We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

The Last Kind Words: A Novel

Book Cover
Average Rating
NoveList Series:
Publisher:
Random House Publishing Group
Pub. Date:
2012
Language:
English
Description
From award-winning author Tom Piccirilli comes what Lee Child calls “perfect crime fiction,” a wholly original novel introducing the Rands, a vipers’ nest of crooks and cons, one generation stealing from the next. Upon the razor-thin edge between love and violence lives a pair of brothers, their bonds frayed by betrayals and guilt, their loyalty to each other their last salvation.
Raised to pick a pocket before he could walk, Terry Rand cut free from his family after his older brother, Collie, went on a senseless killing spree that left eight dead. Five years later, only days before his scheduled execution, Collie contacts Terry and asks him to return home. Collie claims he wasn’t responsible for one of the murders—and insists that the real killer is still on the loose.
Dogged by his own demons, Terry is swept back into the schemes and scams of his family: His father, Pinsch, a retired cat burglar, brokenhearted because of his two sons. His card-sharp uncles, Mal and Grey, who’ve incurred the anger of the local mob. His grandfather, Shep, whose mind is failing but whose fingers can still slip out a wallet  from across the room. His teenage sister, Dale, who’s flirting dangerously with the lure of the family business. And Kimmie, the woman Terry abandoned, who’s now raising a child with Terry’s former best friend.  
Terry pieces together the day his brother turned rabid, delving into a blood history that reveals the Rand family tree is rotten to the roots, and the secrets his ancestors buried are now coming furious and vengeful to the surface.
A meditation on how love can confine a person just as easily as it can free him, juxtaposing shocking violence and sly humor, The Last Kind Words is the brilliantly inventive family saga that only a singular talent like Tom Piccirilli could conjure.
Includes a preview of Tom Piccirilli’s next book, The Last Whisper in the Dark.
Praise for The Last Kind Words
 
“A crime noir mystery as hard-boiled as any in recent memory, recalling the work of Chandler, Pelecanos and Connelly . . . Readers literally will be pinned to their seats until the last page is turned.”—Bookreporter
 
“At once a dark and brooding page-turner and a heartfelt tale about the ties that bind.”—Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Heartbroken
 
“[A] caustic thriller . . . The characters have strong voices and bristle with funny quirks.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“[Piccirilli] deserves a breakout novel, and this just might be it.”—Booklist (starred review)
Also in This Series
More Like This
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
ISBN:
9780553906356
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Staff View

Grouping Information

Grouped Work IDf523d5cc-71b0-9ad5-9666-eae4b866d7ec
Grouping Titlelast kind words
Grouping Authortom piccirilli
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-29 02:17:20AM
Last Indexed2024-03-29 02:30:26AM

Solr Fields

accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Piccirilli, Tom
author_display
Piccirilli, Tom
display_description
From award-winning author Tom Piccirilli comes what Lee Child calls “perfect crime fiction,” a wholly original novel introducing the Rands, a vipers’ nest of crooks and cons, one generation stealing from the next. Upon the razor-thin edge between love and violence lives a pair of brothers, their bonds frayed by betrayals and guilt, their loyalty to each other their last salvation.
Raised to pick a pocket before he could walk, Terry Rand cut free from his family after his older brother, Collie, went on a senseless killing spree that left eight dead. Five years later, only days before his scheduled execution, Collie contacts Terry and asks him to return home. Collie claims he wasn’t responsible for one of the murders—and insists that the real killer is still on the loose.
Dogged by his own demons, Terry is swept back into the schemes and scams of his family: His father, Pinsch, a retired cat burglar, brokenhearted because of his two sons. His card-sharp uncles, Mal and Grey, who’ve incurred the anger of the local mob. His grandfather, Shep, whose mind is failing but whose fingers can still slip out a wallet  from across the room. His teenage sister, Dale, who’s flirting dangerously with the lure of the family business. And Kimmie, the woman Terry abandoned, who’s now raising a child with Terry’s former best friend.  
Terry pieces together the day his brother turned rabid, delving into a blood history that reveals the Rand family tree is rotten to the roots, and the secrets his ancestors buried are now coming furious and vengeful to the surface.
A meditation on how love can confine a person just as easily as it can free him, juxtaposing shocking violence and sly humor, The Last Kind Words is the brilliantly inventive family saga that only a singular talent like Tom Piccirilli could conjure.
Includes a preview of Tom Piccirilli’s next book, The Last Whisper in the Dark.
Praise for The Last Kind Words
 
“A crime noir mystery as hard-boiled as any in recent memory, recalling the work of Chandler, Pelecanos and Connelly . . . Readers literally will be pinned to their seats until the last page is turned.”—Bookreporter
 
“At once a dark and brooding page-turner and a heartfelt tale about the ties that bind.”—Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Heartbroken
 
“[A] caustic thriller . . . The characters have strong voices and bristle with funny quirks.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“[Piccirilli] deserves a breakout novel, and this just might be it.”—Booklist (starred review)
format_catalog
eBook
format_category_catalog
eBook
id
f523d5cc-71b0-9ad5-9666-eae4b866d7ec
isbn
9780553906356
last_indexed
2024-03-29T09:30:26.147Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Fiction
literary_form_full
Fiction
primary_isbn
9780553906356
publishDate
2012
publisher
Random House Publishing Group
recordtype
grouped_work
series
Terrier Rand
series_with_volume
Terrier Rand|
title_display
The Last Kind Words A Novel
title_full
The Last Kind Words A Novel
title_short
The Last Kind Words
title_sub
A Novel
topic_facet
Fiction
Literature
Suspense
Thriller

Solr Details Tables

item_details

Bib IdItem IdShelf LocCall NumFormatFormat CategoryNum CopiesIs Order ItemIs eContenteContent SourceeContent URLDetailed StatusLast CheckinLocation
overdrive:249ba09c-c603-451d-bff7-d61b08c7661a-2Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeBookeBook2falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online

record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
overdrive:249ba09c-c603-451d-bff7-d61b08c7661aeBookeBookEnglishRandom House Publishing Group2012

scoping_details_catalog

Bib IdItem IdGrouped StatusStatusLocally OwnedAvailableHoldableBookableIn Library Use OnlyLibrary OwnedHoldable PTypesBookable PTypesLocal Url
overdrive:249ba09c-c603-451d-bff7-d61b08c7661a-2Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruetruefalsefalsefalse