Saturday, August 13, 2016

Top ten crime novels set in Boston

Thomas O’Malley and Douglas Graham Purdy are the authors of Serpents in the Cold and We Were Kings. One entry on their list of the top ten crime novels set in Boston, as shared at The Strand Magazine:
Prince of Thieves (2004) – Chuck Hogan

Prince of Thieves is a tense, psychologically gripping novel set in Charlestown, a working class Boston neighborhood that produces more bank robbers and armored car thieves than any square mile in the world (or so the introduction tells us). It centers on townie Doug MacRay, the brains behind a tough crew of bank robbers, and his precarious and dangerous relationship with the bank manager his crew had taken hostage during a robbery and then later released. The pervasive yet unmanageable question that haunts the main characters in so many of Hogan’s books is: Once you’ve traveled too far into darkness, what is the cost of returning? A compelling, artfully crafted story that shows Hogan writing at the top of his game. In the crime and thriller genre, there aren’t many who do it better.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Prince of Thieves is among Matthew Quirk's top five books about the myths and realities of how to pull a heist.

--Marshal Zeringue