Three men die in a construction accident at a Manhattan condominium. From this, Justin Peacock spins “Blind Man’s Alley,” an ambitious thriller that delves into the interlocking worlds of real estate, law, journalism and politics.
There’s a young man who grew up in public housing and now works in the kitchen of a trendy restaurant. There’s a model approaching the end of her years as a marketable commodity. Connecting them all, of course, are sex and money.
And then there’s Duncan Riley, a hotshot legal associate who might be like any other Harvard Law graduate with a sense of entitlement were it not for his unexpected background. Riley grew up in Detroit with a black father who worked for the auto workers’ union and a white social-worker mother.
Most of Riley’s billable hours are spent working for Roth Properties, owner of the Aurora, the condo with the deadly accident. Simon Roth, the patriarch of the family-owned business, is famously tough, but he seems to have made a mistake in letting his wastrel son, Jeremy, run the Aurora project.
Leah Roth, her father’s heir apparent, unsettles Riley by inviting him to her apartment for dinner. Is it a date? A test? A job interview?
More rewarding, if no less complicated, is Riley’s pro bono work for Rafael Nazario and his grandmother, who are being kicked out of their subsidized apartment in a housing project being renovated by Roth Properties.
When Rafael is arrested for the murder of one of Roth’s security guards, Riley is representing two clients with conflicting interests.
Peacock paints a cynical portrait of New York’s power brokers. The Roths think nothing of bribing politicians or suing newspapers. Jeremy would do anything to get a wealthy Dubai family to invest in the troubled Aurora, including pimp out his ex- model girlfriend.
“Blind Man’s Alley” reaches into many corners of New York life, swooping from the visiting room at Riker’s Island to Simon Roth’s 70th birthday party at his Upper East Side townhouse.
Peacock’s key insight is that the party isn’t much more fun than the jail.
FICTION
Blind Man’s Alley, by Justin Peacock, $26.95
