By: John Clarkson
ASIN: B00LRWK33E
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: 2/3/2015
Format: Audio
My Rating: 5 Stars
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.
My Review
Wow . . AMONG THIEVES by John Clarkson is a non-stop complex action crime thriller, involving a Manhattan brokerage firm, Wall Street traders, a whistleblower, blacklisting, power, retribution; criminals, ex-cons and gang leaders, secret government agencies, Russian mobsters, money laundering, revenge, power, greed, $166 billion dollars, war criminals and the NYPD—when they go up against one another, which side will still be left standing and remain alive?
To round off the intensity and suspense, who better than my favorite audiobook crime thriller narrator, Peter Berkrot,with his sexy, twisted, chilling, and mysterious voice for an outstanding delivery!Olivia Sanchez, a compliance offer on Wall Street; beautiful, sexy, driven and intelligent woman has just been fired at her brokerage firm, for doing the right thing – suspecting financial fraud. (As a former whistleblower of a publicly traded company (SOX), love these stories – when there is fraud, the company’s first action is to fire, assault, discredit, and blacklist as they continue the illegal business and coverup).
Desperate, she turns to her cousin, ex-con and gang leader, Manny, for help. Of course, he is out for blood and revenge. However, his partner, James Beck is a little smarter as is fully aware of how ruthless business criminals can be.
They begin their strategy, working out of a base of operations in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. (What a group of prison cohorts; however, are they are a match for their evil and intelligent business opponents)?
Little does smart and savvy, Beck realize that Olivia's employment problem is minor compared to the connection between Milstein and Crane, involving illegal multi-million dollar investments, the Russian mob, illegal arms deals, as well as a clandestine U.S. government agency. Olivia gets caught in the crossfire with assault, and threats against her life. Things get complicated;
Beck and his guys are up against a long list of enemies from Bosnian war criminals, ruthless gang of Russian mobsters, Russian arms dealer, and of course hidden by the politically connected CEO of a Manhattan brokerage firm and the NYPD. What about Markov, a violent Russian arms dealer who is Crane's main client, who may have a link to the U.S. military.
As the intensity builds, the enemies catch on, a tip off, Becks’ group of cohorts cannot go back to prison; and then there is the stolen money. They have underestimated their opponents? Kidnapping? The steamy sexy attraction between Beck and Olivia? Who will strike next? Which criminal will outsmart the other? Can you really trust a thief?
An edgy, gritty, complex and entertaining hard-boiled crime fiction. A web of crime, violence, attraction, and deceit, which will leave your head spinning with twists and turns around every corner--for an intense page-turner of danger, lies and betrayal.
John Clarkson has developed an enthralling suspense crime thriller, an urban noir fans will devour! My first book by Clarkson and look forward to reading more.
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