Stick (1st ed.)

One of his most acclaimed noir masterworks, Stick is the story of ex-con Ernest “Stick” Stickley who’s nudged from the straight-and-narrow path when a big time drug dealer randomly selects him to die and a perfect revenge/payday opportunity presents itself. The author of Raylan, featuring  U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the sometimes trigger-happy protagonist of TV’s Justified, Leonard is indeed the king, holding court with the best of the best, including Coban and Connally, and the late great John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert B. Parker.