Swag: A Novel

This "brilliant caper" (New York Times) from bestselling author Elmore Leonard is a rollicking tale of modern urban crime featuring a cast of small-time criminals with big-time dreams.

Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck's about to change when Detroit used-car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan's lot. Frank's got some surefire schemes for getting rich quick—all of them involving guns—and all Stickley has to do is follow "Ryan's Rules" to share the wealth.

But sometimes rules need to be bent, maybe even broken to succeed in the world of crime, especially when the "brains" of the operation knows less than nothing.

The smallest of small-time criminals, Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck's about to change when Detroit used car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan's lot. Frank's got some surefire schemes for getting rich quick—all of them involving guns—and all Stickley has to do is follow "Ryan's Rules" to share the wealth. But sometimes rules need to be bent, maybe even broken, if one is to succeed in the world of crime, especially if the "brains" of the operation knows less than nothing.

“Swag hits dead center...captures a slice of urban life better than anything else I’ve read.” - Detroit Free Press

“Elmore Leonard can write circles around almost anybody active in the crime novel today.” - New York Times Book Review

“An electrifying novel...with a murderous, well-timed suspenseful finale.” - Publishers Weekly

“A brilliant caper.” - New York Times

“An uncanny sense of plot, pace, and an inexhaustible flair for the nervous rhythms of contemporary urban speech...Leonard is a superb craftsman and his writing is a pleasure.” - Los Angeles Times Book Review

“[Swag is] a brutally up-to-date crime novel and a good one.” - The New Yorker