John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award Finalist for Best First Crime Novel

Former drug dealer Monty Brogan's time is running out. In twenty-four hours he leaves New York City to begin seven years at Otisville Federal Penitentiary. Tonight is a time for good-byes — and one last chance to enjoy the noise, the lights, and the "sway" that opened doors of the town's hottest nightspots and guaranteed him courtside seats at Madison Square Garden. His girlfriend is by his side. So are his two closest friends — a Wall Street bond trader and an idealistic teacher. The lives they all knew are ending here tonight in the false glitter of Manhattan's Ecstasy-fueled club scene — and in the shadow of the Russian mob. But Monty Brogan's got something planned before the twenty-fifth hour rolls around. Because while he's still running free, there are always choices. None of them are easy. And none of them are good.

This acclaimed debut novel is now a major motion picture from Touchstone Pictures, starring Edward Norton and directed by Spike Lee.

"[A] spellbinding portrait....Brilliantly conceived, this gripping crime drama boasts dead-on dialogue, chiaroscuro portraits of New York's social strata and an inescapable crescendo of tension." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"What makes Benioff's take on this tale so special is his deep trust in the ordinariness of it all, and the persistence of his supporting cast in thinking, as even your best friends will, that this night is all about them." Kirkus Reviews

"[An] absorbing debut novel....Monty is such a likable character that he practically subverts the theme of 'crime doesn't pay'....The ending's got a nice twist to it, and the double surprise here is the way in which it is delivered." Frank Caso, Booklist

"Terrifically tense...beautifully black-humored....[A]chieves both pathos and excitement. (Grade: A-)" Entertainment Weekly

"[An] acerbically captivating first novel....Mr. Benioff creates a pungent, funny urban tableau full of shrewd operators and unfulfilled desires. He gives this slim, engaging book a colorful range." Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"As a novel, The 25th Hour shines. It couldn't get much better." The San Francisco Chronicle

"As unusual as it is well wrought; it resonates with a Whitmanesque sense of the city's possibilities and unsatisfied longings." The New Yorker

"Exciting....Intriguing." Chicago Tribune

"Remarkable....A darkly human novel that ends up more about hope than about cynicism." The Denver Post

"The 25th Hour is the kind of tough, honest, young-in-New York novel you're always looking for but seldom seem to find. A story that will engage your mind and trigger your pulse from beginning to end." George Pelacanos, author of Shame the Devil

"A riveting account of neither crime nor punishment, but the hellish, temporary suspension between those two worlds. This book is at once brutal and beautiful. I could not put it down." Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto

David Benioff has written articles and stories for GQ, Seventeen, and Zoetrope, and anthologies that include The Ex-Files and Best New American Voices 2000. He also wrote the screenplay adaptation of The 25th hour.