The Getaway

The classic heist thriller that inspired the film starring Steve McQueen.

“My favorite crime novelist—often imitated but never duplicated.” —Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Never Flinch and Holly

Doc McCoy is the most skilled criminal alive. But when his shot doesn’t hit the mark—for the first time in his long criminal career—everything starts falling apart. Soon, Doc realizes the perfect bank robbery isn’t complete without the perfect getaway to back it up.

The Getaway is the classic story of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, where the smallest mistakes have catastrophic consequences, and shifting loyalties lead to betrayals and chaos.

The basis for the classic Steve McQueen film of the same name, as well as a 1994 remake starring Alec Baldwin, Thompson’s novel set the bar for every heist story that followed. But as Thompson has proved time and again—nobody’s ever done it better than the master.

Praise for Jim Thompson

“The best suspense writer going, bar none.” —The New York Times

“The master of the American groin-kick novel.” —Vanity Fair

“My man in crime fiction.” —Jo Nesbø, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Harry Hole novels

“If Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Cornell Woolrich would have joined together in some ungodly union and produced a literary offspring, Jim Thompson would be it ... His work casts a dazzling light on the human condition.” —The Washington Post