The Devil's Half Mile
A Novel
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4.2 • 12 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The Devil's Half Mile by Paddy Hirsch is a riveting historical thriller debut set in 1799 New York City, perfect for the fans of Gangs of New York and the works of Caleb Carr and Erik Larson.
Seven years after a financial crisis nearly toppled America, traders chafe at government regulations, racial tensions are rising, gangs roam the streets and corrupt financiers make back-door deals with politicians... 1799 was a hell of a year.
Thanks to Alexander Hamilton, America has recovered from the panic on the Devil's Half Mile (aka Wall Street), but the young country is still finding its way. When young lawyer Justy Flanagan returns to solve his father's murder, he exposes a massive fraud that has already claimed lives, and one the perpetrators are determined to keep secret at any cost. The body count is rising, and the looming crisis could topple the nation.
"A thriller with strong, multifaceted heroes and villains, [and] tight plotting. I impatiently await the next adventure."—Patrick Taylor, NYT bestselling author of the Irish Country series
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Hirsch makes his fiction debut with a superb historical whodunit. In 1799, after four years studying law in Ireland, Justy Flanagan returns to Manhattan in search of the truth about the death of his father, Francis, a stock trader who reportedly hanged himself when Justy was 14. Convinced by new evidence that his father was murdered, Justy wants answers from William Duer, a "reckless speculator" and former ally of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, who was Francis's business partner before the 1792 financial crisis sent Duer to debtors' prison. But when Justy goes looking for Duer in Manhattan's New Gaol, he learns that his quarry is dead, and when he reunites with his uncle Ignatius, a powerful landowner who funded his education, he's met with skepticism about his theory. Justy persists, nonetheless, and Hirsch effortlessly incorporates the political and economic background of the time into the mystery. Fans of Lyndsay Faye's Gods of Gotham books will welcome this engrossing look at New York a half-century before that series.
