Thelma and Louise meets Goodfellas when an unlikely trio of women in New York find themselves banding together to escape the clutches of violent figures from their pasts.

After Brooklyn mob widow Rena Ruggiero hits her eighty-year-old neighbour Enzio on the head with an ashtray when he makes an unwanted move on her, she retreats to the Bronx home of her estranged daughter, Adrienne, and her granddaughter, Lucia, only to be turned away at the door. Their neighbor, Lacey 'Wolfie' Wolfstein, a one-time Golden Age porn star and retired Florida Suncoast grifter, takes Rena in and befriends her. When Lucia discovers that Adrienne is planning to hit the road with her exboyfriend, she figures Rena is her only way out of a life on the run with a mother she can't stand. The stage is set for an explosion that will propel Rena, Wolfie, and Lucia down a strange path, each woman running from their demons, no matter what the cost.

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself is a screwball noir about finding friendship and family where you least expect it, in which William Boyle again draws readers into the familiar - and sometimes frightening - world in the shadows at the edges of New York's neighbourhoods.

A mad bunch of chracters, a wild plot, plenty of humour and a dangerously dark edge underlying it all make this a five-star winner.

'...an absolute delight fromthe author of one of my favourite Brooklyn Noir novels, Gravesend....exquisite tale offemale friendship combining thrills galore, dark humour, sparkling repartee,highly unpredictable twists at every turn of the meandering road and a glorioussense of the ridiculous. Will have you chuckling from page to page.' - Maxim Jakubowski, CrimeTime Book of the Month

'...an Elmore Leonard-style caper that hits theground running...With vintage car chases, warp speed energy andfemale bonding, this is funny, touching and exhilarating in all the rightplaces.' - The Guardian