Crumley in scintillating form: an anarchic, savagely violent and brilliantly written lament for a vanishing past Evening Standard James Crumley is the king of hard-boiled noir, credited with inspiring the next generation of crime writers including Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly and best known for his two private detectives, Milo Milodragovitch and C. W. Sughrue. He brought them together for one wild, pulse-pounding ride. This is that story.Someone shot Sughrue and left him for dead, and someone stole Milo s $3million inheritance. And they re not the kind of men to let it go. They ve joined forces in El Paso and they re set for a wild ride across America. They re out for revenge No one in American crime fiction writes sharper, more authentic dialogue, nor more exciting action, nor, beneath the tough fa ade, has a greater feel for the values and mores that really matter The Times