Book
Blind Moon Alley : a Jersey Leo novel / John Florio.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781616148874
- Physical Description: 223 pages ; 21 cm
- Publisher: Amherst, NY : Seventh Street Books, an imprint of Prometheus Books, 2014.
Content descriptions
| Summary, etc.: | It's Prohibition. It's Philadelphia. And Jersey Leo doesn't fit in. Jersey is an albino of mixed race. Known as Snowball on the street, he tends bar at a speakeasy the locals call the Ink Well. There, he's considered a hero for having saved the life of a young boy. But when his old grade school buddy, Aaron Garvey, calls from death row and asks for one last favor, all hell breaks loose. Jersey finds himself running from a band of crooked cops, hiding an escaped convict in the Ink Well, and reunitingwith his grammar school crush--the now sultry Myra Banks, who has shed a club foot and become a speakeasy siren. Through it all, Jersey tries to safeguard the Ink Well with no help other than his ragtag group of friends: his ex-boxing-champion father, Ernie Leo; the street-savvy Johalis; a dim-witted dockworker named Homer; and the dubious palm reader Madame Curio. With them, Jersey digs for the truth about his friend Aaron Garvey--and winds up discovering a few things about himself-- Provided by publisher. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Bartenders > Fiction. Bars (Drinking establishments) > Fiction. Prohibition > Fiction. Criminal investigation > Fiction. FICTION / Mystery Detective / Hard-Boiled. |
| Genre: | Mystery fiction. Historical fiction. |
Holds
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BookList Review
Blind Moon Alley
Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Jersey Leo has only three good memories of childhood: his father, a boxing champion, who raised him; schoolmate Aaron Garvey, who protected Jersey from bullies intent on tormenting a mixed-race albino; and classmate Myra, who suffered similar treatment because she had a clubfoot. In the sequel to Sugar Pop Moon (2013), Jersey comes to the aid of both Myra and Garvey. Reluctantly, he concludes that he must bring down a corrupt, sadistic police detective without being dismembered by Philadelphia's most violent gangster. Florio's Prohibition-era dialogue is appropriately hard-boiled. The Ink Well, a tiny basement speakeasy where Jersey tends bar, softens the edges of a hardened city, . . . a place an albino can call home. It's also a place that serves an Aunt Roberta, a stupefying cocktail of absinthe, brandy, gin, vodka, and blackberry liqueur. But it is Jersey who makes Blood Moon Alley shine. Unflawed heroes are uninteresting, but Jersey's flaws are as obvious as his shimmying eyeballs (a common affliction of albinos) and scorched skin. Even so, Jersey abides.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2010 Booklist
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Publishers Weekly Review
Blind Moon Alley
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Florio's compelling second Prohibition-era mystery finds Jersey Leo, the mixed-race albino who was the unlikely hero of Sugar Pop Moon (2013), back in Philly, tending bar in a speakeasy known as the Ink Well. Life is smooth until a childhood friend, Aaron Garvey, asks Leo to visit him on death row the night before he's due to be executed for murder. When Garvey explains he was framed, Leo agrees to help. Meanwhile, Leo has to protect the Ink Well, and stay out of the hands of dirty cop Jack Reeger, who wants to execute Garvey personally. Old crush Myra Banks joins Leo as he, his ex-boxing champion father, and a group of loyal friends fight to win this dangerous game. Florio has an unerring feel for the era and people, and we believe in these characters. Readers will cheer for Leo, a tough guy with a heart of hurt. Agent: Elizabeth Evans, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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