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One of Whitehead’s most purely entertaining novels. A vivid and propulsive series of vignettes of small time crooks, strivers and titans of industry, all beautifully evoking New York in the 50s and 60s.

In addition to the usual good stuff that Leonard was so skilled at - great dialogue, fun and vibrant characters, relentlessly cool mood - it boasts a very neat accidental Yojimbo plot in which a cop trying to investigate a friend’s death tricks a local crime ring into tearing itself apart by mistake.

Did not realize this was a sequel to an earlier book, but all the references to that book actually felt more like colorful details fleshing out the character as a result. Typically great crime novel with fun, vivid characters and diamond-cut dialogue. I always appreciate how much humanity Leonard manages to imbue even the most minor characters with, and how he manages to make villains feel both scary and pathetic.