Eddie is a small time crook facing some hard times, taking the fall for a failed booze heist. He has been getting guns for some friends involved in armed robbery and the feds are leaning on him to turn snitch. He gets entangled with another gun dealer and gets on the radar of all the wrong people.

Set in the Boston area, with all kinds of landmarks (mostly gone these days) featuring prominently, so there is a great local feel. A book heavy with dialog, realistic, tough, heavy dialog that rings true thru and thru. He's not afraid to drop you at the start of a chapter right into the middle of the discussion either. A real crime noir classic indeed.

I saw the movie first and I am not sure if that was a good idea. Don't get me wrong, the movie is almost slavish in its devotion to the source material and I certainly envisioned Robert Mitchum as Eddie Coyle in the book. The problem is, I am not sure how much I inferred from the movie and how much I really was given in the book!

But don't get me wrong - both were wonderful. And easy read, taking me back to a time now an unbelievable 50 years ago. Really great and time for more Higgins!