the book, Peacock does a great job building characters and setting up the story, which I think is required for this type of story. Some others have compared Peacock to Turow and Grisham. I think the comparison to Grisham is marginally accurate, however, Grisham relies more on the story rather than the details and characters. Turow relies almost entirely on characters. In that light, Peacock falls between Turow and Grisham, but not really close to either one. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries or suspense. Very enjoyable, even if a little unbelievable.

[woodsathome · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you like John Grisham, you'll almost certainly like Justin Peacock.The basic premise is that Duncan Riley, a senior associate (just months away from partnership) is asked by his firm to take a pro bono case. He chooses a seemingly straightforward eviction case that soon becomes a complex murder. Not only that, but it seems the murder is mixed up with the legal business of the firms biggest client.The book starts slow. So slow I had a little trouble wanting to continue reading it. In part, I was frustrated by how coincidental it seemed that the random pro bono was involved with the big client.That said the book picks up very nicely about halfway through. The suspension of disbelief coincidence very neatly becomes just a little too coincidental but believably coincidental.The last third of the book falls into the can't put down, stay awake until 3 am category of fiction. I suspect I will be reading more "Duncan Riley" books in the future.I would recommend this book to legal fiction lovers with the caution that the first half really drags, but the last half makes up for it.

[la12hernandez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first few chapters setting up the characters was slow but not enough to stop reading. After that it was fast paced and intriguing. Duncan works for the law firm representing Roth Properties. He is asked, by his mentor in the firm, to take a pro-bono case involving a tenant in public housing (which is owned by Roth) who is accused of murder. The ending was worth it and I look forward to the next Justin Peacock book.

[miked_181283 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you like Grisham and Turow, you will really like Justin Peacock! Lots of intrigue and corporate misdeeds to satisfy any conspiracy addict. All wrapped up in a great plot, with some satisfiying subplots. Well developed characters.... and an exiciting conclusion. I can't wait to read more of Peacock!

[bill_11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Justin Peacock’s second foray into the world of legal thrillers quickly caught my interest. The main character, Duncan Riley is nearing a partnership decision in a major New York law firm. His mentor, Stephen Blake, is the senior partner and his future seems on the fast track even though the hours of a successful associate leave little time for a private life or family. The law firm and the well being of its wealthy clients are entwined with what passes for a private life until he takes on a pro bono case at the request of his mentor. A public housing eviction case becomes a murder case and Duncan Riley is tossed into the catch-22 world of legal ethics and the values of his parents, values he has seemingly abandoned for the wealth to be earned in corporate law.Some reviews complain that the story starts off slow, laying the background for understanding legal procedure. The reviews are fair, but I found the pace deliberate, gradually increasing as the storyline begins to come together. Rather than being annoyed, I found the pace was slowly drawing me into the story. If I had any reservations, they came when the story is resolved by actions that happen off stage and the reader only becomes aware of them after the final court scene. Of course, sharing these activities before the court scene would have spoiled the power of the books Fortunately the resolution can be anticipated with careful reading. Rather than being obvious, the threads leading to the conclusion are natural elements of the storyline.I thoroughly enjoyed Bland Man’s Alley.

[debavp · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I gave this a half star bump up because I didn't want even a subconscious affect on my review for the book being four months late in arriving as there were too many trite little problems that annoyed me. The author touches on the practice of "passing" and tosses it around to the point of being nearly offensive. In my opinion it had absolutely nothing to do with the character, so why even introduce it? Peacock did and he totally failed at developing it. The premise of the story was interesting enough, but the plot development only limped along. The annoying use of obscure words, especially used in multiples, for descriptive in main-stream fiction is pretentious. There were plenty of high-end adjectives that would have worked better. Probably the most frustrating was the use ethnic surnames, what story set in modern day New York doesn't have them? At least attempt to educate the audience as to how to pronounce them-- it's freakin' distracting to stop and ponder a key person or place's name continually throughout.

[lwhitmill_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great “Who done it” that delves into the New York elite and what they will do to protect themselves, their reputation and their money. A newspaper reporter and a lawyer team up to break the case against a powerful family with the best representation that money can buy, political contacts, and underworld assistance.

[draak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ok I really wanted to like this book. The description on the jacket sounded good. On the first few pages there are so many people introduced that it was hard to keep them straight and this continued throughout the book. Even mentioning people that had very little to do with the plot. I was constantly flipping back pages trying to find who these people were. There were also too many storylines going for my taste. Duncan Riley is a young attorney working for a big law firm representing a very big developer Simon Roth and his children. He is also representing Rafael Nazario on drug charges and trying to keep Rafael and his grandmother from being evicted from property being developed by Simon Roth. He is doing this pro bono and before you know it he is representing Rafael on murder charges. There is a female reporter that the Roths are suing. Then there is Simon Roths daughter Leah who has her own agenda for Duncan. There is the trouble her brother Jeremy gets into. There is blackmail, embezzlement, murder, you name it, it is done in this book. Some books have a hump you have to get over before things really start to pick up. For me the hump came on page 418 the last few chapters of the book and the final courtroom showdown and it's anti-climatic ending. For people who like to read John Grisham then you will like this book.

[dbhutch_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Duncan Riley is a corporate lawyer for a large firm in NY, and close to making partner. The firm primarily deals with business litigation, but Duncan picks up a Pro Bono case for an eviction, which turns into murder. Duncan soon finds himself over his head, and under attack from all sides as families try to keep secrets, and thungs get greedy.A page turning thrill ride involving blackmail, construction skimming and biling, slander, murder, cover ups, accidental deaths, politics, and much much more all very well woven together in a great novel that is very very hard to put down.

[crazy4reading · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome!! Blind Man's Alley is a book that kept me riveted to my seat and my eyes glued to the pages. Blind Man's Alley is a book with so many twists, turns, story lines, character plots and interaction to ultimately come to the final conclusion of this book.Blind Man's Alley is a novel about corruption, murder, back stabbing and just all around total human nature. While reading this book I could see this being true and plausible. I am not current on all laws for New York or even laws in general. I have an understanding of the most basic and layman ideas of the laws. The main character is a lawyer, Duncan of a huge corporate law firm in NY. Also there is a reporter for the Journal, Candace who plays an integral role in this plot. Duncan works for Blake and Wycott who represent Roth Properties. Blake and Wycott take on a pro bono case to help with their image. Duncan is the lawyer assigned to this case. This case is just an eviction case and is the beginning of the end for so many people.People are being evicted from low income housing for their children supposedly possession of drugs. These are properties that the Roth family own and are changing over to better income housing. Are the kids being set up by the security guards that Roth Properties use? This is where the trouble begins for Rafael.Then there is murder, conspiracy, racketeering and so much more that just keeps you riveted to the book. I found the ending to be more then I expected. I was pleasantly surprised as to how Justin Peacock was able to summarize the story and not make you feel like everything always works out.

[dmclane_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Having finally received this book as a part of Librarything's Early Reviewers program, it is my opinion that, In the genre of legal thrillers this book is up there with the best of them. Points of law are covered exceedingly well as opposed to some of the other authors, who are famous for writing in this genre. And while this, may make the story seem slow, if you are not interested in such things, it is more than overcome by a plot that otherwise would move at a breakneck pace. If you like John Grisham, Steve Martini, you should love Justin Peacock, I've added him to my list of authors to watch for when browsing bookstores.

[wrighton9time · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.