The Left-Handed Dollar: An Amos Walker Novel

A challenging inquiry places Amos Walker at odds with his only real friend, investigative journalist Barry Stackpole, in Estleman's superlative 20th novel featuring the Detroit PI (after 2007's American Detective). A car bombing that left Stackpole seriously maimed leads to the conviction for attempted murder of mobster Joseph Ballista (aka "Joey Ballistic"), who earned his nickname for his bad temper and his alleged fondness for blowing things up. Ballista's lawyer, Lucille Lettermore (aka "Lefty Lucy"), who likes to defend unpopular clients, hires Walker to prove that the gangster, who faces enhanced punishment as a repeat offender, wasn't responsible for the bomb that destroyed the reporter's car. Convinced the man is innocent, the detective focuses on identifying the informant who fingered Ballista for the crime. Estleman proves conclusively that there's plenty of life left in the contemporary hard-boiled subgenre. (Dec.)