“With all the dexterity of Thomas Perry, Lange walks the thin line between caper novel and blood-splattered noir, leading up to a rip-roaring finale. This fine piece of tragicomic crime fiction sets up like a stand-alone, but we’d sure like to see more.” —Booklist

“If Elmore Leonard and Dennis Cooper collaborated on a novel, they might produce something as exciting, harrowing and emotionally powerful as The Smack. . . . The Smack arrives like a genuine miracle—that rare thriller that will jack your pulse even as it breaks your heart.” —Adam Sternbergh, author of Shovel Ready

“The characters are real and satisfying, the relationships will warm your heart and break it at the same time. The Smack is convincing, hectic and terrific fun.” —Joe Ide, author of IQ

“The Smack is much more than a crime novel. It is a novel about life itself.  . . . Lange’s sensitivity and pacing are reminiscent of Raymond Carver, Charles Willeford, and Jim Thompson.” —Gerald Petievich, author of To Live and Die in L.A. and The Sentinel

“The Smack just might be Mr. Lange’s best yet, and that’s saying something. His Los Angeles tableau of concrete and graffiti and neon is as sharp as razor wire. The characters are authentic down to the bone, the dialogue pitch-perfect believable, the desperation palpable, the situation urgent, the story riveting.” —Tom Cooper, author of The Marauders