Title: At End of Day
Author: George V. Higgins
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Publisher: Harcourt
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 0151003580
Pages: 383
Keywords: crime fiction
Reading period: 30 September-7 October, 2007

At End of Day is Higgins' last novel, published after his death. McKeach and Cistaro are crime bosses who have avoided arrest for more than 30 years. Partly because they're very smart, very competent, and quite paranoid. Partly because they have a secret deal with the local FBI office: they provide information in return for protection. All good things come to an end, of course.

Higgins' style is odd, conducted largely in monologue. His characters jaw and jaw. Boy, do they love the sounds of their own voices. It works, but it's tiring to read.

Higgins tells a complex tale: a slice of life of the FBI, the Massechusetts state police, and the crooks, both in the present and in flashback. No one is particularly likeable, but it's hard to look away.

Recommended.