A gritty underworld thriller that takes mob bosses, hit men, and gangland wannabes to Las Vegas where the name of their game is Charlie Opera.

A guy goes to Las Vegas for a holiday. In a matter of hours he gets drunk, gets mugged, and gets dumped by his wife. Things could get worse, and do, in this new crime novel from Charlie Stella, whose work, says the San Diego Union Tribune, not only recalls George V. Higgins but also “stacks up well against the master.”

With bravura, alternating brutality with humor and high-octane action with virtuoso tough-guy dialogue, Stella crafts his story of Charlie Pellecchia, whose unwitting entanglement with New York mobster Nicky Cuccia plops him in the path of the DEA, FBI, and Las Vegas police. Law enforcement may find Charlie awkwardly in its way, but elsewhere—in deluxe casino hotel suites, at deserted construction sites, on quiet residential streets—a bodybuilding punk looking to be made, a professional killer, a mob chief’s double-dealing accountant, and a pair of Vietnamese gangbangers are all trying to put Charlie permanently out of the way. All because he broke a wiseguy’s jaw.

Add to the mix hookers with felonious kinks, a cop deeply troubled by his wife’s infidelity, a ham-fisted redneck with vengeance on his mind and some bad faith between a Brooklyn crime family and the Russian mob. Things go down tough in Charlie’s opera.

---

"For his third brilliant crime novel, following Jimmy Bench-Press (2002)...Stella's dialogue is electric and funny...This outing Stella offers us quite a few sympathetic characters, from Charlie and the cocktail waitress he's falling for, to strong-arm men Francone and Lano. You actually feel sorry for the poor New York Mafioso, dropped in Las Vegas like sharks flipped into a pool of piranhas." – Publishers Weekly *Starred* Review

A Mystery Book of the Year 2003 Selection – Publishers Weekly

"Stella is carving himself a niche in crime literature somewhere between the late Eugene Izzi's street noir and Elmore Leonard's ironic tragicomedies. Bottom line: it works. Stella is a rising star." – Wes Lukowsky (Booklist *Starred* Review)

Booklist runner-up to the Top Ten Mysteries of late 2003/early 2004 – Booklist

"Stella's Goodfellas do their wild and crazy thing once more … the pace never slows, and you'll like tough, tenderhearted Charlie a lot." – Kirkus Reviews

"Combine Mario Puzo and Elmore Leonard, add a dash of George V. Higgins and what do you get? Charlie Stella, that's what. His flamboyant characters, violent action and picturesque dialogue place his work among the best of underworld thrillers, past and present." – San Diego Union Tribune

"Charlie Opera is The Man Who Knew Too Much on steroids and crank … Stella's third novel builds like a strobe and neon lit pop-Opera as staged by Sam Peckinpah … Violent, funny and softened by a touching and unexpected romance, Charlie Opera hews to the pattern of Stella's fine, first two novels, Eddie's World and Jimmy Bench-Press..." – Craig McDonald (ThisWeek)

"Where all the pieces will land in this raucous explosion of a tale is for the reader to discover. Suffice it to say that when it comes to throwing a group of characters together and spinning the wheel to see what happens, Stella knows exactly where he wants them all to go. The getting there is all the fun." – Peter Mergendahl (RockyMountainNews.com)

A Crime Factory (the Australian Crime Fiction Magazine) pick as one of the best crime reads of 2003.

"...a gritty novel that brings alive the underbelly of a seamy city. Fans of hard-boiled fiction in the tradition of George V. Higgins will want to seek out Stella's latest novel." – Sarah Weinman (January Rap Sheet)

"In classic fashion, Charlie Stella's story comes to a final conclusion with all the parties, including Charlie, his new found girlfriend, Cuccia and the rest of the NYC and Vegas Mafia, and even the police, either dead, in love, returned to their everyday dark lives or missing forever. What an opera, and what a story. Don't miss this Aida of a thriller!" – Paul Anik (iloveamysterynewsletter.com)

"A retired window-washer with a love of opera goes to Vegas on vacation and wakes up in a ditch behind a construction site. He soon finds himself mixed up with New York mobsters. Advance readers say Stella's latest crime novel is fast, funny and brilliant from start to finish." – Steven Robert Allen (Alibi.com)

"…A veritable organized crime soap opera of seamy characters and their tangled machinations surrounding one man who dared to break a wiseguy's jaw, Charlie Opera is genuinely gripping, vividly written, and totally exciting reading." – The Midwest Book Review

"There is a manic energy to Charlie Stella's writing. Heir to much that's best in the hard-boiled tradition - often compared to George V. Higgins and Elmore Leonard - Stella has a gift for tough humour, quick-fire dialogue and comic plotting. Using rapidly shifting points of view, Charlie Opera involves the reader with a motley crew of sharply delineated characters as they descend on Las Vegas, pursuing, surveilling, beating up, shooting and narrowly escaping one another." – Lee Horsley (CrimeCulture.com)

"Charlie Stella has written a fast-paced-high voltage story here…The hi-jinks of the Las Vegas hookers and the different factions of ethnic gangs is all too believable...The audience Stella was aiming for will love this book. It is right up there with the best." – C.J. Curry (Newmysteryreader.com)

"Talented Charlie Stella has created a cast of interesting characters who will definitely keep you reading...A fun read with a great setting and plotline. Recommended read for the mystery lover who likes the high life and excitement of Las Vegas and lots of action." – Ann K. Edwards (murderandmayhembookclub.com)

"This is a superb piece of writing that stands proudly alongside the crime fiction gods Stella is most often compared with, George V. Higgins and Elmore Leonard." – Allen Guthrie, author of Two Way Split

"…you have a book that brings to mind Elmore Leonard were he to write an episode of The Sopranos. With a pedigree like that, you can’t fail to have a good book on your hands...Stella’s greatest strength is his dialogue. His characters come across in sharp focus and their verbal sparring is entertaining, enlightening and utterly believable...Masterful, fun and highly recommended." – Crime Scene (Scotland)

"It was good, sonny. I couldn’t wait to finish it. But do you have to put all that dirty stuff in there like that? All that cursing...it was too much." – Momma Stella

ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE UK