Synopses & Reviews
5 important lessons you can learn by reading
Bust:
1. When you hire someone to kill your wife, don't hire a psychopath.
2. Drano is not the best tool for getting rid of a dead body.
3. Those locks on hotel room doors? Not very secure.
4. A curly blond wig isn't much of a disguise.
5. Secrets can kill.
Review
"For those who like the bungling-criminal genre, this is good fun. Those who prefer to empathize won't like it as much. But it's only a diversion for fans of either writer: like an all-star jam, this one isn't quite equal to the sum of its talent." Booklist
Review
"[A] terse, sometimes brutal, often funny caper....This first-time collaboration between Irish hard-boiler Ken Bruen and Brooklyn noirist Jason Starr reads seamlessly and mercilessly. (Grade: A-)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"Two of the century's best thriller writers have joined forces to bring a postmodern twist to the black heart of noir fiction." Rocky Mountain News
Review
"A really black comedy...I pretty much laughed my ass off." Sarah Weinman, author of Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
Review
"Really good...very violent and very funny." Jenny Davidson, author of Light Reading
Review
"The prose reads like a dream. Fast paced and bursting with energy." Crime Scene Scotland
Review
"If Quentin Tarantino is looking for another movie project, this novel with its mix of shocking violence and black comedy would be the perfect candidate. Highly recommended as a terrific summer read." Library Journal
About the Author
The Galway, Ireland-born author of more than a dozen extremely dark crime novels, Ken Bruen was nominated for nearly every major award in the mystery field (and won the Shamus Award) for his book
The Guards, the first in his series about Jack Taylor and his first book to be published in the United States. In addition to his work as a novelist, Bruen has a Ph.D. in metaphysics and spent 25 years as a teacher in Africa, Japan, Southeast Asia, and South America.
The author of the first original novel ever published in the prestigious Vintage/Black Lizard line (Hard Feelings), Jason Starr has won raves for his work from publications ranging from the New York Times to Entertainment Weekly, which compared him to Jim Thompson and James M. Cain. In 2004, he received the Barry Award for his novel Tough Luck, and in 2005 he won the Anthony Award for Twisted City. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Starr now makes his home in Manhattan with his wife and daughter.