“DIE FAMOUS is the best gangster novel I’ve ever read. These aren’t your Mafia goodfellas; they are the hardcase bank thieves who roamed from Indiana to Maine in the 30s. The writing is first class, and the action is nonstop. You’ll think of Larry McMurtry and John Toland (who gets a shout-out here).”
-Stephen King
“DIE FAMOUS is the gangster novel that I didn’t know I needed. This story of a reluctant getaway driver, the woman who loves him, and their observant son accomplishes the near-impossible: it is both big-hearted and thrilling as a car chase. I loved this perfectly written tommy gun of a novel.”
-Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of The Frozen River
“DIE FAMOUS juxtaposes shootouts, narrow escapes, vengeance, and justice, against a backdrop of family bonds, loyalty, love, motherhood, and memory. Capped off with an ending you won’t see coming, this story will send you careening down the back roads, hanging on by your fingernails until the final page.”
-Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours
“In DIE FAMOUS, Michael Koryta, always a stellar read, has really outdone himself. The depth to which he goes for his full panoply of players is remarkable. And the atmosphere he creates made me keep looking around to make sure I was still safely ensconced in the twenty-first century. I rooted for and against so many different characters, which is a mark of the gifted storyteller, in making fiction seem more real than real is. This will be the bar to which other historical crime fiction will be measured, and I do not say that lightly. In fact, I’ve never said it before, but I will say this: Read DIE FAMOUS the moment it comes out.”
-David Baldacci
“This enthralling historical thriller follows a gangster, his sweetheart, and their son. Koryta tells much of the tale via a conversation between Savannah and an FBI agent on the eve of her execution; her voice is tart and quick, but gradual cracks reveal her deep wells of emotion. Though the story’s heartbreak is obvious from the start, the pages fly by. This is an excellent bet for fans of William Kent Krueger’s historical novels.”
-Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review
“DIE FAMOUS puts readers in the passenger seat for a cross-country crime spree with some of history’s most notorious gangsters. Told through the eyes of one remarkable woman on a mission to destroy or rescue the man she once loved, this riveting, vividly-written novel surprised me at every turn. A thrilling, suspenseful, and surprisingly poignant tale of the paper thin veil separating love and hate.”
–Marie Bostwick, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Book Club for Troublesome Women
“Michael Koryta’s DIE FAMOUS is, simply put, a thrilling—and thrillingly layered—read. I was swept away by the story of G-Men and public enemies in the waning years of the Depression and mesmerized by the beautiful souls who were never quite hidden in outlaw clothing. With the most bewitching heroine in recent literature anchoring the tale, this surprisingly romantic novel about family, secrets, tommy guns, and Thoreau is as entertaining as it is affecting.”
-Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling novelist
