2018 Spur Award Winner for Best First Novel2018 Spur Award Winner for Best Contemporary WesternTrue West Magazine’s Best Western Crime Novel of the Year “Banks’ strong noir debut will remind many of early Joe Lansdale. Smart dialogue helps propel the tight plot.” Publishers WeeklyAfter fastball phenom Prospero Stark’s baseball career craters in a Mexican jail, he retreats to a trailer park in the … jail, he retreats to a trailer park in the scorching Arizona desert. He lives in peaceful anonymity with a collection of colorful outcasts until someone leaves his former catcher’s severed hand on his doorstep. Beautiful, hard-living reporter Roxanne Santa Cruz, who keeps a .380 Colt and a bottle of Chivas in her car, joins Stark to help him uncover his friend’s fate, a dangerous pursuit that pits them against a ruthless gang of drug-dealing killers.
MORE PRAISE FOR DOUBLE WIDE :
“Featuring a gaudy cast of characters, this farcical drama goes the distance against the backdrop of Corbett Field and the mean streets of Tucson. Banks is an award-winning local journalist and on top of his game in his debut novel.” Arizona Daily Star
“Banks writes skillfully and with deep love for the Arizona desert. He knows the worlds of the desert women, men and kids who live under the radar of entitled society—and he writes that world without sentimentalism or judgment. He writes about alcoholism and addiction with near-surgical understanding—and kindness. He writes about professional baseball with the same merciless grace. Leo Banks devotes as much of his craft and deep perception to the setting of “Double Wide” as he does to his plot and people. ” Arizona Public Radio/NPR
“’Double Wide’ is a rollicking page-turner. As twisted and bumpy as a desert road at night. Leo Banks crafts a fast-paced tale filled with colorful characters. He displays an excellent ear for bitter, cynical dialog and an unsparing eye for desperate characters running on empty. Read it!” –Phoef Sutton, New York Times bestselling author (‘Wicked Charms,’ ‘Curious Minds’) and Emmy award winning TV writer (‘Cheers,’ ‘Boston Legal’).
“Where DOUBLE WIDE really shines is in its characters. Whip is a novelist’s dream protagonist. The half-hilarious, half-somber DOUBLE WIDE is so good it could bear at least one sequel. Maybe even a dozen.” Mystery Scene Magazine
“’Double Wide’ is classic crime in its best new clothes, Goodis-style grand failure and Chandler’s streetwise knight welded to the same frame and left baking in the Arizona desert until only the essential remains. Great writing line to line, wonderful evocation of place, each sentence edged with grit and humor – here where death is another story’s start-up.” –James Sallis, author of ‘Drive’
“The book is so good that it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel. Banks crafted his fast-moving plot expertly. The yarn is exceptionally well-written, Banks’s descriptions of the Arizona desert so vivid that you’ll rush to turn up the air conditioner, his portrayals of his colorful characters so memorable that you’ll find yourself wondering what else those who survived
the tale are up to once you finish the last page.” –Bruce DeSilva, Edgar Award winning author
“It’s tough not to appreciate a madcap crime novel that incorporates drug smuggling, homicide, baseball, Shakespeare, and wayward body parts into its tumbling plot. Especially when the story also boasts keen and comical observations on life, a roadrunner pace, and a hardy but humane protagonist. Double Wide is single-minded entertainment of a subversively literary sort. More, please!” – J. Kingston Pierce, The Rap Sheet
Be sure to check out the sequel, Champagne Cowboys, now available for preorder!
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Double Wide is a knockout contemporary crime thriller. Washed up, former major league pitcher, Whip Stark lives in a trailer in the Arizona desert. When he finds a shoebox on his doorstep containing the severed hand of his former catcher and best friend, he’s determined to bring the killer to justice. Smart, funny and suspenseful, you won’t want to miss Double Wide!
Fun to read and have introduced Double Wide to others. That is the best review of all.
Just a fun read. Loved it.
For his first novel WOW. Can’t wait for the next one
Fun read
I liked the persons & personal quiet views of desert life. loyal @ thoughtful & loyal to each other
Very realistic as I live 30 miles from the location of the story. A fun book to read. Is well written and fast moving.
I had such warm feelings about these characters who were society’s misfits. I loved their loyalty and bizarre ways of interacting with each other and the world.
Location
Great fun!
When I first saw the cover for Double Wide, I was not intrigued…
At all!
But when friends started sharing how much they were loving it, I had to give it a try.
So, I ordered a copy, and I sailed through it.
It was honest and real and quirky and fun.
I’m glad I didn’t shy away from something that seemed out of my norm – I really liked the story and found it well-written with a fresh voice.
In fact, there are two specific parts that I want to share with you, words I found profound…
People believe what they believe, and beliefs are hard set. Any time spent trying to talk someone out of an article of faith they’ve held since childhood is time wasted.
Yep. It’s not that I don’t believe people can change their minds, it’s just that I’ve found people don’t want to do so.
But here’s the thing: if it’s something I hold to be true from my life experiences, from my knowledge and relationships, you’re not likely to change my mind, either.
The second part I want to share occurs after a visit to the main character’s dad, who just happens to be a drug addict, in jail, awaiting trial for murder…
“I never thanked you for coming with with me,” I said. “Sam lights up when he sees you.”
“He’s a sweetie, but it’s all about you. He knows you’ll be there, same time every week. Never a doubt.”
“Everybody needs somebody to look after them that way…”
Isn’t that the truth?? We all need someone in our life who can acknowledge our worst mistakes, our insecurities, our faults, and our flaws and be there anyways. Without a doubt.
I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!
With love and hugs,
Ashli
A good mystery that becomes bogged down in baseball and pitching.
I bought this book because I liked the cover. Had a hard time finishing it, slow read for me.
This book was a little quriky. Not too realistic.
This is a terrific novel with realistic characters in a unique setting.
The only bad part is finishing the book and discovering that the author has not yet released any more!
Enjoy his writing and the setting is wacky enough to keep your attention straight through to the end. His characters are well-drawn and the premise compelling. Doesn’t seem artificial at all. Will likely look for more of this author’s work.
Forgettable.
Okey but not great
This does not read like a 1st book attempt, but flows more like a well known and seasoned writer. I give this book 2 High Fives, with Kudos to the writer for building a good tale with wonderful descriptions and delightlful word usage. This is going to be an Author to follow as I see nothing but interesting and captivating books in his future. Having grown up in AZ, I know that the read is true to life and that one can easily locate themselves in the area surrounding Tuscon, and one can even feel the heat and taste the dust that cakes one’s lips and eyes after a hard dusty deresrt blow.