That Left Turn at Albuquerque

Chapter One
 
Heading up the 5 and in a hyper-enervated state, he stopped in Mission Viejo at Manny s Liquor and Variety Store, where he knew a working pay phone was attached to the brick wall outside. Scored and pitted, covered with graffiti and rust, for all Rigby knew it might have been the last one in Southern California. Next to it stood a skeletal derelict with a week s growth of beard and stiff, ancient jeans gray with filth, looking as though he was waiting for a call. Rigby decided to go inside and buy a celebratory bottle, in case the tweaker decided to shove off on his own.
      This might be the seedier side of Mission Viejo, but that still meant a fine selection of champagnes and a patronizing sales clerk. We have a nice Veuve Clicquot here for sixty-four ninety-nine, he said, nostrils flaring, eyeing him sidelong. I imagine that d do you nicely. Minus the condescension, that would have been fine for Rigby s purposes, but he felt compelled to put the salesman in his place.
     That s white trash booze, he said. How much for the Krug?
       That s vintage. 2003.
       Swell. How much?
       Three hundred nineteen dollars and ninety-nine cents.
       Great, and stick a bow on it.
      Outside, the stick figure was still standing by the phone. Rigby would have preferred not to have to interact with anyone in the context of this particular call, but the man gave no sign that he intended to get lost. Once Rigby had placed the champagne in the car, he walked up to the phone, jingling the quarters in his pocket.
       Phone s in use right now, the tweaker said.
       Doesn t look that way to me.
       Waiting for a call. Urgent.
       That

Scott Phillips is a screenwriter, photographer and the author of seven novels and numerous short stories. His bestselling debut novel, The Ice Harvest, was a New York Times Notable Book and was adapted as a major motion picture starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. He won the California Book Award and was a finalist for the Edgar Award, the Hammett Prize, and the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Scott was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, and lived for many years in France. He now lives with his wife and daughter in St. Louis, Missouri.

Longlisted for the 2020 CWA Gold Dagger

Praise for That Left Turn at Albuquerque

Many writers bill themselves as noir, but if you want to experience what the word truly means, in its finest expression, then pick up That Left Turn at Albuquerque, a brutally funny, wickedly clever nightmare that heralds the triumphant return of Scott Phillips, the twenty-first century's greatest purveyor of crime fiction.
Blake Crouch, author of Recursion and the Wayward Pines trilogy

In That Left Turn at Albuquerque, Phillips displays a master alchemist s touch. No one blends the elements of happenstance, malevolence, unintended consequences, irony and humor into crime fiction magic like Phillips. No one!
Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author of What You Break    

A hilarious, twisty, dark, and profane romp deep into a modern noir world. The people in a Scott Phillips novel are so damn authentic, they remind me of folks I met while covering the crime beat. Phillips proves once again why he's one of the best crime writers out there.
Ace Atkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Shameless  

"The cover of St. Louis writer Scott Phillips  That Left Turn at Albuquerque shows a parked sports car gleaming in the sunshine. But behind that sunny cover looms a dark story a noir tale, acted out by some shady souls."
St. Louis Today

"The one persistent problem with reading a Scott Phillips novel is you can never figure out who you re supposed to root for. You meet a series of engaging characters, all of them relatable -- and then you realize they re all liars, cheats and maybe worse."
The Oregonian

Phillips is the real deal . . . Noir and black comedy have always been kissin cousins, but here they re locked in a torrid embrace.
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