- Hardcover
- Publisher: Harcourt Trade Publishers (1 May 2000)
- ISBN-10: 015100532X
- ISBN-13: 978-0151005321
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,546,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"At End of Day is a return to the form that made Higgins famous: the crime story, a tale of villains and compromised good guys. . . . It's a sin and a shame that George V. Higgins never won the Pulitzer Prize."
-"Seattle Times"
"The last novel of the late George V. Higgins shows no hint of failing skill or mellowing temper. The dialouge is as raffishly eloquent as ever, the action as disconcerting to the lawfully minded, and the author's underlying attitude what it has regularly been - a plague on all your houses."
-"Atlantic Monthly"
"All the famous ingredients are present - the pitch-perfect dialouge, the shaggy-dog monlogues, the lively mugs. . . . Always readable, always entertaining, the lowlife's Boswell - no one else was ever quite like him."
-"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"At End of Day is a terrific and topical book that takes off from headlines . . . a return to the criminal milieu of The Friends of Eddie Coyle."
-"The Boston Globe"
starv --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
-"Seattle Times"
"The last novel of the late George V. Higgins shows no hint of failing skill or mellowing temper. The dialouge is as raffishly eloquent as ever, the action as disconcerting to the lawfully minded, and the author's underlying attitude what it has regularly been - a plague on all your houses."
-"Atlantic Monthly"
"All the famous ingredients are present - the pitch-perfect dialouge, the shaggy-dog monlogues, the lively mugs. . . . Always readable, always entertaining, the lowlife's Boswell - no one else was ever quite like him."
-"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"At End of Day is a terrific and topical book that takes off from headlines . . . a return to the criminal milieu of The Friends of Eddie Coyle."
-"The Boston Globe"
starv --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Every cop knows that Arthur McKeach and Nick Cistaro are the most prolific and ruthless practitioners of extortion, fraud, theft, bribery, assault, and murder in the Northeast. What they don't know is how to stop these Michelangelos of crime, who for thirty years have eluded jail-and even arrest. Their secret is at the heart of George Higgins's most searing and shocking dissection of the criminal life yet. At End of Day lays bare not only the inner workings of a criminal empire, but also reveals the corruption at the heart of American law enforcement.
Few writers have mapped the intricate highways and byways of crime with equal vividness and elegance. With this final novel, "a return to the criminal milieu of The Friends of Eddie Coyle" (The Boston Globe), Higgins solidified his place in the forefront of novelists who write about crime in America.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Few writers have mapped the intricate highways and byways of crime with equal vividness and elegance. With this final novel, "a return to the criminal milieu of The Friends of Eddie Coyle" (The Boston Globe), Higgins solidified his place in the forefront of novelists who write about crime in America.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
"DERELICT," NAUGHTON'S KID HAD SAID to Rascob on the evening of the third Tuesday in March at the Getty station, collecting $31.50 for an oil change and two new filters he said the old grey Lincoln Town Car badly needed. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"DERELICT," NAUGHTON'S KID HAD SAID to Rascob on the evening of the third Tuesday in March at the Getty station, collecting $31.50 for an oil change and two new filters he said the old grey Lincoln Town Car badly needed. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
The Friends of Whitey Bulger
16 Sep 2002
Format:Paperback
would be an appropriate subtitle for this roman a clef wherein Whitey, Steve "the Rifleman" Flemmi, notorious FBI agent John Connally and their circle get the classic Higgins treatment. Once again the soliloquies are the star attraction, full of Higginsian rifts and rants, ribald, vulgar, always shrewd and sometimes wise, but always lush of language, on the thousand and one shocks that make getting through the day such an difficult and unrewarding task. While its true all the characters talk in the same patois (even the woman talk out of the side of their mouths) you grant Higgins the indulgence so absorbing are these blue collar monologues. Updike speaking through the mouth of Rabbit is the closest comparison I can think of.
Sadly, this was Higgins valediction, so it is appropriate that it is such a Boston story; for nobody delineated the world of hoodlum Beantown these last thirty years like George V. Higgins. Like all the best, he created a world, and for all the sordidness and cynicism animating it, it was not without its charms: in his wonderful novels the pen does prove mightier than the sawed-off shotgun.
Sadly, this was Higgins valediction, so it is appropriate that it is such a Boston story; for nobody delineated the world of hoodlum Beantown these last thirty years like George V. Higgins. Like all the best, he created a world, and for all the sordidness and cynicism animating it, it was not without its charms: in his wonderful novels the pen does prove mightier than the sawed-off shotgun.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Hard to believe this is his last
9 Sep 2000
Format:Hardcover
The books of George V. Higgins are, I suspect, an acquired taste. They are considered by many readers to be too difficult because there is no straight forward narration and because so much of the books are made up of dialogue - or more often, long monologues. The plot emerges slowly from what the characters say. A reader who is in a hurry to be engaged in the story is likely to be disappointed. But for those who have grown to love Higgins's ear for vernacular and the peculiarities of ordinary speech, all of his books are treasures that can be savored slowly for the richness of the language alone.
At End of Day is the story of an unholy alliance between two members of the Boston mob and a select group of FBI agents whose careers have been made successful through information these mobsters have provided about their Mafia counterparts. The FBI, in turn, has protected these men from prosecution which has allowed them to even commit murder with impunity (though this is "against the rules"). This tale is all the more interesting because it is based on a true story.
It is a shame that this is the last Higgins book we will have. He died as it was going to press. On the positive side, he wrote so many books during his career that fans of his style should have no trouble finding something to satisfy that acquired taste.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Gripping last work in an outstanding ouevre
6 Jan 2002
Format:Paperback
The sad death of George V Higgins means this will be his last book. It is certainly one to remember. Readers new to Higgins will at first find his style somewhat "difficult": his novels centre on the criminals, law enforcement agents and politicians (they are usually amusingly similar) of Boston, but instead of the usual descriptive narrative, the plot unfolds through the conversations of people often only tangentially concerned with its developement. Once one gets used to this digressive way of telling a story one quickly becomes engrossed in the story he is relating: in this case, the disturbingly close relationship between Boston's chief FBI agents and two leaders of organised crime in the city (apparantly based on a real case). I have to confess to being slightly disappointed with some of Higgins' most recent works (although they are still better than most "crime" fiction), but this last novel is brilliant; I know it is a cliche, but I could not put it down. One is genuinely engaged by the diverse and acutely drawn characters, though Higgins cleverly constantly reminds us that behind their apparant good-nature and charm, most of them are really either cold-blooded loan sharks who have no compunction in using extreme violence to maintain their way of life, or law enforcement officials (and their families) with a somewhat ambivalent attitude to the law they are supposed to be enforcing! As with most of Higgins' novels, I immediately went back and re-read it, and of course saw things I had missed first time: you certainly get good value out of his books. I would class this as one of his best, and it is very sad to think that there will not be any more. It is my intention to go back and read every one of this excellant author's magnificent contribution to modern American literature (and, I contend, he is far too good a writer to be "ghettoised" in 'crime fiction'.)
Readers new to George V Higgins would find "At End Of Day" a good place to start, those who know what to expect will not be at all disappointed. My advice is READ IT!
Readers new to George V Higgins would find "At End Of Day" a good place to start, those who know what to expect will not be at all disappointed. My advice is READ IT!
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
