Picket Line: The Lost Novella

“This is the best of a magnificent writer's magnificent books.”—Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried 

The first major release in nearly a decade from the late, best-selling Elmore Leonard—"the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” (New York Times Book Review): Picket Line is the never-before-published, prescient story of a budding agricultural strike in Texas, the racial tension brewing in the fields, and what happens when brutality from “the man” goes unchecked.

“If a man comes out of the field and goes on the picket line, even for one day, he’ll never be the same...” 

Chino and Paco Rojas seem well-mannered, at least for Chicanos, to the white cops that pull them over for littering on the long drive from California to Trinity, Texas. So well-mannered, in fact, that Captain Frank McKellan lets them off with a warning and recommends them a job at Stanzik Farms, the largest independent melon grower in the area.

But Chino and Paco didn’t drive all this way for work. Instead, Chino is looking for a mysterious man, Vincent Mora, whose new Valley Agricultural Workers Association is causing a scene striking against the farm owners. 

Stanzik’s fields and Mora’s union bring together a cast of unlikely characters: Connie Chavez, a former picker and blossoming revolutionary who leads with a bullhorn and a fearless mouth; Bud Davis, a white Xavier University student working for spending money; Harold Ritchie, a local marine-turned-cop; Luis Tamez, a striker whose grandson served with Harold in Vietnam; and many more, including the pragmatic Chino, who finds himself pulled irrevocably into the cause. Some are neighbors, others just passing through. Some know each other well, or at least thought they did…before the picket line.  

This never-before-published gem from master storyteller Elmore Leonard describes the early days of an unprecedented farmers’ movement; the complex cast of Chicanos, Anglos, and migrants that impact the union; and the careful balance of passion, patience, and pure, stupid guts that it takes to hold the line. 

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” - New York Times Book Review

“Elmore Leonard is an awfully good writer of the sneaky sort; he is so good you don't even notice what he's up to.” - Washington Post Book World

“No one is Leonard’s equal.” - Chicago Tribune

“An absolute master.” - Detroit News

"Who knows what to praise first? The world-class, one-of-a-kind Elmore Leonard dialogue? The characters -- the human beings -- inhabiting this superb novel? ... The witty, scary bite of Leonard's narrative prose? Entertaining, for sure, but the final effect is outrage. In my view, this is the best of a magnificent writer's magnificent books." - Tim O'Brien

"A taut and engaging tale ... really a film rendered in prose. It has the cinematic mastery of scene and dialogue that characterized Leonard’s later works ... fans will no doubt enjoy witnessing the voice of the master storyteller resurrected." - New York Times

"A treasure for devoted Leonard fans and a perfect introduction for new readers." - CrimeReads