- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (April 28 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 031253115X
- ISBN-13: 978-0312531157
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.8 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 408 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #661,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Advance Praise for Dope Thief
“Dope Thief is first-rate literary noir, the hardest core crime novel I’ve read this year. It manages to be funny without ever descending into the trivial, and at its core it’s harrowing. An amazingly assured debut by Dennis Tafoya, a writer I know I’ll be following for years to come.”
---Scott Phillips, author of Cottonwood
“Dope Thief is one of those first novels that scream for us to pay attention to an important new voice in crime fiction. Dennis Tafoya writes a fast, quirky, and thoroughly twisted tale of corruption, heroism, and redemption that will leave its mark on you.”
---Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award--winning author of Patient Zero
Product Description
Ray and his best friend, Manny, close ever since they met in juvie almost twenty years ago, have a great scam going: With a couple of fake badges and some DEA windbreakers they found at a secondhand store, they pose as federal agents and rip off small-time drug dealers, taking their money and drugs and disappearing before anyone is the wiser. It’s the perfect sting: the dealers they target are too small to look for revenge and too guilty to call the police, nobody has to die, nobody innocent gets hurt, and Ray and Manny score plenty.
But it can’t last forever. Eventually, they choose the wrong mark and walk out with hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a heavy hitter, who is more than willing to kill to get his money back, is coming after them. Now Ray couldn’t care less about the score. He wants out---out of the scam, out of a life he feels like he never chose. Whether the victim of his latest job---not to mention his partner---will let him is another question entirely.
Dennis Tafoya brings a rich, passionate, and accomplished new voice to the explosive story of a small-time crook with everything to lose in Dope Thief, his outstanding hardboiled debut.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon Canada
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a pleasure to read!!, Nov 9 2009
By the way I see it - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dope Thief (Hardcover)
The other five-star reviewers have all made wonderful points in their assessment of this book, points that I would not have been able to make, which is the neat thing about allowing readers to write reviews (whether favorable or unfavorable). As for me, one of the most impressive aspects of Dope Thief is that I found myself truly caring about the characters, especially Ray, but also his doomed-to-the-lifestyle partner-in-crime, Manny, his step-mom, Theresa, and even his father, Bart. I can't tell you how many books I have read, even highly acclaimed ones, where I stopped halfway through as I came to realize that (1) I didn't care one bit about the characters, non even the main one(s) and (2) I didn't care how the book ended. I simply lost interest--or never had much interest to begin with--and stopped reading. That wasn't the case with Dope Thief.
Dope Thief is one that I read slowly and savored, because I sensed that I had something special in my hands. The dialogue is perfect, the plot flows smoothly, and the inner workings of Ray and his life story are wonderful. As I said, you really come to care about Ray, the hurts he has suffered, the poor choices he has made, and his attempt at redemption. And when he and Manny rip off the wrong meth-cookers/dealers, I can almost guarantee you that you will feel scared.
My only concern is that the title of the book may turn off potential readers, yet at the same time, it is a perfect title. Hopefully word of mouth will spread like wildfire so that other readers, even ones who don't typically read this genre or who may dismiss it because of the title, will be able to enjoy this wonderful book. Actually, I have one more concern, and that is for the author. How on earth will he be able to write a comparable second book when his first one is this good? I hope he will try, and I suspect that he will succeed, because he definitely has the writing chops. He is a truly gifted author and I am glad that he wrote Dope Thief. It is compelling, scary at times, very touching and tender, and always, always credible.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
exciting newcomer, May 26 2009
By parisreader - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dope Thief (Hardcover)
I never thought I'd be recommending a book about low-life (as they describe themselves) criminals who are involved in one act of bloody violence after another, but this is a brilliant novel by a new writer who is starting at the top of the form. Yes, it's hard to put down -- not simply because of the brisk and visual and even poetic writing style, but also because it has characters delineated with great delicacy and honesty. I can't wait for Tafoya's next book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the year's best books, May 9 2009
By Jon McGo - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dope Thief (Hardcover)
Dope Thief is easily one of the best books I've read this year, a remarkable combination of action and dread, brains and heart, with everything I look for in great crime fiction, and more. While the "mystery" on the cover is certainly a misnomer, there is mystery within it, as well as a great plot and characters that live and breathe and suffer and change and stay with you long after you have put the book down.
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
