The Long Fall

If Elmore Leonard's name was on this book, not only would everyone recognize it as a Leonard book, but call it one of his best. Jimmy is a classic Leonard protagonist -- a criminal who is really just a f**k-up, but who is in trouble with some really serious bad guys. His crimes themselves are hilarious -- cactus smuggler, Beanie Baby thief. Kostoff is a tad more elegant as a writer than Leonard, but lacks Leonard's hardboiledness. I was rooting for a different ending, but the one provided is elegant, if a bit sad.

don't know why more people haven't heard of this one, but if you like crime fiction, especially noirish stuff with a literary bent, get thee to a bookstore, and I mean now. If I give you a one-liner on the story, it'll sound trite, so I won't. Instead, let me say that Kostoff is that rarest breed of stylist who can, in a minimum of space, evoke a whole world. He's earned comparisons to Elmore Leonard, and while they are in some ways apt, his work is all his own, and he brings a lyricism that Leonard generally eschews ("Jimmy remembering all the make-out sessions with Jean, both of them seventeen, the universe running under their skin, and every necessary truth found in tongues and fingers and the sweet ache of breath..."). A dark book with a heart but no promises of happiness, THE LONG FALL is, simply, terrific. Highly recommended.

The Long Fall was my Edgar winner choice on so many levels it was scary. Kostoff does some wonderful things with this story; brother vs. brother, brother and sister-in-law ... coveting both dry cleaning profits and the spouse ... it's a wonderful adventure for the reader from the start (a staged wild west shootout) to the novel's resolution (can't tell you that here). Just great writing and a wonderful story. This novel rocks.

Kostoff's novel grabs you from page one. His stunning use of language is a treat. More than this, he tells a compelling tale of losers, loss, and lost causes. Jimmy Coates is the archetypal schlemiel who just can't quite understand what's gone wrong in his life. Why else would he take a job as a doomed bad guy (killed six times daily) with the ludicrous Big and Bigger Jones Old Wild West Park? The comparison of other reviewers to Elmore Leonard is appropriate: this is a page turner with a payoff. Unfortunately, and despite the book's humor, for most of the characters the payoff is a downer. But the reader of Kostoff's second novel is richly rewarded indeed.

This is a sensational novel. It's hilarious and harrowing by turns and superbly written from top to bottom. Kostoff's style is reminiscent of Elmore Leonard at his best, and The Long Fall is dark and devilish and all but impossible to put down.