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Alphaville  By  cover art

Alphaville

By: Michael Codella, Bruce Bennett
Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
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Publisher's summary

A raw, gritty memoir—part true-life cop thriller, part unputdownable history of a storied time and place—that will grip you by the throat until the explosive end.

In 1988, Alphabet City burned with heroin, radicalism, and antipolice sentiment. Working as a plainclothes narcotics cop in the most high-voltage neighborhood in Manhattan, Detective Sergeant Mike Codella earned the nickname “Rambo” from the local dealers, as well as a $50,000 bounty on his head. The son of a cop who grew up in a mob neighborhood in Brooklyn, Codella understood the unwritten laws of the shadowy businesses that ruled the streets. He knew that the further east you got from the relative safety of Fifth Avenue, Washington Square Park, and NYU, the deeper you entered the sea of human misery, greed, addiction, violence, and all the things that come with an illegal retail drug trade run wild. With his partner, Gio, Codella made it his personal mission to put away Davey Blue Eyes—a stone-cold murderer and the head of Alphabet City’s heroin supply chain. Despite the hell they endured—all the beatings and gunshots, the footchases, and close calls—Codella and Gio always saw Alphabet City the same way: worth saving.

Alphaville, Codella’s riveting, no-holds-barred memoir, resurrects the vicious streets that Davey Blue Eyes owned and tells the story of how Codella bagged the so-called Forty Thieves that surrounded Davey, slowly working his way to the head of the snake one scale at a time. With the blistering narrative spirit of The French Connection, the insights of a seasoned insider, and a relentless voice that reads like the city’s own, Alphaville is at once the story of a dedicated New York cop and of New York City itself.

©2010 Michael Codella and Bruce Bennett (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A quick, nitty-gritty, page-turning read that will leave you breathless…I highly, highly recommend this read.” (Philip Carlo, New York Times best-selling author of Ice Man)
“A balls-out cop tale from the bad old days of New York City. Watch your back in Alphaville.” (Tom Folsom, New York Times best-selling author of The Mad Ones)
“Addictive, brilliant, and compelling. A staggeringly well-written true-life drama, which had me breathless from the first page to the last. Stunning!” (R. J. Ellory, author of A Quiet Belief in Angels)

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What listeners say about Alphaville

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Excellent book!

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book. I love NYC based stories and this one really portrayed the reality of the 80's in the LES. Great narration as well.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

New York City the way it was.

If you grow up in NYC in the 80's this book is for you. Having been friends with people in the lower letters - theses two cops were well known back in the day, what ever side you were on. Excellent story.

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5 people found this helpful

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best book for the old Lower

love everything about it. its worth reading.
enjoyed and might read again... you should too

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A walk down memory lane

At first I thought this cop would white wash the conditions that crest the h trade in the 70 and 80s. He didn’t. He did it a measure of justice. I didn’t spend much time in alphabet city. I spent most of mine in Williamsburg the Bronx Bushwick and Spanish Harlem. But this book did address the neighborhoods and people the the city state and federal government saw as disposable. It’s a miracle I made it out alive.

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2 people found this helpful

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Non-stop Action

Love this book from start to finish. The author delivered a brilliant story and the storyteller was perfect.

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2 people found this helpful

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Great story!

Great story and great narrator. Really gave good insight into the work of police and citizens during the heroine era in NYC public housing.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Hooray Cops Book

I wasn’t impressed with this book at all, who knows if even half is true and reeks of fiction. Way over detailed.

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Great read gunna listen a second time

Very well told story through the eyes for a man who never let the bad get to him def. Gunna read a second time

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Bland

I just couldn't get into it, very dry and read a little too fast for me. My mind kept wondering and I just could not pull myself back. I am a little confused as to what is real and what is not. I like true crime, but this seems to be a mixed of both. It just isn't for me.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic - A Story that includes background on how we think.

Without preaching or even mentioning it this story is told in the way to enlighten the “average” public on how an addict/alcoholic or the downtrodden makes decisions for a reason the average person would never know.

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