Among Thieves

by John Clarkson

Overview

They thought they could cover up what an out-of-control trader at a Manhattan brokerage firm did to Olivia Sanchez. She worked hard, played by the rules, but so what? Blackball her from the industry and be done with her. Who's going to stop them? No one-until now.,,

"Hardboiled urban noir from the pen of a master...highly recommended."

-Lee Child

When Olivia turns to her cousin Manny, an ex-con and ex—gang leader, all bets are off. Manny sets out to take care of the arrogant bastard who hurt his cousin-for good. But his partner, James Beck, part of a tight clique of ex-cons based in Brooklyn's Red Hook, convinces Manny to hold off. Things can be complicated in the world of finance. But even Beck could not have imagined how much is really at stake...

"Fabulous... Clarkson brings some finely-honed cinematic chops to this darkly humorous book." -Bookreporter

Soon Beck and his loyal band are forced into an escalating war against criminals of every stripe-from Wall Street honchos and Russian mobsters to arms dealers and even the NYPD. Now, the only way for Beck to stay out of prison is to outsmart, outfight, never concede, and ultimately rob their enemies of tens of millions of dollars...if he doesn't lose his life first.

"James Beck is not a man to cross...With crisp prose, masterful plotting, and building suspense, this is a real treat."-Booklist (starred review)

This edition of the book is the deluxe, tall rack mass market paperback.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781410478733
Publisher:	Gale Group
Publication date:	06/10/2015
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	677
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

JOHN CLARKSON is the author of five previous novels, including And Justice for One. He spent many years in the New York advertising industry—as a copywriter, running his own agency, and as a private consultant. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/08/2014
Tough guy James Beck, the star of this outstanding thriller from Clarkson (One Way Out), runs a barely above-the-boards operation in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to give employment and a second chance to his fellow ex-cons. Beck tries to protect prison acquaintance Manny Guzman from avenging Olivia Sanchez, Guzman’s beautiful cousin, who was once a compliance officer at a high-powered Wall Street hedge fund. Sanchez claims to have been physically harmed, fired, and blackballed from the financial industry after attempting to rein in a rogue trader at her firm. Beck pulls together his quasi gang—which includes a bevy of appealing ruffians, mobsters, and burglars—to correct the wrong. But in doing so, he uncovers a plot to launder tens of millions from illegal arms sales, and he riles psychotic Russian arms dealer Leonid Markov, who now wants Beck dead. Clarkson’s relentless storytelling drives Beck and his foes toward a satisfying apocalyptic climax. Fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher will find a lot to like. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, Janklow & Nesbit. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

[An] outstanding thriller... Fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher will find a lot to like.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“With crisp prose, masterful plotting, and building suspense, this is a real treat for fans of gritty crime fiction, who will want more from Clarkson.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Among Thieves is hardboiled urban noir from the pen of a master ... highly recommended.” —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of Personal

“Among Thieves is an adrenaline fueled rush of reality and James Beck is one of the baddest, boldest, brashest creations ever seen in the pages of any thriller. It's a rock 'n roll, foot-stomper of a book and once you start you cannot stop reading. You can't ask for more out of a crime novel than you get from Among Thieves. It is as good as good gets.” —Lorenzo Carcaterra, New York Times bestselling author of Sleepers and The Wolf

“Fans of the great Lawrence Block and Lee Child will get their money's worth and then some.” —Peter Blauner, author of Slow Motion Riot and Executive Producer of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

“John Clarkson's Among Thieves is an intense, well-written thriller about tough, cunning men whose conflicting schemes turn Brooklyn into a battlefield.” —Thomas Perry, author of Butcher's Boy and Vanishing Act

From the Publisher

Fans of the great Lawrence Block and Lee Child will get their money's worth and then some.

author of Slow Motion Riot and Executive Producer Peter Blauner

Among Thieves is an adrenaline fueled rush of reality and James Beck is one of the baddest, boldest, brashest creations ever seen in the pages of any thriller. It's a rock 'n roll, foot-stomper of a book and once you start you cannot stop reading. You can't ask for more out of a crime novel than you get from Among Thieves. It is as good as good gets.

New York Times bestselling author of Sleepers and Lorenzo Carcaterra

01/01/2015
Olivia Sanchez is a compliance officer for Summit, a small investment company. When she spots irregular trading activity, Olivia confronts the broker, Alan Crane, who goes wild, threatening her and banging on her desk, breaking two of her fingers. Crane denies everything and even sues her for libel. Receiving no satisfaction from Summit's owner or the police, Olivia turns to Manny Guzman, a cousin with a criminal past, and his partner in crime James Beck, a man with unlimited resources. Beck learns that Crane is managing money for a Russian arms dealer, Markov, with nefarious connections. Unbelievably, Beck recruits, with a mere phone call, every kind of criminal, hackers, gunmen, thieves, in his fight against Markov. VERDICT Clarkson's (And Justice for One) disappointing new thriller lacks strong character development, offers the thinnest of plots, and ends in a predictable fashion. Although his Jack Reacher-style hero gets beaten up plenty, he never loses. Only fans of hard-boiled crime novels that feature bloody fights, guns, broken bones, drugs, and graphic sex will enjoy this book.—Edward Goldberg, Syosset P.L., NY

Library Journal

2014-12-07
A bad guy-versus-bad guy thriller in which the best outcome might be for everyone to die. Olivia Sanchez is a hardworking, ambitious employee at a Manhattan brokerage firm. When she apparently uncovers financial malfeasance, an irate colleague pounds his fist on her desk and breaks her fingers. Much worse, she's fired. Ostensibly to get her job back, she enlists the aid of her cousin Manny Guzman, an angry ex-convict who thinks that respectable Wall Street types "look at us [ex-cons] like cockroaches." Guzman in turn lines up James Beck, a convicted cop killer who was later exonerated. The conflict quickly gets out of control as small armies of thugs line up for and against Sanchez. Beck really owns the story, as one character's stated goal is to "wipe this Beck and all around him off the map of life." Beck is believable when he threatens to starve one of his enemies to death and run the man's skinny remains piece by piece through a meat grinder and feed the mush to a pack of dogs. Fans of grit and action will appreciate all the bullets and f-bombs that pepper the story, though the latter get old after about the hundredth eff-splosion. And heroes—who needs stinkin' heroes? No one is sympathetic here, although one might find vicarious delight in Sanchez (no nun, that Olivia) and Beck as they spend one vivid scene in bed. The story rarely stalls in its battles, bloodletting and betrayals, yet it still feels too long. At some point the reader may think, yes, that twist was good, that fight was exciting. Now enough already: Let's wrap this adventure up. Readers who want a likable protagonist to root for won't find one here. Yet it's a well-told, over-the-top tale long enough to keep a passenger occupied on a coast-to-coast flight.

Kirkus Reviews