Fadeaway Joe

Perfect for fans of S. A. Cosby and Allen Eskens, Joe Pendergast must go all in one last time as he grapples with the ghosts of his past-and present-in this gritty, high-stakes thriller.

Sixty-four-year-old Joe has known violence his entire life. For forty years, he's worked as an enforcer for loan shark and close friend Maxie Smith, breaking more than a few bones along the way. When Maxie abruptly fires him, Joe isn't sure where to lay the blame--on Maxie, the man he once considered his brother, or on the early-onset Alzheimer's that made Maxie lose faith in him in the first place.

To keep his head above water, he begins to operate a food truck that's barely getting by. Desperate to regain some purpose in his life, Joe makes a life-altering decision: he's going to take down Maxie Smith by any means necessary, once and for all. However, his plan of revenge is sidelined when he meets twenty-two-year-old Paula Jessup, a wise-cracking amateur detective with a few scheming cards up her sleeve, who's on the run from a trafficking ring she's been investigating. The two form an unlikely bond: Paula needs some protection and Joe needs a purpose.

With the stakes running high and the clock ticking down--will this gamble pay off?

Author: Hugh Lessig
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: 08/22/2023
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781639104369


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 07/01/2023 pg. 50
Booklist 07/28/2023
Shelf Awareness 08/25/2023

About the Author
Hugh Lessig spent more than thirty years as an award-winning newspaper reporter, covering everything from city council meetings to the earthquake in Haiti. Along the way, he's met people at the highs and lows of life and interviewed accused murderers and governors, welders and lawyers, and old men who fought our nation's wars. Born in eastern Pennsylvania, he moved to Hampton Roads, Virginia, in 1997. His short stories have appeared in Thuglit, Shotgun Honey, Crime Factory and Needle. In addition, his work is featured in the following anthologies: Mickey Finn 21st Century Noir, Volumes I and II; Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties; and Guns & Tacos. Fadeaway Joe is his first novel.