The Blade Itself
From AwardAnnals
| Book: | The Blade Itself: A Thriller |
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| Author: | Marcus Sakey |
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| Publisher: | St. Martin's Minotaur |
Years later, Danny has built a new life: a legitimate career, a long-term girlfriend, and a clean conscience. He’s just like anyone else. Normal. Successful. Happy. Until then he spots his old partner staring him down in a smoky barroom mirror…
Now, with all he loves on the line and nowhere to turn, Danny realizes his new life hinges on a terrible choice: How far will he go to protect his future from his past?
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Reviews
Barnes and Noble
Harking back to the days of the true hard-boiled pulp masters—Carroll John Daly, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, etc.—Marcus Sakey’s stellar debut novel instantaneously puts him in league with other contemporary down-and-dirty crime fiction luminaries like Ken Bruen, Jason Starr, and Charlie Huston.
Enterprising criminals Danny Carter and Evan McGann grew up together in the same rough Chicago neighborhood, but the botched burglary attempt of a pawnshop sends their paths in opposite directions. McGann gets arrested and spends more than seven years in state prison. Carter gets away and eventually turns his life around, ending up with a respectable job in construction management and a beautiful, loving girlfriend named Karen. But when McGann is finally released, he reenters Carter’s life hell-bent for payback and forces his former best friend to revisit memories, emotions, and desires best left forgotten. Hardened into a ruthless killer from years of incarceration, McGann sadistically manipulates Carter back into the game for one last, lucrative heist by threatening not only his life but Karen’s as well. The job is to kidnap the young son of Carter’s boss and ransom him off for a cool million, but once the child is abducted, McGann initiates another plan altogether
Like the much-flawed main characters portrayed in The Blade Itself, Sakey’s hard-hitting debut is as cold-blooded as it is adrenaline-fueled—a dark crime fiction gem. Fans of the aforementioned Bruen, Starr, and Huston will be more than satisfied with this gritty Windy City thriller. Paul Goat Allen
