Alphaville
1988, Crime, Punishment, and the Battle for New York City’s Lower East Side

Quotes

“A balls-out cop tale from the bad old days of New York City. Watch your back in Alphaville.” Tom Folsom, New York Times bestselling author of The Mad Ones

“Alphaville is a quick, nitty-gritty, page-turning read that will leave you breathless.  Through the eyes of former undercover cop Mike Codella we are given a bird’s-eye view into one of the most dangerous neighborhoods anywhere in the world—Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Though the book is a true account, its characters are so colorful and vivid it reads more like a well-paced novel. I highly, highly recommend this read.” Philip Carlo, New York Times bestselling author of Ice Man

“Nerve-shreddingly real. 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

“Alphaville is the real deal.” T. J. English, New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne and The Westies

“Keith Szarabajka’s performance is admirable: he balances the straight first-person narrative with rich vocal characterization while easily shifting into the more straightforward historical aspects of the book such as the history of heroin or city planning. He takes some effective liberties with the dialogue, ratcheting up the intensity and sometimes even the strength of an accent, which provides added authenticity and drama” Publishers Weekly audio review

“Written in a hyper-noir style reminiscent of Richard Price and George Pelecanos, this memoir features all the stuff of an excellent police procedural complete with drug gang rivalries, beatings, killings, and endless dealer collars and convictions. Raw, bloody, and very real, Codella’s book is a historical snapshot of what was one of Gotham’s most dangerous neighborhoods and the men who brought order to its frightening mayhem.” Publishers Weekly

“Narrator Keith Szarabajka provides Codella’s story with streetwise New York accents and Puerto Rican-accented English. In delivering the story’s noir style, he excels at depicting the gang members, drug dealers, and other low-lifes the author specialized in putting out of business. Without Szarabajka’s narration, one imagines that the trip into the danger and occasional comedy of such a terrible place would be far less entertaining. Codella doesn’t paints himself as an angel—nor does he talk like one—but he seems like he wears a badge you’d want in your neighborhood.” AudioFile

“Codella secures justice of a sort in this taut true-crime tale…Genuinely exciting.” Kirkus Reviews