Only Way Out

A luckless thief’s wrong turn becomes a crooked cop’s fortune in a wild ride of a thriller by a New York Times bestselling author.

Failed lawyer Robert Green has such a good plan: Crack three hundred safe-deposit boxes and sail off to South America with his brilliant, morally flexible sister, Penny. If it weren’t for the damned freezing rain.

In the dying resort town of Granite Shores, cop Jack Biddle is self-appointed king―mostly of bad decisions. Between his family’s crumbling legacy, a wife who just joined the city council, and life-threatening gambling debts, Jack’s looking for a way out. Then he spots a van spinning off a mountain road into the valley below. In the wreckage, Jack finds a very dead Robert, millions in heisted loot…and opportunity.

All Jack has to do is clean up the mess, disappear Robert’s body, make off with the fortune, and not get caught. One hitch is Penny. Another is Mitch Diamond, a wild card ex-con who knows more about the missing fortune than he lets on. Jack, Penny, and Mitch each have an endgame. But there’s only one way out, and they’re crashing headlong toward it.

Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize

An Instant Amazon Best Seller! 

An Amazon First Reads Selection! 

An Orange County Register Best Book of the Year! 

An Alta Best Book of The Year! 

“There are echoes in this book of Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, Quentin Tarantino and Donald Westlake, but Mr. Goldberg is master of his own gonzo mix.” — The Wall Street Journal 

“In Only Way Out, Tod Goldberg leaves the desert for the Oregon coast, unspooling a hilarious, violent noir that redefines the meaning of hustle… Violent, hilarious, and thought-provoking by turns, Only Way Out is a humdinger of a crime novel that further cements Goldberg’s reputation as an heir to Leonard or Hiaasen even as he broadens and amplifies his own endearingly sardonic vision of the West.” — Alta

“Tod Goldberg has fashioned a masterpiece of contemporary noir in Only Way Out that doubles as a crime tale extraordinaire…Not to be missed.” — BookTrib, Best Books of the Month 

“Internecine noir, done just right.” –Kirkus Reviews (Starred)

“With comic flair, shocking violence, and a capacity for surprise, this recalls the noir-tinged films of the Coen brothers. Goldberg’s fans will be thrilled.” –Publishers Weekly

“Rating: A. Having loved Gangster Nation, I wasn’t surprised to have an equally good time with Only Way Out. I kept thinking of Elmore Leonard while I read it.” — Deadly Pleasures, Best of the Year. 

“Goldberg’s lens is both sharp and comic: The world is bleak, the stakes are real, but the public’s obsession with tragedy is ridicu-lous. Humor becomes the release valve, letting him tackle morality, greed, and violence without slowing the story’s pulse. For all its indictment of tragedy-related spectacle, Only Way Out is also a book about the necessity of laughter in a dark world.” — Palm Springs Life Magazine 

“The hunt for the money shoves the three of them together, with dire results, in the latest release from noir master Goldberg.” — Alta, Best Books of December

“One author I know who will take me on the adventure that I need to recharge my reading life is Tod Goldberg. His latest book is a welcome addition to a long list of thrillers that are enjoyable because they do not take themselves too seriously.” — Bookreporter 

“Small-town crime, big-time stakes, and the twists and turns aren’t only in the plot. If there’s an inheritor of Elmore Leonard, it’s Tod Goldberg.” ―Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author

“In Only Way Out, Tod Goldberg takes us to the washed-out edges of the Oregon coast, where lost souls, small-time hustlers, and true believers collide in a derelict resort town. This is a story about escape―what we’ll do to get free, who we’ll become to stay gone―shot through with black comedy. Sharp, strange, and unexpectedly moving.” ―Ivy Pochoda, author of Ecstasy

“Tod Goldberg has redefined the noir genre with Only Way Out. An unapologetic gripping view into criminal schemes gone bad, bad lives gone even worse, and sad lives redeemed. No beat is skipped as the exquisitely drawn, tragic characters repeatedly cross paths along an epic crime noir journey.” ―Steven Konkoly, USA Today bestselling author