"An exquisite tale of female friendship combining thrills galore, dark humor, sparkling repartee, highly unpredictable twists at every turn of the meandering road, and a glorious sense of the ridiculous. Will have you chuckling from page to page."
"Boyle is one of noir’s most exciting voices, and with his newest book he injects a madcap road trip energy into his finely-tuned criminal world."
"A native of the borough, the author writes with an intimate knowledge of the place and its people. Boyle’s characters don’t just come alive on the page—they have lived there as well."
"Boyle’s work is some of the finest in crime fiction and while he ticks every box each time out, the emphasis changes. Character and nonstop action are gloriously on the rampage here, as three very different women join forces to survive high-speed car chases, crashes, shootings, violent men and general bedlam. Boyle’s dialogue snaps and his sense of place is top-notch. This roller-coaster madcap tragicomedy is a great gift to give yourself."
"A brilliant and nasty piece of joyful ambiguity that I Ioved deeply. What a marvelous and unexpected bunch of female characters, in particular. With this one, William Boyle vaults into the big time, or he damn sure should."
"This all sounds a little bit loopy, along the lines of Carl Hiaasen or Tim Dorsey, and there is indeed a surreal element to this caper. But there is also more than a little Thelma & Louise in Boyle’s terrific tale, which has some of the most stylish noir prose to grace the page in some time."
"Boyle’s follow-up to the well-received The Lonely Witness is being promoted as Goodfellas meets Thelma and Louise . The novel incorporates the snappy timing of both those films, and the Elmore Leonard–like cinematic prose begs for a film adaptation. Recommend this triumph of moral ambiguity to fans of black humor, including that of Carl Hiaasen and Dennis Lehane, in addition to Leonard."
"Boyle’s follow-up to the well-received The Lonely Witness is being promoted as Goodfellas meets Thelma and Louise . The novel incorporates the snappy timing of both those films, and the Elmore Leonard–like cinematic prose begs for a film adaptation. Recommend this triumph of moral ambiguity to fans of black humor, including that of Carl Hiaasen and Dennis Lehane, in addition to Leonard."
A brilliant and nasty piece of joyful ambiguity that I Ioved deeply. What a marvelous and unexpected bunch of female characters, in particular. With this one, William Boyle vaults into the big time, or he damn sure should.
Comic crime capers are fun. Comic crime capers starring women are even more fun. William Boyle delivers some choice laughs and a terrific trio of felons. A road trip that’s so much fun you don’t want it to end.
Although William Boyle’s new novel is clearly a love letter to his Brooklyn roots, (New York being one of the more prominently featured players in the book) the real “Gift ” here is his prose. The writing is so casual and honest that as a reader, you have no idea how much you have invested in these characters until it’s too late to turn back. Your heart starts to race and you forget about the time. By the midway point of the book, I was rooting out loud for these characters. The balance Boyle achieved of warmth between friends and the darkness that comes calling for them is nothing short of brilliant. I also love books with strong female leads, and with A Friend , you get three of them, moved along by dialogue that is second only to the master himself, Elmore Leonard. Hellova’ story. Hellova’ cast. Hellova writer.
It’s the women who make this novel such a great read. They are glorious and mad, vulnerable, so human, and very, very funny.
A crime caper worthy of Barry Gifford at his most lurid, set in a lawless world. A Friend is a Gift is screwball noir with real heart.
Part Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and part Mario Puzzo's La Mamma , A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself is a funny, gritty, touching narrative about the strength of three New York women caught in a world of abusive men, broken families, and mob violence. Friend is a rarity; a fresh novel about New York's underbelly. Crime fiction usually stays within the confines of the genre, but Boyle breaks away from those restrictions.
A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself is a thunderous locomotive of a novel, driven by remarkable characters and sparkling dialogue. A treat for fans of neo-noir, it’s brimming with dark wit and piercing insight. Highly recommended.
As wildly funny and sweet as it is frenetic and harrowing, William Boyle’s A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself is full of dark splendor. And the three wondrous and resilient women at its center are so richly etched, so powerfully voiced, you’ll find yourself wanting to pull up to the dinner table with them, grab a glass, and tuck in. Imagine Martin Scorsese and David O. Russell collaborating with Gena Rowlands and Ellen Burstyn and making magic.
Like tasty breadcrumbs through a sinister forest, Boyle strews his narrative with welcome cultural markers and references and more than a little bit of straight-talking philosophy. Boyle’s noir novel is an appropriately dark tale of gangster life; it also shimmers with friendliness, affection, humor, and the myriad stories people tell themselves and others in order to survive
Boyle’s latest novel is an Elmore Leonard-style caper that hits the ground running. With vintage car chases, warp speed energy and female bonding, this is funny, touching and exhilarating in all the right places.
Yowza, did I just maybe read a future crime fiction classic? Possibly. It has all the right elements. Great characterstwo ex-porn stars, a 14-year-old girl, and a psycho with a sledgehammerdialogue that tickles the ear, and a sense of place so vivid I thought I was reading in 3-D. And the plot! I'm not going to say anything other than 500,000 dollars in a briefcase and a frisky octogenarian are involved. My only regret? I read the book way too fast, just couldn't stop turning the pages. Oh well, there are worse things in life.
Heartfelt, evocative, and bursting with indelible characters, William Boyle's A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself is not only an unpredictable and off-the-wall noir, but a meditation on the true meaning of friendship and family. Boyle has created another potent jolt of can't-miss New York crime fiction.
"Comic crime capers are fun. Comic crime capers starring women are even more fun. William Boyle delivers some choice laughs and a terrific trio of felons. A road trip that’s so much fun you don’t want it to end."
New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio
"Boyle’s follow-up to the well-received The Lonely Witness is being promoted as Goodfellas meets Thelma and Louise . The novel incorporates the snappy timing of both those films, and the Elmore Leonard–like cinematic prose begs for a film adaptation. Recommend this triumph of moral ambiguity to fans of black humor, including that of Carl Hiaasen and Dennis Lehane, in addition to Leonard."
Comic crime capers are fun. Comic crime capers starring women are even more fun. William Boyle delivers some choice laughs and a terrific trio of felons in A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself …on a road trip that's so much fun you don't want it to end.
The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio
★ 01/28/2019
Early in this addictive hardboiled crime novel from Boyle (Gravesend ), Rena Ruggiero, the widow of murdered Brooklyn mobster “Gentle Vic” Ruggiero, hits her octogenarian neighbor, Enzio, over the head with a heavy ashtray after he makes an unwanted pass at her. Thinking him dead, she takes off in Enzio’s prized ’62 Impala. With no real plan, she flees to the Bronx, the home of her estranged daughter, Adrienne, and her 15-year-old granddaughter, Lucia. When Adrienne slams the door in Rena’s face, Adrienne’s neighbor, con artist and retired porn star Lacey Wolfstein, invites her into her home. Meanwhile, Adrienne’s ex-boyfriend, Richie Schiavano, has just killed members of a major mob family, stolen a briefcase full of cash, and plans to grab Adrienne and Lucia and run. A violent confrontation between the hapless Richie and a brutal mob enforcer ensues, and Rena, Lacey, and Lucia end up in possession of the money fleeing for their lives. Boyle skillfully mixes a classic Westlake/Leonard–style caper with the powerful tale of three women facing the ghosts of their pasts. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc. (Mar.)
"Comic crime capers are fun. Comic crime capers starring women are even more fun. William Boyle delivers some choice laughs and a terrific trio of felons. A road trip that’s so much fun you don’t want it to end."
A knockout combination of in-depth character work, Brooklyn atmosphere, and straight-up gritty noir. The devotion Boyle demonstrates for character, story and place is perhaps the one unadulterated emotion on display in a story imbued with ambiguous morality and loyalty.
Shelf Awareness (starred) [praise for William Boyle]
A beautifully nuanced novel that has an unhurried but compelling narrative drive, a central character you are totally invested in, and a locale that does indeed function as a major character, interacting with and psychically affecting each and every person in the book.
Criminal Element [praise for William Boyle]
Boyle launched his gritty vision about this section of Brooklyn, where neighbors make their own small town, in his debut, Gravesend. The Lonely Witness offers an excellent sequel with a superb plot, matched by its realistically shaped characters.”
Oline Cogdill - The Associated Press [praise for William Boyle]
An adrenaline-charged debut in the Elmore Leonard vein. Bristling with energy, Gravesend marks Boyle out as a new name to watch.”
The Guardian (UK) [praise for William Boyle]
2018-12-11
Aided by an obliging grifter, a Brooklyn grandma on the run tries to mend her relationship with her estranged grandchild as the three outrun mob goons in the latest from Boyle (The Lonely Witness , 2018, etc.).
Things haven't been good for Rena Ruggeiro ever since the death of her husband, Vic, nine years ago and her realization that her daughter, Adrienne, had been running around with Vic's right-hand man, Richie Schiavano, since high school. In spite of Vic's connections, Rena's always kept her nose clean and stuck to her routine in her Bensonhurst community, beginning with Mass and McDonald's coffee every Sunday. There's no sense in Rena getting overexcited like Adrienne would. After all, Adrienne hasn't spoken to Rena ever since Rena said her piece about Richie and his quality as a partner. Now, however, Adrienne has a 15-year-old daughter, Lucia, who doesn't even know her grandmother. Rena ponders these problems but doesn't act until her pushy neighbor, Enzio, makes a move and she wallops him with an ashtray that brings him down and maybe kills him. What can she do but grab the keys to his classic Impala and high-tail it to the Bronx in the hopes that Adrienne's in a charitable mood and can help her sort things out? But Adrienne is much the same, and Rena finds herself trying to figure out her next step as she sits in the living room of Adrienne's neighbor Lacey "Wolfie" Wolfstein, a soft-core porn star-turned-con artist who's taken a shine to Lucia. All this is prologue to the real drama, a caper-inspired road story of quirky personalities on the run littered with gruesome deaths as the truth about the hit on Vic comes out—along with so much more.
Deploying an inimitable tone that packs sardonic storytelling atop action and adventure, with a side of character development, Boyle's voice works even when it feels like it shouldn't. It's just the right kind of too much.