A winding tale of suspicion and intrigue, George V. Higgins skillfully recounts the story of elusive Short Joey Mossi. When detective sergeant Harry Dell'Appa went into enforced exile in the Berkshires to put an end to an ill-fated office romance, he didn't expect to be called back to Boston so soon. But desperate times...so the saying goes, and head detective Brian Dennison is keen for Short Joey Mossi, a suspected mob exterminator, to be arrested once and for all. Dell'Appa is called in to assist detective Bob Brennan, an old rival of his, who despite knowing all there is to know about Mossi, has never apprehended him. The plot thickens and Dell'Appa learns time and time again of the primacy of Bomber's Law: they always "do it for the money". In Bomber's Law, Higgins operates on a captivating policy of "partial disclosure", leaving the reader to piece together the plot, morsel by morsel.

The classic novel from "America's best crime novelist" (Time), with a new introduction by Dennis LehaneGeorge V. Higgins's seminal crime novel is a down-and-dirty tale of thieves, mobsters, and cops on the mean streets of Boston. When small-time gunrunner Eddie Coyle is convicted on a felony, he's looking at three years in the pen--that is, unless he sells out one of his big-fish clients to the DA. But which of the many hoods, gunmen, and executioners whom he calls his friends should he send up the river? Told almost entirely in crackling dialogue by a vivid cast of lowlifes and detectives, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is one of the greatest crime novels ever written.Amazon.com ReviewGeorge V. Higgins's first novel is like a blast of Atlantic air; the Boston prosecutor virtually reinvents the language of the crime novel with his unique ability to breathe life into the dialogue of the smalltime hoodlum and hustler. Trying to pull off one final score, career crook Eddie Coyle finds himself squeezed out of shape by the people above and below him. The explosive conclusion is inevitable yet fascinating. Review“Rings true as a police siren.”—*The Boston Globe*“The best crime novel ever written--makes The Maltese Falcon read like Nancy Drew.”—Elmore Leonard“Chilling . . . The most penetrating glimpse yet into what seems the real world of crime. . . . Positively reeking with authenticity.”—*The New York Times Book Review*“Truly a bravura performance. Higgins is a master of colorful street language heard around Boston. Throughout the novel, without quaintness or self-parody, he is able to sustain long arias of criminal shoptalk. . . . A sophisticated thriller.”—Time“First-rate, absolutely convincing, enormously readable.”—*The Christian Science Monitor*“Simultaneously a brilliant thriller and a cold and convincing business prospectus of felony--a profession that traps both sides, gunmen and policemen, into ceaseless compulsory degardations.”—The New Yorker“The most powerful and frightening crime novel that I have read this year. It will be remembered long after the year is over, as marking the debut of a fine original talent.”—Ross Macdonald“The first thing to know about George V. Higgins’ The Friends of Eddie Coyle is that it directly entered the crime-fiction canon upon its 1970 publication. The second thing to know is that it holds up as both a writer’s-writer thriller and as popular pulp, with Dennis Lehane introducing Picador’s new 40th-anniversary reissue of the novel by heralding it as ‘the game-changing crime novel of the last fifty years’—a moderate claim compared to that of Elmore Leonard, who hails it as the best crime novel period.” —Troy Patterson, SLATE“Weighed and calibrated like the barrel of a pistol. The fact that he's writing about crooks is crucial in some ways, incidental in others. The real subjects here are life's futility and its bleak humor... Elmore Leonard learned from this novel, likewise David Mamet and of course Quentin Tarantino, who saw the narrative virtue in marrying violence to comedies of manners.... Higgins took the tough-guy novel into areas of demented anthropology and re-created a genre.” —Richard Rayner, Los Angeles Times

The characters truly speak for themselves in George V. Higgins' chilling tour de force about deceit, blackmail and the importance of paying one's dues. Ultimate recidivist Earl Beale has learnt little from his early release from jail and narrow escape from being drafted, seemingly nothing can cure him of his criminal ways. Obsessed by money, and with a keen eye for scheming, he's the kind of car salesman no one can trust. When suddenly some unfinished business from his past catches up with him, it's dubitable whether he's going to successfully extricate himself from this one. A witty yet stinging tale of the dangers of putting money and self-interest above everything else, Trust is about a man with no scruples.

Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Brad PittJackie Cogan is an enforcer for the mob. When a high-stakes card game is heisted by unknown hoodlums, Cogan is called in to “handle” the problem. Moving expertly and ruthlessly among a variety of criminal hacks, hangers-on, and bigger-time crooks—a classic cast of misfits animated by Higgins’s hilarious, cracklingly authentic dialogue—Cogan gets to the root of the problem and, with five consecutive shots from a Smith & Wesson thirty-eight Police Special, restores order to his corner of the underworld.

A riveting, blistering novel about the shady side of the law and the business side of the Boston underworld by the one and only George V. Higgins.Jerry Fein is a small-time lawyer, occasional booking agent, and full-time slumlord. But he's nobody's fool. So when the tenants of his dilapidated buildings refuse to pay rent because of rats, Jerry knows just the man to help him--Leo Proctor, a professional arsonist, who can make a fire marshal look the other way for a little cash. But the heat is on over at the police station as well, and a couple of cops are suddenly feeling pressure from their superiors to produce tangible results, and something has got to give. Full of showboating politicians, hardnosed cops, and lawyers a little too familiar with both sides of the law, The Rat on Fire is another Higgins masterpiece and an unflinching portrait of the Boston crime world.

In his final novel George V. Higgins provides us with yet another searing and enthralling dissection of the Boston underworld. Arthur McKeach and Nick Cistaro are notorious, especially to the Boston police department. Their reputations precede them as orchestrators of extortion, theft, fraud, bribery, assault and even murder. But for thirty two years, both have managed to elude the authorities. A profitable "arrangement" with the FBI, negotiated some thirty years previously, has kept them comfortably unindicted and free to monopolize Boston's crime scene for all too long. In this thrilling, fast-paced George V. Higgins classic, the intricate channels of crime and American law enforcement turn out to be inextricably and precariously linked. Inspired by a true story, At End of Day frames a vivid and timelessly authentic narrative that has implications far beyond its pages.

Review“Higgins deserves to stand in the company of the likes of Chandler and Hammett as one of the true innovators in crime fiction.” —Scott Turow"Higgins can plot a whole book like one long chase scene. He can write dialogue so authentic it spits." —Life"The Balzac of the Boston underworld. ... Higgins is almost uniquely blessed with a gift for voices, each of them ... as distinctive as a fingerprint."—The New Yorker“One of the great crime writers of the twentieth century.” —Kansas City Star“Higgins writes about the world of crime with an authenticity that is unmatched.” --The Washington Post “A uniquely gifted writer . . . who does at least as well by the Hogarthian Boston he knows as Raymond Chandler once did for Southern California.” —The New York Times "Superb. . . Higgins is a complete novelist. His work will be read when the work of competing writers has been forgotten."—Chicago Daily News"Brilliant. . . Higgins is a master stylist."--New York Post“George V. Higgins’s mastery of the patois of the Boston criminal class is legendary.” —San Jose Mercury NewsFrom the Trade Paperback edition.Product DescriptionA hard-hitting, tour de force tale of the mob and the man who makes sure their rules are the only rules, by the American master of crime George V. Higgins. Jackie Cogan is an enforcer, and when the mob's rules get broken, Cogan is called in to take care of business. This time a high-stakes card game has been held up by an unknown gang of thugs. Calculating, ruthless, businesslike, and with a shrewd sense of other people's weaknesses, Cogan plies his trade, moving among a variety of hoods, hangers-on, and big-timers, tracking those responsible, and returning "law and order" to the lawless Boston underworld. Combining remarkable wit, crackling dialogue, and a singular ability to show criminal life as it is lived, George V. Higgins builds an incredible story of crime to an unforgettable climax.

Fast-talking, hard-living politicians, priests, smugglers and thieves play the game of the Boston streets in George V. Higgins' The Patriot Game. Federal agent Pete Riordan is as tough as they come; he's six-foot-four with a bad knee and a mean temper, but his commitment to his job is beyond exemplary. When he is called upon to find the man delivering arms to the I.R.A. he takes to with gusto. Little did he know it'd be such a guessing game; bar proprietor Digger Doherty is rumored to have leads, and convicted killer Mikey-Magro serving time in Walpole certainly knows more than he lets on. But no one is coming forward and time is running out, and why is Mikey-Magro being released from jail prematurely anyway? Teeming with unlikely characters and fiery dialogue that propel the plot to break-neck speed, The Patriot Game is nothing short of a George V. Higgins masterpiece.