Slow starting but once into its stride 19 Purchase Street is a hearty tale of money laundering, greed, revenge murder and a billion dollar robbery caper. ( )

Simple thriller with an over-the-top plot about billions in mob money controlling most everything. ( )

ISBN 042506154X - I was about 75 pages in before I actually cared whether or not I forgot the book on a bus - slow starter, a little meandering, but after that, it picked up. It was a little ironic to me that I was reading this book as the Roberto Calvi murder story was making news, and even more ironic that Calvi was murdered in 1982, the same year this book is copyrighted. Calvi's a lot like Gordon Winship - replace the High Board in the book with the Vatican, and Browne seems almost psychic.

Andrew and Norma Gainer were, for all the system knew, orphans - so the system tried to swallow them up. Norma, however, had different plans, and broke free of the system with her younger brother. They found themselves doing rather dubious things for money, but none of it compared to the dealings they had with the men at 19 Purchase Street. Carrying dirty money out of the country to be laundered, Norma thought she was working for the Mob and risked her life by skimming a little every time. When she paid with her life, her brother decided to get even.

He, too, thinks Norma was working for the Mafia. Indirectly, perhaps, but neither of them have a clue who the Mafia is working for. In an effort to clean large amounts of money faster, the Mafia turned to a banker, Gordon Winship, who took them to the cleaners. Soon, the Mob was working for the High Board - comprised on men of impeccable backgrounds, from wealthy families, in positions of great power in the U.S. And the High Board turned out to be far more ruthless than the made men ever expected.

The seedy, kind of small-time criminal element taking on what they think is the Mob leaves the reader cheering for one criminal element or another; there are no "good" guys to cheer for here. The way it all plays out, and some of the details Browne manages NOT to overlook (like Norma's "forgotten" ashes) make it worth reading. Of course, it's 1982. The technology is sometimes dated, and I'd bet Browne backed the wrong pony and bought a Betamax himself back in the day. A little gory, especially the murder of Norma, and if sex in your books bothers you, don't even pick this up. Mostly, though, a good read!

- AnnaLovesBooks ( )

Look at the cover of this novel. Look familiar? Look at the cover for "11 Harrowhouse" by the same author. Different, but very similar. If you read "11 Harrowhouse", substitute money laundering for the diamond trade and you have the plot for this story. The same cast of characters from "Stone 588" and "11 Harrowhouse" are here with different names as well. Same story we've read before, powered by greed and lust.

Since this the third story with almost the same plot from the same author, I'm tempted to give it only two stars, but I will admit the words flow nicely, the characters are believable and the overall effect is entertaining. There is no depth to the story nor do we really care about what happened to the characters after we are done reading. Once again, if you are on a business trip, this is a good choice to keep you company on your flight. If you are a BookCrosser, this is a good one to get and pass along for someone else to read. ( )