Stella is a winner, a true artist."-Ken Bruen "Stella is a kind of obscene Ring Lardner, finding a lean, rancid poetry in his characters' vernacular, and rendering it with flawless precision and humor."-The Washington Post Book World "Deft plotting, acerbic humor, and a knack for street talk will delight fans of Donald Westlake and Elmore Leonard."-Booklist (starred review) "Stella earns a place among the most readable writers in crime fiction."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Fans of the leaner, meaner novels of Elmore Leonard have a great reading waiting in Shakedown."-Publishers Weekly "Combine equal parts Mario Puzo and Elmore Leonard . . . and who do you get? Charlie Stella, that's who. His compelling and authentic portrayal of the urban netherworld places his crime thrillers among the best in the genre, past or preset."-The San Diego Union-Tribune For three months now, ex-bookmaker Bobby G has been heading down the straight and narrow. He's got the girl and he's bought the ring. He's also stashed away a tidy, slightly tainted retirement fund. Then his old boss, a captain with the Vignieri crime family, flips and rats on his Mafia associates. And Bobby's past begins catching up with him. Soon the wise guys' shakedown is escalating into warfare in the heart of Little Italy. Bobby G has got trouble. Charlie Stella's first book drew favorable comparison with such masters of the crime novel as Mario Puzo and Elmore Leonard. Shakedown is his fifth novel. Stella and his wife Ann Marie live in Brooklyn.