Tower of Babel

Written by Michael Sears

Narrated by Richard Poe

Shamus Award–winning author Michael Sears brings Queens, New York, to literary life.

Queens, New York—the most diverse place on earth. Native son Ted Malloy knows these streets like the back of his hand. Ted was once a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, but after a spectacular fall from grace, he has found himself
back on his home turf, scraping by as a foreclosure profiteer. It’s a grubby business, but a safe one—until Ted’s case sourcer, a mostly reformed small-time conman named Richie Rubiano, turns up murdered shortly after tipping Ted off to an improbably lucrative lead.

With Richie’s widow on his back and shadows of the past popping up at every turn, Ted realizes he’s gotten himself embroiled in a murder investigation. His quest for the truth will take him all over Queens, plunging him into the
machinations of greedy developers, mobsters, enraged activists, old litigator foes and old-school New York City operators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705029978

Reviews for Tower of Babel

[dokfintong · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Michael Sears has a new series and I like it. "Tower of Babel" begins with a community protest against a huge development project in Queens (reminiscent of the Brooklyn fight against the Brooklyn Arena decades ago). It soon becomes the story of fraud, and the greed that leads to the destruction of personal honor.Ted Mallory is a Queens native who, after crashing out of some fancy Manhattan law firms, has returned to his old neighborhood where he practices a niche kind of law searching for money owed to people from past real estate transactions and returning it to them for a fee. It's a routine kind of work and Ted's comfortable with it. Then Richie, his helper, comes in with a great find, a large sum that appears to have been forgotten. Ted's instincts tell him to leave it alone, but Richie trails the money on his own time and ends up dead. Suddenly a string of wild characters parades through Ted's office asking him to track down Richie's killer and grab the money. Ted's quiet life isn't so quiet any more.Ted's street smart, but he's a lawyer, not a detective or a tough guy, and he really doesn't want to get involved. Of course his protests don't work and he finds himself sleuthing. He has a new assistant, a terrifying cab driver, a priest, a good cop, and a community organizer to help. The bad cop comes on a bit too strong for my taste though. I like books like this: Decent guy gets in over his head through no fault of his own, a strong cast of men and women and colorful local characters, a plot that could plausibly be real life. I'll be looking forward to the next installment.I received a review copy of "Tower of Babel" by Michael Sears from Soho Crime through Gumshoe Review where this review originally appeared online in the April 2021 issue.