Nominated for an Anthony Award for Best First Novel
Named a favorite read of 2015 by Crimespree Magazine
Ashley McKenna is a blunt instrument. Find someone, scare someone, carry something; point him at the job, he gets it done. He generally accepts money upon completion, though a bottle of whiskey works, too—he’s comfortable working on a barter system. It’s not the career he dreamed about (archeologist) but it keeps him comfortable in his ever-changing East Village neighborhood.
That’s until Chell, the woman he loves, leaves him a voicemail looking for help—a voicemail he gets two hours after her body is found. Ash hunts for her killer with the grace of a wrecking ball, running afoul of a drag queen crime lord and stumbling into a hard-boiled role playing game that might be connected to a hipster turf war. Along the way, he’s forced to face the memories of his tumultuous relationship with Chell, his unresolved anger over his father’s death… and the consequences of his own violent tendencies.
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“The New York of New Yorked is a place of heartbreak and murder that I highly recommend you visit.” —Josh Bazell, author of Beat the Reaper
“One part Dennis Lehane, one part Lee Child, and one part pure Rob Hart.” —Jenny Milchman, author of Cover of Snow and Ruin Falls
“With a deft eye for the dirt under its polished fingernails, Rob Hart finds the rotten core inside today’s Big Apple.” —Todd Robinson, author of The Hard Bounce and editor of Thuglit
“…the literary version of The Warriors.” —Lyndsay Faye, author of The Gods of Gotham
“… New York is a verb, and the chase is on. You won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough.” —Suzy Vitello, author of The Moment Before and The Empress Chronicles
“Clever, witty, full of attitude—but never full of itself—Rob Hart’s debut novel doesn’t waste a syllable…” —David Corbett, author of The Devil’s Redhead and Blood of Paradise
“… Like a sucker punch to the guts before you turn the first page.” —Matthew McBride, author of Frank Sinatra in a Blender and A Swollen Red Sun
“Edgy… relentless pacing and strong sense of place.” —Publishers Weekly
“There are good action scenes, nice offbeat characters, but what lingers is the swoony dialogue… Noir with a tingle of doomed but sweet romance.” —Booklist
“A masterful debut… this is a book that sticks with you.” —Crimespree Magazine
Rob Hart 