{"product_id":"2940170292790","title":"The Martini Shot: A Novella and Stories","description":"\u003cb\u003eShort stories and a novella from one of crime fiction's most revered writers.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Whether they're cops or conmen, savage killers or creative types, gangsters or God-fearing citizens, George Pelecanos' characters are always engaged in a fight for their lives. They fight to advance or simply to survive; they fight against odds, against enemies, even against themselves.  In this, his first collection of stories, the acclaimed novelist introduces readers to a vivid and eclectic cast of combatants. A seasoned claims investigator tracks a supposedly dead man from Miami to Brazil, only to be thrown off his game by a kid from the local slum. An aging loser takes a last stab at respectability by becoming a police informant. A Greek-American couple adopts an interracial trio of sons and then struggles to keep their family together, giving us a stirring bit of background on one of Pelecanos' most beloved protagonists, Spero Lucas. In the title novella - which takes its name from Hollywood slang for the last shot of the day, the one that comes before the liquor shots begin - we go behind the scenes of a television cop show, where a writer gets caught up in a drama more real than anything he could have conjured for a script.  By turns heartbreaking and humane, brutal and funny, these finely constructed tales expose the violence and striving beneath the surface of any city and within any human heart. Tough, sexy, fast-paced, and crackling with energy, \u003ci\u003eThe Martini Shot\u003c\/i\u003e is Pelecanos at his very best.","brand":"Hachette Audio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47123217613040,"sku":"2940170292790","price":24.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940170292790_p0.jpg?v=1763707429","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940170292790","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}