New York, 1799.  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...

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. Justy Flanagan, lawyer, soldier, policeman, has returned to his native city, bloodied and battered after fighting in the Irish Rebellion against the English. Determined to hunt down the man who murdered his father, his inquiries lead him to Wall Street and the fledgling stock market there. But as his investigations into the past move ahead, the horrific murders of young slave women in the present start to occupy his time.

Convinced that there is a link between his father's murder, the deaths of the young women, and a massive fraud that nearly destroyed New York's economy, Justy can trust no one. As the conspiracy deepens, it becomes clear that those involved will stop at nothing to keep their secrets. Justy is forced to choose: will he betray his father's memory, compromise his integrity, and risk the lives of his closest friends, to get to the bottom of a tale so dangerous, it could change the landscape of America forever?

PADDY HIRSCH has worked in public radio at NPR and Marketplace as a journalist and producer for ten years. He came to journalism after serving for eight years as an officer in the British Royal Marines, and lives in Los Angeles. The author of a nonfiction book explaining economics, Man vs. Markets, The Devil's Half Mile is his fiction debut.

This event is FREE.  Let us know you're coming on Facebook. 

600 H St NE, Washington, DC 20002