Grand Theft Hardback - 2003

by Watts, Timothy

Timothy Watts possesses one of the most arresting voices in crime fiction. With Grand Theft, he delivers his most accomplished, hard-boiled, and suspenseful story yet.

Teddy Clyde is a career car thief-a pro who clears three to four hundred grand a year boosting high-end automobiles off the streets of Philadelphia. He's cooler than the other side of the pillow, always managing to stay one step ahead of any trouble. That is, until one night after driving home from a lucrative evening on the job, he pulls over to change a flat and finds the body of Philly Mob boss Dominic Scarlotti dead as a doornail in the trunk of his car.

Now his biggest concern is staying alive long enough to find out who set him up. And to do so, he'll have to outwit and outlast a mobster with a grudge, an Assistant U.S. Attorney with a chip on his shoulder, and two international arms dealers-not to mention a gorgeous investigative journalist whom he's falling in love with.

The novels of Timothy Watts have been compared to those of Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson, Donald Westlake and James Crumley, but this modern noir story is in a class by itself. Fueled by muscular prose, dead-on dialogue, a cast of unforgettable dishonorable characters, and enough double-crossing to keep your head spinning, Grand Theft marks the return of a master.