The Friends of Eddie Coyle
"Eddie Coyle is a small-time punk with a big-time problem - who to sell out to avoid being sent up again. Eddie works for Jimmy Scalisi, supplying him with guns for a couple of bank jobs. But a cop named Foley is onto Eddie, and he's leaning on him to finger Scalisi, a gang leader with a lot to hide. And then there's Dillon, a full-time bartender and a part-time contract killer pretending to be Eddie's friend. These and others make up the bunch of hoods, gunmen, thieves, and executioners who are wheeling, dealing, chasing, and stealing in the underworld of Eddie Coyle."--BOOK JACKET.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Eddie Coyle is a small-time Boston gun runner facing a possible jail term for a previous beef. To keep his family clear, he starts trading information about the men he supplies to a federal agent named Foley.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle was written by George V. Higgins and published in 1972. Elmore Leonard cited it as a major influence on his style. Dennis Lehane has also championed the novel.
Yes. Peter Yates directed a 1973 film adaptation starring Robert Mitchum. The film is widely considered one of the great crime films of the 1970s and a faithful adaptation.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is 192 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Friends of Eddie Coyle takes most readers 3 to 4 hours to finish.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a standalone novel by George V. Higgins, not part of a series.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.