The Last Kind Words
A Novel
by Tom Piccirilli
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Pub Date Jun 12 2012 | Archive Date Sep 01 2012
Description
From
award-winning author Tom Piccirilli comes a wholly original crime novel
introducing the Rands, a vipers' nest of crooks and cons, one generation
stealing from the next. Upon the razor-thin edge between love and violence
lives a pair of brothers, their bonds frayed by betrayals and guilt, their
loyalty to each other their last salvation.
Raised to pick a pocket before he could walk, Terry Rand cut free from his
family after his older brother, Collie, went on a senseless killing spree that
left eight dead. Five years later, only days before his scheduled execution,
Collie contacts Terry and asks him to return home. Collie claims he wasn't
responsible for one of the murders-and insists that the real killer is still on
the loose.
Dogged by his own demons, Terry is swept back into the schemes and scams of his
family: His father, Pinsch, a retired cat burglar, brokenhearted because of his
two sons. His card-sharp uncles, Mal and Grey, who've incurred the anger of the
local mob. His grandfather, Shep, whose mind is failing but whose fingers can
still slip out a wallet from across the room. His teenage sister, Dale,
who's flirting dangerously with the lure of the family business. And Kimmie,
the woman Terry abandoned, who's now raising a child with Terry's former best
friend.
Terry pieces together the day his brother turned rabid, delving into a blood
history that reveals the Rand family tree is rotten to the roots, and the
secrets his ancestors buried are now coming furious and vengeful to the
surface.
A meditation on how love can confine a person just as easily as it can free
him, juxtaposing shocking violence and sly humor, The Last Kind Words is
the brilliantly inventive family saga that only a singular talent like Tom
Piccirilli could conjure.
Tom Piccirilli lives in Colorado, where, besides writing, he spends an inordinate amount of time watching trash cult films and reading Gold Medal classic noir and hardboiled novels. He's a fan of Asian cinema, especially horror movies, bullet ballet, pinky violence, and samurai flicks. He also likes walking his dogs around the neighborhood. Are you starting to get the hint that he doesn't have a particularly active social life? Well, to heck with you, buddy, yours isn't much better. Give him any static and he'll smack you in the mush, dig? Tom also enjoys making new friends. He is the author of twenty novels including The Cold Spot, The Midnight Road, The Dead Letters, Headstone City, November Mourns, and A Choir of Ill Children. He's a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a final nominee for the World Fantasy Award, the International Thriller Writers Award, and Le Grand Prix de L'Imaginaire.
For hi-res covers and author photos, please visit: http://smartpublic.randomhouse.com/teams/
Advance Praise
Advance praise for The Last Kind Words
"Perfect crime fiction . . . a convincing world, a cast of compelling
characters, and above all a great story."-Lee Child, New York Times bestselling
author of 61 Hours
"For the first time since The Godfather, a family of criminals has
stolen my heart. This is a brilliant mix of love and violence, charm and
corruption. I loved it."-Nancy Pickard, bestselling author of The Scent
of Rain and Lightning
"You don't choose your family. And the Rand clan, a family of thieves, is bad
to the bone. But it's a testimony to Tom Piccirilli's stellar writing that you
still care about each and every one of them. The Last Kind Words is at
once a dark and brooding page-turner and a heartfelt tale about the ties that
bind."-Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Darkness,
My Old Friend
"Piccirilli straddles genres with the boldness of the best writers today,
blending suspense and crime fiction into tight, brutal masterpieces."-James
Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Colony
"Tom Piccirilli's sense of relationships and the haunting power of family lifts
his writing beyond others in the genre. The Last Kind Words is a
swift-moving and hard-hitting novel."-Michael Koryta, Edgar Award-nominated
author of The Ridge
"A stunning story that ranges far afield at times but never truly leaves home,
a place where shadows grow in every corner . . . superbly told, with prose that
doesn't mess about or flinch from evil."-Daniel Woodrell, PEN USA
award-winning author of Winter's Bone
"There's more life in The Last Kind Words (and more heartache, action,
and deliverance) than in any other novel I've read in the past couple of
years."-Steve Hamilton, Edgar Award-winning author of The Lock Artist
"You're in for a treat. Tom Piccirilli is one of the most exciting authors
around. He writes vivid action that is gripping and smart, with characters you
believe in and care about."-David Morrell, New York Times bestselling
author of First Blood
"Mystic River set the bar for classic literary mystery, and The
Last Kind Words is a novel on the same superb playing field. Compassionate,
fascinating, and with an adrenaline narrative that is as gripping as it is
moving, this book is pure alchemy."-Ken Bruen, Shamus and Macavity
Award-winning author of The Guards and Headstone
"Piccirilli's family of heartbroken thieves, bound by love, secrets, and
family codes, kept me turning the pages until the very end. It pained me to put
this book down at night. Tom Piccirilli is the leader of a new pack of writers
combining the best elements of crime, mystery, and literary fiction in a way
that would make Chandler proud. I loved this book, and can't wait for the
sequel."-Sara Gran, author of Clare DeWitt and the City of the Dead
"Tom Piccirilli's The Last Kind Words is a story born of the dark
legacies of family violence and loss. With vivid prose and palpable urgency, it
succeeds utterly as a crime tale. At the same time, it reminds us that crimes
can emanate from both the darkest and lightest of places, and renders the heart
of a damaged family with clear-eyed yet fervent beauty."-Megan Abbott,
author of The End of Everything
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780553592481 |
| PRICE | $26.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 336 |
