Ten slices from the life of Bobby Gold: by night, the security chief of a mobbed-up New York City nightclub, by day, a reluctant bonebreaker and enforcer for Eddie Fish - his old college roommate, and best friend.
Emerging from the 'gladiator school' environment of an upstate prison with an imposing physique and a reputation for skilled brutality, Bobby's a lonely, guilt-ridden child inside a hulking body. He views the grim work of coercion, assault and even murder as jobs to be done with a craftsman's work ethic and with a minimum of force. However, the technician's pride in a job done well is failing him, his friend and protector Eddie is getting flakier and flakier and worst of all, he's falling in love with Nicole, a reckless and self-destructive female line-cook who"s been around the block a few times.

Following on from his two superb novels, Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo, Anthony Bourdain has produced another stunning book of crime fiction.

"[Full of] the same explosive energy and irreverent humor in Kitchen Confidential . . . Readers will once again be delighted by Bourdain's charming, rugged sensibility, like a modern-day Damon Runyon, and his gourmet blend of wit, suspense and style" - * Publishers Weekly *

"Praise for Gone Bamboo: Gangster fiction to feast on" - * Independent *

"Reads like Carl Hiaasen on holiday with Elmore Leonard and goes out with a bang like a tequila slammer" - * The Times *

"Bourdain's dialogue-driven action proves completely absorbing . . . Like a good meal, the memory of Gone Bamboo will linger on" - * The List *

"A slick, very funny, brilliantly written crime thriller, very much in the style of the superb Carl Hiassen, Gone Bamboo is one of the essential reads of the year" - * GO *