In this smoothly compact and often funny crime thriller, Stella's fifth novel (after 2005's Cheapskates
), New York City's Feast of San Gennaro is only days away when Tommy Agro and John Forzino decide to shake an extra payoff out of Bobby Gennaro, a young ex-mob bookmaker. Determined to distance himself from the wiseguys and keep all the money he's skimmed, Bobby is tough enough for the job but likable enough to appeal to most readers. The grief he gets from his fiancée, Lin Yao, is more than understandable, under the circumstances. Stella moves like a king cat through his usual New York–New Jersey Mafia milieu, though as Det. John DeNafria wryly observes, "Look at what's become of the mob. They're in tatters." Tommy Agro, with his frequent misspeaking—"women were always his Italy's heel"—is a special highlight this outing. Fans of the leaner, meaner novels of Elmore Leonard from 20 years ago have great reading waiting in every new Stella. (June)
