As slick as a switchblade with a pearl handle.”
— Lee Child, New York Times–bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novels
“I loved this book, with its myriad twists and turns. It has the pace of an action movie and the humor we've come to expect from Phoef Sutton.”
— Bob Newhart, actor and author of I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This
"This brief novel crackles with sharp dialogue—'if you can't lie to your wife, who can you lie to?'—and a witty narrative voice that put the reader in mind of Elmore Leonard... This one could make it to the big screen, but don't wait for the movie. Buy the book. It may be the first of a long series."
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Crush reads like Elmore Leoaard on crack... a nonstop thrill ride of a crime novel that's packed with action, smart-ass dialogue, colorful characters, and one harrowing plot twist after another. This novel will leave you breathless... and aching for the sequel.”
— Lee Goldberg, author of The Heist and The Job (with Janet Evanovich), The Walk, and many other thrillers
“In Caleb Rush, Phoef Sutton has created an iconic LA character—funny, violent, smart, broke, surrounded by lowlifes and minor celebrities—and zapped new life into a classic genre. How many Crush novels do I want to read? As many as Sutton writes.”
— Rob Long, host of NPR’s Martini Shot and award-winning television writer
“Phoef Sutton is the rare storyteller who writes with amped speed, laugh-out-loud humor, and utter suspense. Crush deserves to be a smash.”
— Bruce Feiler, New York Times–bestselling author
“A fast-paced, hard-hitting novel layered with mystery, muscle, and heart.”
— Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times–bestselling author of Robert B. Parker’s Blind Spot
“Phoef Sutton crushes it in Crush, a nonstop action thriller. If you like Jack Reacher, you'll love Crush! I did.”
— Joel Goldman, bestselling author of Stone Cold and Chasing the Dead
"Phoef Sutton has created a character who's impossible not to fall in love with, in a story that moves like a bullet train through the mean streets of L.A. If you're anything like me, you'll be begging for a sequel the moment you turn the last page."
— Robert Gregory Browne, bestselling author of the Trial Junkies series
“This book never pauses, never quits, and its hero slows down only long enough to reload. Reading it is like holding a burning firecracker in your hand. Much safer to toss it away, but where's the fun in that?”
— Nick Griffin, screenwriter of Matchstick Man and Terriers
"A witty, irreverent and sexy thrill ride through the famous guts of Los Angeles. Sutton writes his characters in great splashes of color, stirs them into a whirlwind, and releases them into his world with glorious results."
— Richard Ellis Preston, Jr., author of The Chronicles of the Pneumatic Zeppelin series
"Crush hits you with all the power and speed of a maniac wielding a baseball bat. If you ever need anyone to take out Jack Reacher, Caleb 'Crush' Rush is your guy. An action-filled, finger-snapping romp."
— Paul Bishop, LAPD detective and author of Lie Catchers
"Crush is what would happen if The Friends Of Eddie Coyle went out for a night of drinking and fighting. Snappy dialogue, sharp writing, and righteous violence.”
— Jay Stringer, author of the Eoin Miller trilogy
"Award-winning screenwriter Phoef Sutton’s Crush takes the reader on a dizzying carnival ride through the mean streets of L.A. Rush is an ass-kicker from the Patrick Swayze Roadhouse school of self defense.”
— W. L. Ripley, author of the Cole Springer and Wyatt Storme mysteries
“If you enjoy reading novels peopled by soulful characters forever taking their own psychic pulses, then Crush is not for you. If, on the other hand, you like hard-boiled crime fiction with a narrative line propelled by startling twists and turns and relentless action, then you won't want to miss this book. That action literally defines "nonstop," and the eponymous protagonist does the same thing for the term "heroic." I couldn't put it down till I arrived at the tangled, violent conclusion. Phoef Sutton has a winner.”
— Tom Kakonis, author of Treasure Coast and Double Down
“As necks snap, lies fester, and mercies scoff, the uncaged beasts in Phoef Sutton’s wildly sly debut novel Crush leave L.A. a time-shared Hades. Fluent in the wicked lowdown, the novel’s dizzying poisons mount, its characters a deadly, deranged splendor. The violence is cinematic, and Sutton’s infrared wit kills.”
— Richard Christian Matheson, author of Dystopia and screenwriter of many horror films and television shows
"Like a gunshot, Crush starts with a bang, whizzes by at a breakneck pace, and hits its mark with precision. The setting feels like the real underbelly of L.A., and Phoef Sutton's humorous touches crackle with energy. It reads like you’re watching a modern film noir. It's a cliche to say that I couldn't put it down, but that's what happened. I was riveted from start to finish."
— Bill D’Elia, director of Boston Legal and How to Get Away With Murder
"Check out Crush, a hilarious novel by Phoef Sutton. A cross between Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake, Sutton is a real find. Prepare to laugh away the night."
— Robert Ward, author of Red Baker and Four Kinds of Rain
★ 2015-04-15
A fast, crazy crime thriller filled with humor and smatterings of blood. Caleb Rush, nicknamed Crush, is a big-ass hulk of a bartender, bouncer, and "immovable object" who works in an LA bar called the Nocturne. "Rush had hurt a lot of martial-arts teachers," so if you care to mess with this guy, you'd better either have a gun or a passel of gangbanger chums all jumping him at once. Young Amelia Trask watches Crush in action and learns he is Bulgarian, or maybe Mexican or Italian "or something." Soon a dude in a Lamborghini tries to snatch her in front of the bar, and suddenly Crush is entangled in Amelia's life. Gail, a "taekwondo master ‘slash' bartender," and Crush's sort-of brother, Zerbe, are colorful characters adding spice to the plot. Rush had once protected Amelia's father, Stanley, a "filthy rich, arrogant" thief "who a whole lot of people probably wanted dead" and who "probably stole loose change from his left pocket when his right pocket wasn't looking." Now Amelia wants Crush to protect her from the Russian Mafia, and despite his toughness, he may get himself killed in the process. Some great action scenes result, such as the one involving a GTO bursting out of a warehouse elevator. This brief novel crackles with sharp dialogue—"if you can't lie to your wife, who can you lie to?"—and a witty narrative voice that put the reader in mind of Elmore Leonard. It's not better than Leonard, but it's surely in the master's league. The author has won two Emmys and several other prestigious awards and already has a Crush sequel ready to roll titled Heart Attack & Vine. This one could make it to the big screen, but don't wait for the movie. Buy the book. It may be the first of a long series.
