{"title":"Lou Berney","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"crooks-a-novel-about-crime-and-family-hardcover","title":"Crooks: A Novel about Crime and Family - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Lou Berney's\u003cem\u003e Crooks\u003c\/em\u003e stands with some of the finest crime novels ever written.\" -- Don Winslow, #1 Internationally bestselling author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003epanoramic, cross-generational look at a unique family pursuing their individual visions of the American dream.\" -- Joseph Finder, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestselling author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom award-winning author Lou Berney comes an electrifying new novel that follows a uniquely American crime family on an unforgettable journey across four decades.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou've never met a family like the Mercurios.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey say the American dream is going farther in life than your parents ever did. But how does that work if your parents are criminals?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor\u003cstrong\u003e Buddy\u003c\/strong\u003e, a low-level mob wise guy, and \u003cstrong\u003eLillian\u003c\/strong\u003e, a charming pickpocket, the criminal underworld is the only life they've ever known. When they're forced to flee the glittering Babylon of Las Vegas, they end up opening a club in Oklahoma City--a town that quickly feels like a gold mine of fresh marks and easy new money. Along for the ride are their five children, all of them raised into the family business of crime--until the day comes when they each have a chance to make their own way in the world, even if they can never completely escape the family's long, dark shadow. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJeremy, \u003c\/strong\u003ethe family's Golden Boy, will throw himself into the glittering excesses of a drug-fueled Hollywood in the roaring 1980s. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTallulah, \u003c\/strong\u003ethe daredevil, will find herself in the deadly Wild West of post-communist Moscow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRay, \u003c\/strong\u003ethe dope, the dumb muscle since he was a kid, wants nothing more than to put down his gun, but following orders is all he's ever known. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlice, \u003c\/strong\u003ethe genius who renounced her life of crime long ago, now sees her white-shoe law firm being blackmailed and must tap into old skills to save both the company and her own life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd \u003cstrong\u003ePiggy, \u003c\/strong\u003ea civilian always on the outside looking in on his crime family, desperate to be part of the gang.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCrooks\u003c\/em\u003e is an epic novel about a truly unforgettable family-forty years of peril as each Mercurio has to grapple, in their own way, with the family's powerful criminal legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50102788161759,"sku":"9780063445574","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/FbiDTOrtzh9780063445574.webp?v=1781087357"},{"product_id":"dark-ride-a-thriller-paperback","title":"Dark Ride: A Thriller - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFINALIST FOR THE \u003cem\u003eLA TIMES \u003c\/em\u003eBOOK PRIZE!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom Lou Berney, the acclaimed, multi award-winning author of \u003cem\u003eNovember Road \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eThe Long and Faraway Gone\u003c\/em\u003e, comes a\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDark Ride\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSometimes the person you least expect is just the hero you need\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty-one-year-old Hardy \"Hardly\" Reed--good-natured, easygoing, usually stoned--is drifting through life. A minimum-wage scare actor at an amusement park, he avoids unnecessary effort and unrealistic ambitions. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen one day he notices two children, around six or seven, sitting all alone on a bench. Hardly checks if they're okay and sees injuries on both children. Someone is hurting these kids.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe reports the incident to Child Protective Service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat should be the end of it. After all, Hardly's not even good at looking out for himself so the last thing he wants to do is look out for anyone else. But he's haunted by the two kids, his heart breaking for them. And the more research he does the less he trusts that Child Protective Services --understaffed and overworked--will do anything about it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat leaves...Hardly. He is probably the last person you'd ever want to count on. But those two kids have nobody else but him. Hardly \u003cem\u003ehas\u003c\/em\u003e to do what's right and help them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the first time in his life, Hardly decides to fight for something. This might be the one point in his entire life, he realizes, that \u003cem\u003eis\u003c\/em\u003e the entire point of his life. He\u003cem\u003e will\u003c\/em\u003e help those kids.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt first, trying to gather evidence that will force the proper authorities to intervene, Hardly is a total disaster. Gradually, with assistance from unexpected allies, he develops investigative skills and discovers he's smarter and more capable than he ever imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Hardly also discovers that the situation is more dangerous than he ever expected. The abusive father who has been hurting these children isn't just a lawyer--he also runs a violent drug-dealing operation. 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