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Add a QuoteThere were three cars inside, a black Cadillac, a black Corvette, and a black SUV that seemed to be about seven feet tall....The three cars looked as though they represented three moods of Paul Castiglione—pretentious, childish, and stupid.
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He raised his MAC-10 with its silencer on the barrel and fired a line of rounds across the front of the booth about six inches from the ground, then a second line back across the booth about two feet up. The noise was barely audible, just the gun's hot, expanded gas spitting out bullets, and the bullets punching through the wooden-board wall. The gun was so fast that after it was still, the ejected brass casings clinked as they all fell on the asphalt, bounced once, and rolled.
The government has been protecting one criminal so he'll tell on another for—what? Fifty or sixty years? And what has this gotten us?" "Half as many criminals."
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Prison was a trade school for young Mafiosi. There they got to know important older men and the minor criminals who worked for them, and spent lots of time listening to lectures about methods and systems. They lifted weights and did pull-ups. At the end of a sentence they came out stronger, meaner, and smarter, with allies and sponsors they hadn't had before.
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EDDIE MASTREWSKI HAD always had his own philosophy. "Killing is just one of a lot of things people ought to do for themselves, but end up paying somebody else to do for them. They pay some pimp to provide a woman who will go to bed with them, and they buy a fancy car and hire somebody to drive it for them. That's no way to live, but their mistake is a fortune for people like us. Do your own killing, drive your own car, find your own girls."

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Add a CommentThe Butchers Boy is one of the best character studies ever in the mystery genre. Block does make him a bit over the top in his excellence at his craft but he has provided us with an assassin we all can cheer for. More!
Crisscrossing the continent, a legendary hit-man known as the Butcher's Boy decided to send out a "leave me alone" message to the mob families in the only way he knew how. In between the mayhem, he made a few stops to meet up with Elizabeth Warren in the Justice Department who saw his value as an informant. A breath taking read from Lee Child-nish start to the John Grisham-nish end. Can't wait to read the first Butcher's Boy published in 1982, over 30 years ago !!!
Flat characters, little suspense and a story-line that lurches brainlessly from unbelievable to downright sloppy. At one point, Perry has his protagonist doing a hit in southern Ontario, paying a visit in DC and then back in Ontario -- all in one evening. This isn't writing -- it's typewriting.
indgenious in its own true form :3
It's got all the pieces, but, for some reason, it doesn't gel into a memorable book.
Kept me up hours later than my usual bedtime. I don't know if that's good . . . or bad!
Next Chapter pick for mystery of the summer.
Exciting adventure involving the mafia, a hit man and the Justice department. Great pace 10 of 10 stars
6/11/2011:
Another excellent, exciting adventure involving the mafia, a hit man and the Justice department. Great pace 10 of 10 stars Thomas Perry novel around
Literally COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Excellent thriller/mystery.