Poughkeepsie Shuffle

By (author): Dietrich Kalteis

Jeff Nichols — a man strong of conviction but weak of character — is fresh out of the Don Jail, looking for work — any kind of work — and a way back into Ann Ryan’s good graces. She waited for his return from prison but is quickly running short on patience. An ex-inmate and friend gets Jeff a job at Ted Bracey’s used car lot, selling cars for commission only. But it’s not enough to keep him and Ann afloat in mid-80s Toronto, and the lure of easy money soon gets Jeff involved in smuggling guns from upstate New York. With that sweet Poughkeepsie cash, now he can keep his promises to Ann; he even buys them a house, but conceals the source of the money. As Jeff gets in deeper and deeper, everyone around him learns how many rules he’s willing to bend and just how far he’ll go to get on the fast track to riches. That he’s a guy who doesn’t let lessons from past mistakes get in the way of a good score.

AUTHOR

Dietrich Kalteis

Dietrich Kalteis is the award-winning author of Ride the Lightning (bronze medal winner, 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards, for best regional fiction), The Deadbeat Club, Triggerfish, House of Blazes (silver medal winner, 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards, for best historical fiction), and Zero Avenue. His novel The Deadbeat Club has been translated to German, and 50 of his short stories have also been published internationally. He lives with his family in West Vancouver, BC.

Reviews

“The dialogue recalls Elmore Leonard . . . The antics are good fun. Best read for the pleasures to be found around the edges.” — Booklist Online


“Dietrich Kalteis writes about 1980s Toronto crooks in a style that’s breezy and confident, comic and ribald.” —Toronto Star


“For the perfect crime caper cocktail you need a good(ish) guy in over his head, a bevy of bad guys and scumbags, a get-rich-quick scheme doomed to failure and a dash of dark humor. Poughkeepsie Shuffle has all these ingredients in spades.” — Simon Wood, USA Today bestselling author of Saving Grace


“Nobody portrays lowlifes gunning for the high life as credibly as Dietrich Kalteis. Poughkeepsie Shuffle delivers a s***load of excitement, and a glimmer of light, in one badass world.” — John Farrow, author of The Storm Murders Trilogy


Poughkeepsie Shuffle weaves a violent tale about banged up people with hearts full of rust. Crossing the border between bleak and bleaker, Kalteis effortlessly shifts gears from broken dreams to petty schemes with a rhythmic voice that’s all his own. If you read one book about gun smuggling, used car sales and hair restoration this year — make it this one.” — S.W. Lauden, author of the Greg Salem punk rock P.I. series


Awards

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Excerpts & Samples ×

Jeff Nichols — a man strong of conviction but weak of character — is fresh out of the Don Jail, looking for work — any kind of work — and a way back into Ann Ryan’s good graces. She waited for his return from prison but is quickly running short on patience. An ex-inmate and friend gets Jeff a job at Ted Bracey’s used car lot, selling cars for commission only. But it’s not enough to keep him and Ann afloat in mid-80s Toronto, and the lure of easy money soon gets Jeff involved in smuggling guns from upstate New York. With that sweet Poughkeepsie cash, now he can keep his promises to Ann; he even buys them a house, but conceals the source of the money. As Jeff gets in deeper and deeper, everyone around him learns how many rules he’s willing to bend and just how far he’ll go to get on the fast track to riches. That he’s a guy who doesn’t let lessons from past mistakes get in the way of a good score.

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

280 Pages
7.75in * 5in * 0.724in
0.6lb

Published:

September 11, 2018

City of Publication:

Toronto

Country of Publication:

CA

Publisher:

ECW Press

ISBN:

9781770414013

Book Subjects:

FICTION / Crime

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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