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Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2015
432 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
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?
Nobody, until Olivia turns to her cousin Manny, an ex-con and ex-gang leader whose first reaction is to take care of the arrogant bastard who hurt his cousin - permanently. 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 real world. But even the savvy Beck has no idea what's really going on.
There's much more at stake than Beck imagines, starting with enough money to ignite a level of ruthless greed that can wipe Beck and his partners off the face of the earth. It's tens of millions of dollars, connected to arms dealing for a clandestine U.S. agency.
Beck and his loyal band are forced into an escalating nonstop war against an arms dealer, war criminals, Russian mobsters, and even the NYPD. The only way to stay out of prison and survive is to outsmart, outfight, never concede, and ultimately rob their enemies of the source of their power: 116 million dollars.
"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. 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." - Publishers Weekly
"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." - Library Journal
"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
"Among Thieves is hardboiled urban noir from the pen of a master … highly recommended." - Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of Personal
"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
This information about Among Thieves was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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.
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