Politics & the English Language

Sweeney on the Rocks

Trade Paper
  • 295 pages
  • 5.5 x 8.25 inches
  • ISBN: 978-1632460837
  • 2019-04-16

“Read the first sentence of Allen Morris Jones’ Sweeney on the Rocks, and just try to put it down. Not possible. Jones’ tale of Cosimo Aniello turned Ted Sweeney, Brooklyn badass turned Montana mensch with a push from WITSEC, grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. With prose as cool and shimmering as the ice in a wiseguy’s heart, Sweeney on the Rocksbelongs with the best of literary crime fiction.”—Gwen Florio, author, the Lola Wicks mysteries

Sweeney on the Rocks is the smartly-written, convincing, and often hilarious story of a New York mobster in the witness protection program who finds his past coming for him. The descriptions of southwest Montana and its eccentric residents are spot-on and the plot has more sharp twists than a barbed-wire fence. I loved every page and was sorry when it ended.”—Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky

“Jones has written a smashing crime novel, adding to his perfectly pitched comic voice with nicely drawn characters and a strong sense of place.”—Kirkus Reviews

“…a quick-witted, dark-humored crime novel whose clever plot twists and morbid sarcasm never let up.”—Foreword Reviews

Ted Sweeney. Affable everyman in small town Montana. Tailgate hung on with baling wire, owner of his own business. Ten minutes ago, his biggest worry had been how to pay for the engagement ring rattling around in his pocket. But that was before he came home to find a corpse tidily arranged in his favorite recliner. Is it a warning or a setup or what?

Sweeney dumps the body into the Yellowstone River without attracting attention. But over the next few days, as the corpse tumbles its way downstream, Sweeney’s complicated past gradually start rolling into the unflattering light. His is a story that includes the waning days of Italian wise guys in Brooklyn, the rise of the Russian mafia, and his own reluctant retreat into the witness protection program. Throw in a bag of uncut diamonds (“rocks”), an ex-wife turned country sheriff, a beloved mentor that might or might not be dead and a former mistress cashing in favors, and we have Sweeney on the Rocks, a traditional crime novel with the sensibilities of literature.

Allen Morris Jones is the author of the acclaimed novels Last Year’s River, which was chosen as a Barnes and Noble Discover pick, and A Bloom of Bones, which received an honorable mention for the Montana Book Award. He lives in Bozeman, Montana with his wife and young son.