Books

Swag

The Run Down.

The smallest of small-time criminals, Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck's about to change when Detroit used-car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan's lot. Frank's got some surefire schemes for getting rich quick—all of them involving guns—and all Stickley has to do is follow "Ryan's Rules" to share the wealth. But sometimes rules need to be bent, maybe even broken, if one is to succeed in the world of crime, especially if the "brains" of the operation knows less than nothing.

Published: 1976

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Genre: Crime

Location: Detroit

Characters: Ernest Stickley Jr. , Leon Woody

The New York Times Book Review

Elmore Leonard can write circles around almost anybody active in the crime novel today.

— The New York Times Book Review

A Tax-Free Hundred Grand Can Be Yours — If You're Willing To Stick To The Rules And Get Away With It

Ernest "Stick" Stickley Jr.

“You call me that, I won’t answer,” Stick said. “No, I used to be Ernie, a long time ago. Still once in a while people call me Ernest. It’s my name, I can’t do anything about it. But usually they call me Stick. Friends, guys I work with.”

Jack Ryan

“This other Ryan, man used to work with me a long time ago,” Leon Woody said. “His name was Jack Ryan. We work for this man was in the carpet-cleaning business? Get in a house, we see things we like, we leave a window unlocked, come back at night. He was a nice boy, Jack Ryan.”