“Stella has crafted a true page-turner … Agnes is a flawed heroine, a refreshing change from too many lesser novels, and Stella remains a master of creating complex and believable characters. Stella has quickly become one of crime fiction's leading lights, and this latest effort will burnish that well-deserved reputation. A great book.”

—Library Journal *Starred* Review

“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, Stella earns a place among the most readable writers in crime fiction." – Kirkus *Starred* Review

"Stella loves his people, the bad no less than the good, which is why you will too." – Kirkus Reviews

A Mystery Book of the Year 2003 Selection – Publishers Weekly

"For his third brilliant crime novel ...Stella's dialogue is electric and funny...This outing Stella offers us quite a few sympathetic characters, from Charlie and the cocktail waitress he's falling for, to strong-arm men Francone and Lano. You actually feel sorry for the poor New York Mafioso, dropped in Las Vegas like sharks flipped into a pool of piranhas."

– Publishers Weekly *Starred* Review

"Fresh, fast anddarkly-funny. A sure-footed debut from a writer with a spare, no-nonsense prose style who can make you like characters you think you shouldn't." – Kirkus *Starred* Review