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Review
the best crime novel ever written makes The Maltese Falcon read like Nancy Drew --Elmore Leonard
Simultaneously a brilliant thriller and a cold and convincing business prospectus of felony. --The New Yorker
Chilling...the most penetrating glimpse yet into what seems the real world of crime...Positively reeking with authenticity. --The New York Times Book Review
Simultaneously a brilliant thriller and a cold and convincing business prospectus of felony. --The New Yorker
Chilling...the most penetrating glimpse yet into what seems the real world of crime...Positively reeking with authenticity. --The New York Times Book Review
Product Description
Eddie Coyle is a small-time punk with a big-time problem who to sell out to avoid being sent up again. Eddie works for Jimmy Scalisi, supplying him with guns for a couple of bank jobs. But a cop named Foley is onto Eddie, and he s leaning on him to finger Scalisi, a gang leader with a lot to hide. These and others make up the bunch of hoods, gunmen, thieves, and executioners who are wheeling, dealing, chasing, and stealing in the underworld of Eddie Coyle.
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First Sentence
JACKIE BROWN at twenty-six, with no expression on his face, said that he could get some guns. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
JACKIE BROWN at twenty-six, with no expression on his face, said that he could get some guns. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
George V Higgins was a Boston lawyer who took to writing; this is his first book. In it he displays his incredibly sharp ear for the many and various patois of the region; it is so precise that I've often wondered if anybody who has not lived in the Boston area and known its many dialects could truly appreciate the way Higgins captures them. Regardless (or, as they might say in Needham, IRregaddless), there are many other qualities to appreciate: his swift characterizations, his knack for suspense, his deft portrayal of criminals at the edge of their competence and the harried cops who chase them.
If you like Elmore Leonard, you'll like Higgins; indeed, Leonard acknowledges Higgins as one of his primary influences. Later in his literary career, Higgins would occasionally get bogged down in experiments with dialogue and plot - triply nested quotations, multiple flashbacks, excessive detail - but he always remained interesting. In this book, he is at his crispest: vital, perceptive, acute. "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" is a classic that deserves to be placed alongside "The Big Sleep" and "The Maltese Falcon".
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The novel is written in dialogue, with very little narrative. This means that you have to work hard to work out the plot. Higgins does not tell you. You are immediatly plunged into the world of a smalltime Boston criminal, Eddie Coyle, as he aims to buy guns for his bank robbing friends, gather useful information to pass on to the police, and stay out of prison for a drink smuggling charge. This seems like a tall order, as he is acutely aware. Previously, Coyle has collected an "extra set of knuckles", after his "friends" shut his fingers in a drawer and kicked it shut(retribution for selling traceable guns).
What is enjoyable about this novel is the sense of eavesdropping on an amoral world. The humour is deadpan and cynical. There is a constant sense of fear and paranoia. The impression that comes through is of the high price to be paid for a life of crime, in terms of mental peace.
Set in the 1970's against a background of student radicalism and racial tension, a bleak portrait of the country emerges. If you like Elmore Leonard, read Higgins to whom he owes an acknowledged debt. The recent film, Mystic River, based on a Dennis Lehane novel and again set in Boston, shares some of the grittiness of this world. It is not an easy read, but it is a thought provoking one.
What is enjoyable about this novel is the sense of eavesdropping on an amoral world. The humour is deadpan and cynical. There is a constant sense of fear and paranoia. The impression that comes through is of the high price to be paid for a life of crime, in terms of mental peace.
Set in the 1970's against a background of student radicalism and racial tension, a bleak portrait of the country emerges. If you like Elmore Leonard, read Higgins to whom he owes an acknowledged debt. The recent film, Mystic River, based on a Dennis Lehane novel and again set in Boston, shares some of the grittiness of this world. It is not an easy read, but it is a thought provoking one.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Eddie's world is in a mess. His "friends" have smashed his hand in adesk drawer because he supplied a gun with a history to another crook;he's taken the rap for a little illciit transport of liquor, and hisattempt to turn informant to secure himself a shorter sentence seems tobe causing him at least as much trouble as his crimes did.As ever, Higgins' characters swim through the murky waters of the Bostonunderworld talking, talking, talking as they go - this is anotherclassic of dialogue and atmosphere. Short, sharp, punchy and colloquial,it's everything Higgins does best distilled into one near-perfect novel.pete
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Different
I have read a fair few crime books recently concerning the Irish American underworld and none are quite like this one. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mackey
Top Seller
I had searched everywhere for this book after reading about it on Elmore Leonards website. I haven't had chance to read the book yet but it was delivered in excellent condition. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2010 by Mr. A. P. J. Tyler
Top drawer
If you buy this get ready for an extremely stylised novel. The whole story is told in dialogue. All dialogue is stated as 'said' and there are no adverbs to help you. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2009 by Officer Dibble
Classic
A fantastic novel which set the template for Leonard thrillers and tarrantino films and is miles better than both.
Published on 2 Feb 2008 by camusscores
A modern classic of the genre
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
This is a strange book. I was curious after hearing of its legendary reputation in the crime genre, but if you're new to Higgins, the density... Read more
This is a strange book. I was curious after hearing of its legendary reputation in the crime genre, but if you're new to Higgins, the density... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2007 by A Reviewer
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