Scan barcode
thaurisil's review against another edition
4.0
Set in Massachusetts, Eddie Coyle buys guns from Jackie Brown and sells them to Jimmy Scalisi, who, together with Artie Van and a few other men, uses the guns to rob banks. Eddie Coyle has a trial coming up in which he is expected to be sentenced to jail, and when he finds out that Jackie Brown is selling machine guns to someone else, he tells a policeman, Dave Foley, about the machine gun sale, in an attempt to escape a jail term. Jackie Brown is arrested. Eddie doesn't look like he's going to escape jail. In the meantime, Jimmy's wife Wanda informs a policeman about his activities, and Jimmy and his cronies are arrested. Suspecting Eddie to be the betrayer, the other crooks kill him.
It's a simple plot, but it doesn't seem so simple when you're reading it because almost everything is written in dialogue, and you have to figure out who the characters are, how they relate to each other, and what their back stories are, from clues in their conversations. For instance, in the first chapter, we're told a stocky man talks to Jackie Brown, and we realise that they're a gun buyer and a gun dealer meeting each other for the first time, but we don't realise that the stocky man is Eddie Coyle until later. In the second chapter, Eddie meets Dave Foley, but we don't find out Dave's name until the end, and we're not told that Dave is a policeman, and the conversation is mysterious until you figure that out. Each subsequent chapter consists of a single conversation, unconnected to the chapters that come before and after it, so that while we know Eddie is buying guns and there are bank robberies taking place, it's not clear that Eddie is linked to the bank robberies until the end. These mysterious links between events are realistic. For one thing, it reflects the information that is fed to the police in unrelated chunks, which the police have to piece together and decide which parts are related to which. Moreover, it reflects how much each of the characters knows. Each man knows his own link in the chain of events, but not much more than that. Jackie knows who he buys guns from and who he sells guns to, but he doesn't know what the guns are used for. Same for Eddie. Jimmy knows who he gets the guns from but not where the guns were initially stolen from. And they are happier that way - the less each man knows, the less he can betray someone else. So reading this feels like a puzzle that the reader has to solve, but the men who are in this puzzle don't make any attempt to solve it.
Writing a book almost entirely in dialogue was groundbreaking, and the dialogue is entertaining. There's plenty of banter, irony and wry humour. There are metaphors that would be hilarious if they weren't so dark. Often, they read like the script of a screenplay.
The men are all tough, dodgy characters. Every man, whether criminal or police, cares only for his own self interest, and they exploit each other for their own gain. And yet there's a tacit acceptance that this is the way everyone behaves, and nobody faults another man for caring for his own interests. It's a no-nonsense world where the toughest survive. And while the book is titled "The Friends of Eddie Coyle", in truth nobody in the book has friends. They have allies with whom they make deals, and they chat and sometimes even act like friends with each other, but they treat each other with suspicion, and all their relationships are contractual, in which something is exchanged for either money or a favour.
Yet while all the men are bad, none of them seem truly evil. Higgins does wonderful job at giving them a human aspect. They have wives and families, whom they speak belittlingly about, but still care for. They have normal hobbies like watching hockey. Sometimes they even seem to care about each other, like when Eddie buys groceries for Jimmy. But they all need money, and to them, crime is just like any other job that gives them money, though it carries high personal risk. Living with the fear of either being arrested or making a mistake and being punished by other crooks, each man learns to act and speak tough. Their personalities are influenced by the environment they are in, and I wonder if they would be nice men in different circumstances. At the end, I felt sorry for Eddie. He seems like a man who doesn't want to rat on his acquintances, but he doesn't want to go to jail either, and ultimately he gets punished for something he didn't do.
It's a simple plot, but it doesn't seem so simple when you're reading it because almost everything is written in dialogue, and you have to figure out who the characters are, how they relate to each other, and what their back stories are, from clues in their conversations. For instance, in the first chapter, we're told a stocky man talks to Jackie Brown, and we realise that they're a gun buyer and a gun dealer meeting each other for the first time, but we don't realise that the stocky man is Eddie Coyle until later. In the second chapter, Eddie meets Dave Foley, but we don't find out Dave's name until the end, and we're not told that Dave is a policeman, and the conversation is mysterious until you figure that out. Each subsequent chapter consists of a single conversation, unconnected to the chapters that come before and after it, so that while we know Eddie is buying guns and there are bank robberies taking place, it's not clear that Eddie is linked to the bank robberies until the end. These mysterious links between events are realistic. For one thing, it reflects the information that is fed to the police in unrelated chunks, which the police have to piece together and decide which parts are related to which. Moreover, it reflects how much each of the characters knows. Each man knows his own link in the chain of events, but not much more than that. Jackie knows who he buys guns from and who he sells guns to, but he doesn't know what the guns are used for. Same for Eddie. Jimmy knows who he gets the guns from but not where the guns were initially stolen from. And they are happier that way - the less each man knows, the less he can betray someone else. So reading this feels like a puzzle that the reader has to solve, but the men who are in this puzzle don't make any attempt to solve it.
Writing a book almost entirely in dialogue was groundbreaking, and the dialogue is entertaining. There's plenty of banter, irony and wry humour. There are metaphors that would be hilarious if they weren't so dark. Often, they read like the script of a screenplay.
The men are all tough, dodgy characters. Every man, whether criminal or police, cares only for his own self interest, and they exploit each other for their own gain. And yet there's a tacit acceptance that this is the way everyone behaves, and nobody faults another man for caring for his own interests. It's a no-nonsense world where the toughest survive. And while the book is titled "The Friends of Eddie Coyle", in truth nobody in the book has friends. They have allies with whom they make deals, and they chat and sometimes even act like friends with each other, but they treat each other with suspicion, and all their relationships are contractual, in which something is exchanged for either money or a favour.
Yet while all the men are bad, none of them seem truly evil. Higgins does wonderful job at giving them a human aspect. They have wives and families, whom they speak belittlingly about, but still care for. They have normal hobbies like watching hockey. Sometimes they even seem to care about each other, like when Eddie buys groceries for Jimmy. But they all need money, and to them, crime is just like any other job that gives them money, though it carries high personal risk. Living with the fear of either being arrested or making a mistake and being punished by other crooks, each man learns to act and speak tough. Their personalities are influenced by the environment they are in, and I wonder if they would be nice men in different circumstances. At the end, I felt sorry for Eddie. He seems like a man who doesn't want to rat on his acquintances, but he doesn't want to go to jail either, and ultimately he gets punished for something he didn't do.
sandmountain's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kieranhealy's review against another edition
5.0
Now THAT is a crime novel! Yes, the dialogue is authentic and carries the novel, but the various characters all working against each other, giving and taking, and all the threads surrounding them are what sets this apart from the normal stuff. There are no real protagonists or antagonists. Just everyone trying to get a little something for themselves, either on the side of the law or against it. Who comes out on top, if anyone? I can see why Dennis Lehane called this a game changer.
ritchie437reads's review
5.0
Both Elmore Leonard and Dennis Lehane called this book one of their greatest influences--it's easy to see why. Coyle's story is told mostly in delightful and colorful conversations featuring a variety of antiheroes. It has surprisingly little violence in spite of the violent world the characters live in. What little exposition there is demands that the reader keep up with the who's/who and movement of the plot. Higgins wastes no time and instead drops the reader into a new conversation each chapter. Jarring as it can sometimes be for the reader, it also creates a thrilling pace that makes the book feel more like a short story than a novel. Despite the quick jumps, Higgins still manages to create a coherent and satisfying tale. It's a story that will stick with you long after you finish it.
It's easy to see how the quick dialogues appealed to Leonard's own grinning and fast-paced style. Likewise, the antiheroes make for a gritty realism that we see later reflected in Lehane's own neo-noir works. Readers of noir will love it.
It's easy to see how the quick dialogues appealed to Leonard's own grinning and fast-paced style. Likewise, the antiheroes make for a gritty realism that we see later reflected in Lehane's own neo-noir works. Readers of noir will love it.
jamelon13's review against another edition
I accidentally read the ending on Wikipedia - then I just didn't want to finish the book. A dumb mistake.
infinimata's review against another edition
4.0
Blunt and unsentimental as a tarmac sandwich. Also check out the 1973 movie adaptation, with none other than Robert Mitchum as Eddie Fingers.
randomhero19's review
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sam_vimes_75's review
5.0
Both Elmore Leonard and Dennis Lehane called this book one of their greatest influences--it's easy to see why. Coyle's story is told mostly in delightful and colorful conversations featuring a variety of antiheroes. It has surprisingly little violence in spite of the violent world the characters live in. What little exposition there is demands that the reader keep up with the who's/who and movement of the plot. Higgins wastes no time and instead drops the reader into a new conversation each chapter. Jarring as it can sometimes be for the reader, it also creates a thrilling pace that makes the book feel more like a short story than a novel. Despite the quick jumps, Higgins still manages to create a coherent and satisfying tale. It's a story that will stick with you long after you finish it.
It's easy to see how the quick dialogues appealed to Leonard's own grinning and fast-paced style. Likewise, the antiheroes make for a gritty realism that we see later reflected in Lehane's own neo-noir works. Readers of noir will love it.
It's easy to see how the quick dialogues appealed to Leonard's own grinning and fast-paced style. Likewise, the antiheroes make for a gritty realism that we see later reflected in Lehane's own neo-noir works. Readers of noir will love it.
marksgumbo's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5