A Single Shot

A novel

By Lawrence Block

“Good to the last drop… a Great American Crime Novel…. The perfect introduction to Scudder’s shadow- strewn world and the pleasures of Block’s crisp yet brooding prose…. A Drop of the Hard Stuff reads like it’s been jolted by factory-fresh defibrillator pads, as Scudder recalls his first, nerve- rattling year of sobriety. Block makes the hard work of sobriety totally gripping…. A bracing distillation of Block’s powers.”

—Ed Park, Time

“Moving… Elegiac… Satisfying…. Right up there with Mr. Block’s best.”

—Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

“Block is a mesmerizing raconteur…. [The book is] a lament for all the old familiar things that are now almost lost, almost forgotten.”

—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

Mulholland Books • Available wherever books are sold

Also available from Mulholland Books

Fun and Games

A novel

By Duane Swierczynski

“Insanely entertaining.”

—Josh Bazell, author of the New York Times bestseller Beat the Reaper

“More exciting than whatever you are reading right now.”

—Ed Brubaker, author of Criminal and Incognito

“Cool, suspenseful, tragic, and funny as hell, Fun and Games is Duane Swierczynski’s best yet. I haven’t had this much fun reading in a long time.”

—Sara Gran, author of Dope and Come Closer

“A white-hot nuclear explosion.”

—Joe R. Lansdale, author of The Bottoms

Mulholland Books • Available wherever books are sold

Spectacular Praise for Matthew F. Jones’s

A SINGLE SHOT

“The finest portrait of guilt since Crime and Punishment. Jones is unpredictable and, therefore, terrifying. His characters are knowable, if changeable and complicated. If you say yes to his use of language (like deciding to read poetry) you will not be able to shake him…. The most terrifying thing about this unnervingly vivid novel is the fact that the protagonist is a simple man, a basically good man, the victim of a single moment, a single accident that pulls the switch on his already derailed life…. His anguish and confusion are precisely drawn, physically, spiritually, emotionally.”

—Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review

“The most gripping read of the summer…. Jones is remarkably adept at detailing the way both nature and necessity turn against Moon. The result is something like Patricia Highsmith plotting a novel by John Gardner… scenes of gruesomely detailed violence alternating with exquisitely described natural beauty.”

—Michael Harrington, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Intense, violent, and graphic, this novel of backwoods mayhem may remind some readers of Deliverance.”

—Booklist

“Jones owns a fine writer’s eye for the kind of details that matter…. It is Jones’s skillful straight-from-the- shoulder depiction of [Moon] and his pinched world that resonates and then compels…. The author draws on his disoriented thoughts with dark and excellent detail.”

—Daniel Woodrell, Washington Post

“Compelling…. Jones is an evocative writer.”

—Winston-Salem Journal

“The ultimate noir nightmare…. Jones conveys the claustrophobic, dead-end lifestyle of the rural poor with a frightening incisiveness.”

—Peter Handel, San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle

“A high-voltage thriller… a gritty, claustrophobic blend of Jim Thompson and James Dickey.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Powerful… compelling and readable…. A violent study of desperation, owing more to Dostoevsky and Faulkner than any suspense writer, the story unfolds like a graphic, slow-motion nightmare from which the protagonist will never awaken.”

—Michael Adams, Library Journal

“An absolutely riveting read. Jones gives trailer-park minimalism just what it’s always needed—a story to tell and one that your mind won’t let go of for quite a while.”

—Gary Krist, Smart Money

“Jones and Daniel Woodrell are the leading contemporary authors of country noir, a subgenre whose roots trace back to James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice.”

—Bill Ott, Booklist (starred review)

“Jones’s writing is vivid, carefully composed, and unadorned, making for a thrilling tale that stays in the mind long after the final page.”

—Michael A. Green, Post and Courier

“A story fraught with suspense that climaxes with an ending that will rivet you to your bed. Forget sleeping that night…. The book stamps Jones as a major talent.”

—Scott Rapp, Syracuse Herald American