Lawyer Charlie Arglist is looking to say good-bye to Wichita by revisiting the landscape of his used-up life. Yet before the sun rises, before he can leave town with a suitcase of stolen money, Charlie's ultimate scam explodes.
"BITTERLY FUNNY . . . [A] SLEEK FIRST NOVEL . . . NOIR CRIME . . . HAS FOUND A STERLING NEW CHAMPION IN PHILLIPS."
-The New York Times Book Review

"A FUTURE HARD-BOILED CLASSIC-TIGHT, COLD, AND CACKLING WITH IRONY. On Christmas Eve [in Wichita], a mob lawyer is skipping town with the cash. But in this boozy, neo-noir world-James M. Cain meets George V. Higgins-the best-laid plans of bagmen turn brutal."
-The Dallas Morning News

"OMINOUS, ACTION-PACKED. . . This is a confident, wry debut . . . [that] may remind readers of Fargo or Pulp Fiction."
-Detroit Free Press

"I SIMPLY CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT SCOTT PHILLIPS WILL DO NEXT. [This] funny, tough first novel felt like it was written by an old pro, an Elmore Leonard we've never heard about who's discovered a place where the criminals are really dumb, the low-lifes are oh-so-fun to watch and, if somebody just happens to get what he deserves, there's no one to blame."
-RICHARD RUSSO
Author of Straight Man

"A DARKLY COMIC, SOMETIMES BRUTAL PIECE OF NOIR FICTION."
-The Denver Post

Finalist for the Hammett Prize