Cogan's Trade
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| Author | George V. Higgins |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime |
| Publisher | Knopf |
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Publication date
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1974 |
| Pages | 216 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 762621 |
Cogan's Trade is a 1974 crime novel by George V. Higgins. The novel was Higgins's third novel centered on crime in Boston neighborhoods, following The Friends of Eddie Coyle and The Digger's Game. In Cogan's Trade, Cogan is a hitman who targets the person responsible for a card-game heist. The person is identified through a second heist and pursued by Cogan, who works for an anonymous benefactor who also has a non-criminal role in society.
The 2012 film Killing Them Softly, directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt, is based on the novel.
Markie Trattman is the proprietor of a criminal poker ring operating in a New England neighborhood. He decides to orchestrate an inside job by paying two men to rob his poker room; although he later openly admits his involvement to various criminal figures, he suffers no retaliation. In the fall of 1974, a man named Johnny "Squirrel" Amato plans to rob Markie's next poker game, anticipating the mafia will blame Markie for the heist. He enlists Frankie, a former business associate, and Russell, an unstable heroin addict, to perform the robbery. Upon completing the crime, Russell travels to Florida.
"The driver", an emissary for the mafia, converses with a hitman named Jackie Cogan. Jackie has out who robbed the game, but even though he understands Markie was uninvolved, he believes Markie should be murdered in order to restore confidence amongst the local mobsters. After murdering Markie, Jackie meets with Mitch, another professional hitman, to prepare for the assassinations of Russell, Frankie, and Squirrel. Jackie becomes frustrated with Mitch's flagrant lechery and alcoholism, and convinces Driver to arrange Mitch's arrest.
Russell is arrested on a drug possession charge; meanwhile, Jackie confronts Frankie and agrees to spare him his life, on the condition he reveal Squirrel's whereabouts. Jackie murders Squirrel before murdering Frankie; he then meets with Driver to collect his fee. Driver refuses to pay Jackie in full, and Jackie demands his payment.
Cogan's Trade and its predecessors The Friends of Eddie Coyle and The Digger's Game "exalt crime at the expense of criminals". In the novel, cars are a common motif, appearing at the beginning of numerous chapters. Higgins pairs drivers with cars that match both their socioeconomic status and how they want to project themselves. In one instance, a character compares "driving a Chrysler 300F at 80 mph to having sex with a beautiful woman". Cars are also places where characters are killed.
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