Paradise Alley
by Kevin Baker
Irish immigrants fight the Civil War military draft.

The Alienist & The Angel of Darkness
by Caleb Carr
Psychologist hired by Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt investigates brutal murders.

Suspension
by Richard Crabbe
The brand new Brooklyn Bridge is being sabotaged.

On Night’s Shore
by Randall Silvis
Edgar Allan Poe investigates the murder of a young shop girl.

Waterworks
by E.L. Doctorow
Extreme wealth & poverty set the scene for a tale of evil & avarice.

1900 TO 1950

Dreamland
by Kevin Baker
Shipboard immigrants approach NYC; the flames they see turn out to be the lights of Coney Island.

Coney
by Amram Ducovny
Everyday life in 1939 for a 15-year-old with a growing sense of foreboding.

Snow in August
by Pete Hamill
Eleven-year-old Irish boy’s friendship with a besieged Rabbi.

Murder Me Now
by Annette Meyers
Murder mystery in Prohibition era Greenwich Village.

1980’s

I’ve a Feeling We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
by Ethan Mordden
Manhattan gay life among a small group of friends.

Smart Hearts in the City
by Barbara Probst Solomon
Tough world of law & finance interwoven with memories of a gentler time.

Duplicate Keys
by Jane Smiley
Emotional aftermath of murder among friends.

Irresistible Impulse
by Robert Tannenbaum
Courtroom drama with racial overtones & a stalker investigation, too.

Bright Lights Big City
by Jay McInerney
Young man struggling with his mother’s death, alienation & the pull of drugs.

Slaves of New York
by Tama Janowitz
Stories from the “arty” life of a young woman.

Skinny Island
by Louis Auchincloss
Stories from upper class Manhattan life.

LATE 20TH CENTURY

St. Burl’s Obituary
by Daniel Akst
Rotund obit writer stumbles on gangland slaying.

East of A
by Russell Atwood
From East Village through Alphabet City- dusk-to dawn nightmare.

Four Blondes
by Candace Bushnell
Playgrounds of Manhattan’s elite.

Vector
by Robin Cook
Bioterror in the hands of a disgruntled Russian émigré.

City of God
by E.L. Doctorow
Modern reality of God in a detective story about a vanishing & re-appearing cross.

Half Crazy
by J.M. McDonnell
Arkansas girl makes it in NYC, but jealousy & trouble ensue.

Bodega Dreams
by Ernesto Quinonez
Willie Bodega is there to help anyone who is loyal and does not jeopardize his steady income from pushing drugs

In My Other Life: Stories
by Joan Silber
Stories of turning points in the lives of New Yorkers.

Wonderful Town: New York Stories from the New Yorker
Superb short fiction set in NY and universal in theme.

9/11

The Immensity of Here and Now
by Paul Auster
Philosophical musings of an Austrian-Hungarian immigrant.

Absent Friends
by S.J. Rozan
Haunting thriller set in the unforgettable aftermath.

The Writing on the Wall
by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
Troubled intimacy amid the trauma.

The Days of Awe
by Hugh Nissenson
Life and what we believe about it unravel with profound and explicit understanding.

The Good Life
by Jay McInerney
Lives worked out and in control are stopped in their tracks.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Precocious 9-year-old seeks to know more about his father, a victim of 9/11.

In the Shadow of No Towers
by Art Spiegelman
Surreal awfulness; partisan & personal. (graphic novel)