On the South Side of Chicago, you're only as strong as your reputation. Danny Carter and his best friend, Evan, earned theirs knocking over pawnshops and liquor stores, living from score to score, and never thinking about tomorrow.
Then a job went desperately wrong, and in the roar of a gun blast, everything changed.
Years later, Danny doesn't think about his past. He's built a new world for himself: a legitimate career, a long-term girlfriend, and a clean conscience. He's just like anyone else. Normal. Successful. Happy....
Until he spots his old partner staring him down in a smoky barroom mirror. The prison-hardened Evan is barely recognizable. Having served his time without dropping Danny's name, his old friend believes he's owed major payback - and he's willing to do anything to get it. With all he loves on the line and nowhere to turn, Danny realizes his new life hinges on a terrible decision: how far to go to protect his future from his past.
A debut novel that's drawn comparisons to Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, and Quentin Tarantino, The Blade Itself is the story of a good man held hostage by circumstance. This is a riveting exploration of class, identity, and the demons that shape us, in which every effort to do the right thing leads to terrifying consequences and one inevitable conclusion: the more you have, the more you have to lose.
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"Excellent debut novel, set in Chicago, tells the tale of a man with a past, trying to do right. Impressive first novel and very entertaining.
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—
Bradley (4 out of 5 stars)