implied in the text but never stated. Many of Higgins's works focus on the criminal element and the cops who pursue them in and around Boston. His four Jerry Kennedy books form a connected series. Characters important in some of his novels often are mentioned in others, usually in passing but significant references, as in Trust, Outlaws, Bomber's Law and the Kennedy books. He is best remembered for his bestselling 1970 novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle, which was adapted into a 1973 film starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle. Higgins once wrote: "The success of The Friends of Eddie Coyle was termed 'overnight' in some quarters; that was one hell of a damned long night, lasting seventeen years..." During those 17 years, he had written 14 previous novels; he eventually destroyed them. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt called The Friends of Eddie Coyle "one of the best of its genre I have read since Hemingway's The Killers." "Like Joyce, Higgins uses language in torrents, beautifully crafted, ultimately intending to create a panoramic impression," wrote Roderick MacLeish in the Times Literary Supplement. But this dialogue-laden approach did not appeal to every critic, or even MacLeish, who added, "the plot of a Higgins novel – suspense, humor and tragedy – is a blurrily perceived skeleton within the monsoon of dialogue." In 1990, Higgins published On Writing, a book of hard-bitten advice for aspiring writers. The book was notable for its long excerpts of writers Higgins admired, including William Manchester and Irwin Shaw, and also for its unusually blunt judgments ("If you do not seek to publish what you have written, then you are not a writer and you never will be.") Published works Novels The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1970) The Digger's Game (1973) Cogan's Trade (1974) A City on a Hill (1975) The Judgment of Deke Hunter (1976) Dreamland (1977) A Year or So with Edgar (1979) Kennedy for the Defense (1980) (Jerry Kennedy series) The Rat on Fire (1981) The Patriot Game (1982) A Choice of Enemies (1984) Old Earl Died Pulling Traps: A Story (1984) Penance for Jerry Kennedy (1985) (Jerry Kennedy series) Impostors (1986) Outlaws (1987) The Sins of the Fathers (1988) Wonderful Years, Wonderful Years (1988) Trust (1989) Victories (1990) The Mandeville Talent (1991) Defending Billy Ryan (1992) (Jerry Kennedy series) Bomber's Law (1993) Swan Boats at Four (1995) Sandra Nichols Found Dead (1996) (Jerry Kennedy series) A Change