The Pigeon

A New York mob fixer’s search for a stolen racing pigeon sends him into a warren of assassins.

Harvard dropout and ex-Special Forces operative Joe Brody is climbing the ranks in the criminal underworld. After successfully executing multiple missions for the various crime syndicates that run New York City, he has come to earn the trust and respect of the city’s most dangerous denizens. Which is why his newest task—retrieving a pet pigeon snatched from a rooftop coop in Brooklyn—has Joe puzzled … until he learns that the bird is valued at close to a million dollars.

Joe hatches a plan to sneak into the luxury park-side apartment building where the pigeon is held captive. But that simple plan takes a deadly turn when he stumbles upon a nest of international war criminals and a ruthless building manager overseeing the nefarious operation. Fearing that Joe’s entry into the building has somehow compromised the scheme, they put a bounty on his head. In New York, Joe is untouchable, but his new foes come from outside the flock, and he’ll need a wing and a prayer to elude their assassins.

With high-stakes action sequences punctuated by laugh out loud humor, The Pigeon is an entertaining caper with nods to vintage crime fiction by masters like Elmore Leonard and Richard Stark. It’s a perfect entry point into David Gordon’s enjoyable Joe the Bouncer series, and a great continuation for returning fans.

The theft of a caged bird may seem like no big deal, but in author Gordon’s hands the recovery mission assumes epic proportions…. Breathtakingly over-the-top.”
—Kirkus

In the caper tradition popularized by Donald E. Westlake and Lawrence Block, Gordon uses humor to good effect.”
—Publishers Weekly

The series has an alternate world appeal not unlike John Wick, but run through with a deep appreciation for classic literature and classic crime fiction in the Donald Westlake and Lawrence Block mold. It’s not to be missed.”
―CrimeReads

A self-referential love letter to noir … It’s a fun ride.”
―Reviewing the Evidence

David Gordon was born in New York City. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. It was also made into a major motion picture in Japan. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Purple, and Fence, among other publications.

See more titles by David Gordon