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“And so the dance along Mean Street begins, as complex as it is violent and brutal. Bobby will have to step lively to keep from paying the piper. With his fifth entertaining entry in the gangster follies (Cheapskates, 2005, etc.), Stella earns a place among the most readable writers in crime fiction." – Kirkus *Starred* Review |
Get married, have a kid – it's not much to ask. Unless you've got to first divorce the mob. And Bobby Genarro only thinks he has, in this brutal, funny, shrewd new crime novel from Charlie Stella, "who," says the Chicago Sun-Times, "may just be the best crime writer you've never read."
For three months now, ex-bookmaker Bobby G has been heading down the straight and narrow. He's got the girl – pretty, and willful, Lin Yao, a video-grapher with a black belt in karate – and he's bought the ring. He's also safely stashed away a tidy, slightly tainted retirement fund. Then his old boss, a captain with the Vignieri crime family, flips and rats on his Mafioso associates. And Bobby's past begins catching up with him.
"To get down to brass taxes," as the phrase-twisting enforcer Tommy Agro puts it, the family figures it's due, say, two percent of Bobby's take. Intelligent, combative, a bit of a smart-ass, and stubborn, Bobby resists persuasion, even when he's facing Agro's muscle, a former offensive lineman who bench-presses five hundred pounds. Soon, though, Lin Yao is facing an Irish goon freelancing for the Vignieris, and before you can say the Mott Street Shadows the wiseguys' shakedown is escalating as fast as Stella's rapid-fire dialogue into warfare with a Chinese gang in the Heart of Little Italy.
“Combine equal parts Mario Puzo and Elmore Leonard, throw in a dash of George V. Higgins and a pinch of Donald E. Westlake and who do you get? Charlie Stella, that's who. His compelling and authentic portrayal of the urban netherworld and the savages who inhabit it place his crime thrillers among the best in the genre, past or present.” — Robert Wade, San Diego Union Tribune
“Stella, a rising star in the neo-noir thriller world, renders memorable characters who are every bit as bad as those in Scorcese’s GoodFellas … This is the fifth underworld thriller for Stella (following Cheapskates, 2005), and his deft plotting, acerbic humor, and knack for street talk will delight fans of Donald Westlake and Elmore Leonard, whose patter-happy bad guys remain the genre’s gold standard.” – Booklist Boxed *Starred* Review
"Charlie Stella's Shakedown (Pegasus Books), the latest novel from the man who has succeeded Elmore Leonard and George V. Higgins as the master of the underworld thriller … Stella understands street-level crime and criminals better than anyone else currently writing in the genre, and that knowledge propels his always-enjoyable stories to the top of the heap. Combine that with his keen literary talent and you've got one of crime fiction's unsung masters." – David Montgomery (Chicago Sun-Times)
"In this smoothly compact and often funny crime thriller ... Stella moves like a king cat through his usual New York-New Jersey Mafia milieu ... Fans of the leaner, meaner novels of Elmore Leonard from 20 years ago have great reading waiting in every new Stella." – Publishers Weekly
"As with his other books, this one follows a winning pattern: a good guy trying to do the right think, wiseguys out for themselves and their crew, a good cop and a bad cop. Never having been to NYC for more than a flight transfer, the descriptions of NYC made unknown locales pop in my mind’s eye. And don’t forget the dialogue that grabs you by the throat and drags you into Gennaro’s world. And as always, I fail miserably trying to describe Stella's intricate plotting." – East Coast Don (Men Reading Books)
“In SHAKEDOWN, Charlie Stella gives crime fans a taut little mob novel, packed with great characters and some terrific action … I’m just telling you right now: Put down the remote and grab SHAKEDOWN. For my money, it’s the best modern mob novel going.” – Bruce Grossman (Bookgasm)
"If only Jimmy Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, George Raft and Humphrey Bogart were alive today. They’d give their eye teeth to star in a Charlie Stella movie … Stella’s dialogue is so good it might have been tape recorded on the streets of Little Italy. For sure it will make the silver screen. As for the setting, every page was a trip along the streets of the Big Apple. A travel brochure could not have captured the atmosphere half as well. Cheaper than buying a ticket to New York and probably more fun." — Ron Ellis (I love a mystery.com)
"Extensive use of snappy dialog and caustic humor will resonate with fans of Elmore Leonard. Recommended for most crime fiction collections." – Library Journal
"Charlie Stella could very easily be the new king of mob crime novels. Great pacing and wonderful dialogue keep this book hauling ass to a spectacular climax. Stella flat out Rocks. And when you go to buy this book, you might as well get the rest of his books right away, because one won’t be enough, you’re going to be hooked." — Jon Jordan, Crime Spree
Fast, funny and violent, Shakedown is crime fiction at its very best, recalling the work of masters like Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake. An instinctive storyteller, Stella combines the humorous and the horrifying to great effect. The Little Italy he evokes lives and breathes, providing a realistic backdrop to the trials and tribulations of his very human cast, all of whom are very carefully drawn. Stella's cops and criminals are real people struggling with outsize problems, making for "arresting" reading. - Hank Wagner, Mystery Scene Magazine
"… no one captures the true spirit of modern mobsters better than Charlie Stella, the best dialogue man currently working the crime fiction beat … Stella's latest release, Shakedown, is one of his most entertaining yet. We've already said that Stella reads like Elmore Leonard writing an episode of the Sopranos … Charlie Stella is one of the best modern American crime writers and if you want proof of that, just grab a copy of Shakedown, sit back and enjoy." —Crime Scene Scotland
“Stella is a winner, a true artist.” – Ken Bruen
"Shakedown is a mob world thriller by a rising hardboiled US star. Chinese gangs in Little Italy add to the murky mix." – Murder One (Europe)
“Check out a new mystery to begin summer leisure reading. Shakedown, the tale of a retired bookie who is determined to leave his mafia life behind, is getting starred reviews. Author Charlie Stella’s deft plotting, acerbic humor and knack for street talk will delight fans of Elmore Leonard.” — The Director's Pick, The Cuba Circulating Library
"Check out Charlie Stella's new novel, Shakedown (Pegasus Books, $24.00) for a new jolt of Mafia crime and vengeance ... Stella writes lean and obscene, like Mario Puzo, and there are some chuckles along the way." — The Cleveland Plain Deale