Poughkeepsie Shuffle: A Crime Novel

“The dialogue recalls Elmore Leonard . . . The antics are good fun. Best read for the pleasures to be found around the edges.” — Booklist Online

“For the perfect crime caper cocktail you need a good(ish) guy in over his head, a bevy of bad guys and scumbags, a get-rich-quick scheme doomed to failure and a dash of dark humor. Poughkeepsie Shuffle has all these ingredients in spades.” — Simon Wood, USA Today bestselling author of Saving Grace

“Poughkeepsie Shuffle weaves a violent tale about banged up people with hearts full of rust. Crossing the border between bleak and bleaker, Kalteis effortlessly shifts gears from broken dreams to petty schemes with a rhythmic voice that’s all his own. If you read one book about gun smuggling, used car sales and hair restoration this year — make it this one.” — S.W. Lauden, author of the Greg Salem punk rock P.I. series

"For several years now, Dietrich Kalteis has been churning out top-notch crime novels from north of the border. There are inevitable comparisons to a Canadian Elmore Leonard for his rogue’s galleries of criminals and crooks. His latest, Poughkeepsie Shuffle, keeps the low-life parade rolling along . . . There are few others writing novels focused solely on the criminals who do it nearly as well." — Criminal Element

“There is probably no other mystery writer of the Canadian breed with such readability and crime-caper perfectness than the west coast-based Dietrich Kalteis . . . Kalteis is the master of writing about lowlifes and this latest one outdoes his best . . . It is a perfect crime novel for a rainy afternoon, a great stick-to-your-chair read, a wonderful Canadian crime novel.” — Owen Sun Sound Times

“Poughkeepsie Shuffle is a fast-moving combination of crime caper and convincing character studies that are worthy of peak period Elmore Leonard.” — Punk Noir Magazine

“Dietrich Kalteis writes about 1980s Toronto crooks in a style that’s breezy and confident, comic and ribald.” —Toronto Star

“Nobody portrays lowlifes gunning for the high life as credibly as Dietrich Kalteis. Poughkeepsie Shuffle delivers a s***load of excitement, and a glimmer of light, in one badass world.” — John Farrow, author of The Storm Murders Trilogy

“Full of jaw-smacking fistfights, rip-roaring car chases, and gun-blazing gang battles, Poughkeepsie Shuffle delivers a mighty thump of thrills and spills, and carloads of mean-tempered sons of bitches.” — Lancashire Evening Post

“Kalteis does it again — shoots us into the seedy side of criminal life with a raunchy cast of posers and thugs and one bold anti-hero . . . A master craftsman, . . . Kalteis knows how to rock our senses exponentially.” — Ottawa Review of Books

“It’s not for nothing that Kalteis has been compared with the great character-and-dialogue-creator Elmore Leonard, with work that is fast, harsh, violent and funny – if in a melancholy and even tragic sort of way. . . There may be violent people, greedy people, and even psychopaths in a Kalteis novel, but his special and delightful gift is in the bounce and joy of his writing.” — Sudbury Star

“A crime novel of astonishing detail and scope . . . This blistering and uncompromising crime novel is a starkly realistic narrative told with unrestrained violence and frequently outrageous humour. This is a high-octane page turner, populated with well drawn complex and edgy characters up against seemingly impossible odds and authentic sounding dialogue. Fans of noir crime will not be disappointed.” — James D.A. Terry blog