Michael Walsh Books In Order

Hostile Intent

It starts with the most horrific act of terrorism ever committed on American soil. Only one man can stop them. Code named Devlin, he exists only in the blackest shadows of the United States government operating off the grid as the NSA’s top agent. He’s their most lethal weapon…
and their most secret. But someone is trying to draw him out into the open by putting America’s citizens in the crosshairs until they get what they want.

Early Warning

The NSA’s most lethal weapon is back. Code named Devlin, he operates in the darkest recesses of the US government. When international cyber terrorists allow a deadly and cunning band of radical insurgents to breach the highest levels of national security, Devlin must take down an enemy bent on destroying America an enemy more violent and ruthless than the world has ever known.

Exchange Alley

In the Ramapo Mountains of New York, the nude and mutilated body of a white John Doe is discovered in a car with diplomatic plates. When quick tempered NYPD Detective Francis X. Byrne finds a photograph of his own mother on the victim, he is soon enmeshed in an investigation that takes him into the seedy underworld of urban darkness to uncover a deadly global conspiracy of double agents and false identities. Simultaneous hardcover release from Warner Books. 2 cassettes.

As Time Goes By

You know what happens right after Casablanca’s Rick Blaine Humphrey Bogart walks off with Capt. Louis Renault Claude Rains into the mist?This novel. Walsh, a former crime reporter and Time magazine music critic, can’t equal the beautiful relationships in the classic film, but he does give us a clever takeoff on the tale, with less romance but much more action. As Time Goes By is both a prequel and a sequel, fleshing out Rick’s mysterious life by flashing back to his 1930s New York gangland past and taking us with him, Ilsa, and Sam the piano man as they plot to kill Reinhard Heydrich, the Hangman of Prague. Rick Blaine started out as Yitzik Baline, who learned to shoot in the booze fueled underworld of Tick Tock Shapiro and Dion O’Hanlon. A fracas that made Walter Winchell’s column explains why Rick wound up in the Casablanca gin joint. Ilsa undertakes to seduce Heydrich chastely, if at all possible and set him up for the kill. He was the only top Na*zi the Allies bumped off. Filled with real history and deductions from the flick, Walsh’s book is much smarter than Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, but purists will prefer to revisit the 50th anniversary video edition of the film, or read the excellent making of book Round Up the Usual Suspects. If you crave more heresy, check out As Time Goes By, a novel by Humphrey Bogart’s son. Tim Appelo

And All The Saints

No crime figure of our time influenced the course of modern American culture the way Owen Madden did. Starting as the leader of the Gophers, the most violent Irish street gang in Hell’s Kitchen, the immigrant Madden rose to prominence as the leading brewer and bootlegger in Prohibition New York. In due course, he also became Mae West’s lover, the founder and proprietor of the Cotton Club, the owner of five heavyweight champions of the world, the man who gave his childhood friend George Raft his big break in Hollywood, and more. Now, Michael Walsh has created a fictionalized memoir that uses Madden’s voice to trace his life from his boyhood in England to his heyday in New York and beyond in one of the most colorful and engrossing books of the season.

Carnegie Hall (With: Richard Schickel)

The first fully illustrated history of Carnegie Hall, published to coincide with its 100th anniversary, documents the central role of Carnegie Hall in the cultural life of America. 350 illustrations, more than 50 in full color.

Who’s Afraid of Classical Music?

Time magazine music critic Michael Walsh has created for the mellowing rock ‘n roll generation a complete and totally irreverent guide to listening to, collecting and enjoying classical music.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

A critical biography of Andrew Lloyd Webber, hailed by some for his innovations and melodic extravagance and denounced by others for creating ‘schlock operas’ relying on spectacle more than musical virtuosity. Photographs of the shows and sketches for costume designs and sets are included.

Lvov Ghetto Diary (As: David Kahane)

Originally published in Hebrew, this memoir bears witness to the systematic destruction of some 135,000 Jews in the Ukranian city of Lvov during the Holocaust. The author, a rabbi, escaped death because he was hidden by the Ukranian archbishop of the Uniate Catholic Church. His wife and young daughter were also given refuge, separately, in Catholic convents. The memoir covers the period from July 1, 1941, when the Germans occupied Lvov, to July 27, 1944, when the city was liberated. In the first part of the book, the author is living in the Jewish ghetto under increasingly dire circumstances; in the second part, he is imprisoned in a forced labour camp; and in the third part, following his escape, he is hiding under the protection of Metropolitan Sheptytskyi. Kahane tells his story with great sensitivity and raises many important moral questions. He documents not only the unforgivable behaviour of the Na*zis and of many Ukranians, but also the humane efforts of some Ukranians, particularly those in the Church, to shelter Jews from harm. Kahane’s account of his hiding, his discussion of Ukranian Jewish relations, his conversations with Shepmonks and nuns, of their humanity and their cool and efficient manner in the face of mortal danger to themselves during the German searches for hidden Jews, all form an important addition to the theme of the ‘righteous Gentiles’ in the literature of the Holocaust.

Who’s Afraid of Opera?

Opera is very much in the public eye and ear. Here is a lively and readable guide to this inspiring branch of classical music for anyone who has already discovered the joy of opera and anyone who would like to.

So When Does the Fat Lady Sing?

Rules for Radical Conservatives (As: David Kahane)

Are you a frustrated conservative shocked by the bunch of far Left fanatics driving the bus and our future off a cliff? It’s time to fight back with the same ruthlessness that has served the radicals so well not just now, but for the long term. And who better to reveal their strategies and their fatal weaknesses than one of their own? Playing on his all too typical hubris and good old greed, we ve recruited well known liberal apparatchik David Kahane to lead conservatives out of the political wilderness, whether he means to or not. Is he arrogant and obnoxious? Absolutely. Does he deliver the goods? You betcha. We ll let Dave speak for himself: Please allow me to introduce myself…
. My name is David and I m going to share some secrets. I m going to take you into the smoke free back rooms of today s progressive political machine to reveal how it really operates and how you can bring it down. I ll lay out the rules we radicals have used to run circles around you, and clue you in on how to make them work for you, too. How do I know this stuff? As the son of the sainted Che Kahane, I ve been schooled in the art of seizing and holding political power as we transform America one antiquated tradition and constitutional clause at a time. Now I work in Hollywood, where I ve perfected the game pioneered by such pros as Machiavelli, Saul Alinsky, and Al Capone, father of the immortal Chicago Way. Read on and learn from our time tested techniques: Know your enemy, his intentions, his weapons, and his weaknesses. You too can play relentless, on message hardball with every scandal, hypocrisy, lie, and fundamentally flawed policy your adversaries dish up. Become what you behold. Adopt some of our scorched earth tactics, best described in David Mamet s Untouchables: They pull a knife, you pull a gun. Take no prisoners. Attack our premises, expose their true nature and consequences, and pin them on us, hard. Never cede anything to the other side, philosophically speaking. Force the Left to argue facts, not emotions. We hate that. Treat us with the same respect we give you. None. It is better to be feared than liked, especially by your enemies. And it helps to show up for the fight. Note to past and future Republican candidates. Why am I telling you all this? Because I thrive on making trouble and, frankly, because I m proud of what my team has done. Between us, I don t think it matters if I turn over our playbook to you at this late date. I don t think you can get it together to stop us now. Plus, I got a lot of money. Happy reading, America! You think you can take us down? Go for it. I dare you.