Happy #thrillerthursday bookish peeps! Growing up, the Mercurio kids didn’t get in trouble if they committed a petty crime. In their family, crime was the family business. And business was good. Crooks by Lou Berney is a character driven story wrapped around crime fiction and I really liked it.
This was a fun read. The first half of the book lays the family’s foundation with Buddy and Lillian’s early married life in Las Vegas and then in Oklahoma City. Their kids, Ray, Jeremy, Alice, and Tallulah, all gravitate to the family business at an early age. Only Piggy, the baby of the family, avoids the family business because he was just too young. Each of the older sibling show some kind of exceptional talent that lends itself to crime. The kids put their talents to work early and often. The chapters in the second half are devoted to each sibling as an adult and what they’ve become in life. My favorite character was Ray, the quiet but strong brother who was always the muscle in the family. Ray returns Vegas working as the fixer for a sleazy manager of a tired casino. Ray realizes he needs to change his life and sets out on a path to go legit. I loved Ray’s earnestness as he tries to think and make decisions like a non-criminal in an effort to rebuild his life and the casino.
This multigenerational family saga with heart, humor, and morally gray characters is a great choice for crime fiction fans. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If your family were a crime crew, what would your role be? Would you be the mastermind, the getaway driver, or the one who accidentally spills the plan?
#Crooks #LouBerney #LiteraryThriller #CrimeFiction #Bookstagram #ThrillerReads #FamilyDrama #NoirVibes #BookishCommunity
About the Author
Lou Berney is the multiple award–winning author of November Road, The Long and Faraway Gone, Double Barrel Bluff, Dark Ride, as well as Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. He lives in Oklahoma City.
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