Gangster Rap, 18 Sep 2007
A joyous collection of short stories set in the ever popular world of the New York underworld of early years of the Twentieth Century.

"Style" is a very hard thing to define, but it is always easy to recognise. Runyon's evocative, slangy, prose is perfect for the scenes he describes, lively and disreputable. The names of the characters,Nicely Nicely Jones, Dave the Dude, Rusty Charley, Harry the Horse etc etc show the humour that runs through all the tales.

The character of the narrator himself, cautious and cynical yet not without sympathy, is consistent and well sketched in each story.

Although concentrating on the the lowest strata of society, these stories have a very soft centre, and even the worst villains are at the very least true sportsmen, who will never default on a bet.

The real enduring strength of these short works is their plotting. Each is a masterpiece of pacing and economy: consider "A Piece of Pie" or "The Snatching of Bookie Bob", not a word is wasted by Runyon in what are almost poetic pieces, songs of praise for the bars and betting shops of old New York.

Moving, funny, heartbreaking, 29 Jul 2006
These short stories are just unlike anything else you'll ever read. Set in prohibition era American, they are told with such a vivid 'voice' that you live each one and feel bereft when it ends. Runyon's skills are magnificent: his plots are often as twisted as Roald Dahl's but that's not the point. The true strength is in the characters who are endlessly surprising, with the most violent gangster laying down his life to save a child. I shocked myself by wanting to cry when reading this on the tube and spent the rest of the journey biting my tongue to hold back the tears - always the sign of an amazing book!