Kings of Midnight, Wallace Stroby
Kings of Midnight, Wallace Stroby
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Kings of Midnight

Author: Wallace Stroby

Narrator: Coleen Marlo

Unabridged: 6 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/15/2014

Synopsis

Crissa Stone is a career criminal who has pulled a number of impressive heists by knowing how to keep her mouth shut and her temper in check. Still, as good as she is, she wants to get out of the life. All she needs is one last big score, enough to bribe her lover's way out on parole, set up a safe and stable new life, and get her daughter back. But things keep going wrong, like when her last two partners lost their cool and fought over the take instead of walking away $150,000 richer. The mess they made of the job and each other has put her on the run again.She's not the only one. Benny Roth, a former mobster, has been straight for years, but now he has his own problems. A face from the past has popped up to tell him that boss Joey Dio is finally dead and to ask about the $5 million that Joey was rumored to have stashed away years ago. Benny denies knowing anything about it and claims he's out of the business. That may be what he says, but he's willing to risk almost everything for one last shot.With the law and mobsters on the lookout and $5 million on the line, it isn't long before Crissa and Benny find themselves on a collision course that neither of them can avoid. This hard-boiled world, where the stakes—and the risks—are always high, unfolds at breakneck speed in Kings of Midnight, another dark and thrilling masterwork of crime fiction from Wallace Stroby.

About Wallace Stroby

Wallace Stroby is an award-winning journalist and a former editor at the Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey. His Crissa Stone novels have been optioned for development as a television series by Showtime. Stroby lives in New Jersey. 

About Coleen Marlo

Coleen Marlo has worked as a professional actor in film, television, and theater. She taught acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute for ten years and is a member of the Actors Studio. Marlo is also an accomplished voice artist, whom Publishers Weekly named Audiobook Narrator of the Year for 2010. She won the Audio Award for Literary Fiction in 2011 and is an Earphones Award winner.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kemper on August 16, 2015

If the fictional adventures of characters like Parker and Walter White have taught me anything about crime it’s that no matter how smart, capable and disciplined you are the problem is that you still have to deal with criminals who will probably be stupid, lazy, greedy, short-sighted, hot-tempered,......more

Goodreads review by James on January 05, 2015

Crissa Stone returns in another excellent hard-boiled novel from Wallace Stroby. Crissa is a career criminal who reminds many readers of a female version of Richard Stark's Parker. She certainly seems to have the same sort of luck that often bedevils Parker when even the best-laid plans often go awr......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on February 11, 2015

With parallels to Donald Westlake's (Richard Stark's) Parker series, this is the second book in featuring the female criminal Crissa Stone. Like its predessesser, it's spare and fast paced and I liked it a lot. Stone is an interesting character, on the face of it she shows little emotion but repeate......more

Goodreads review by Richard on December 20, 2014

This 2nd novel in the Crissa Stone series picks up shortly after shit hit the fan at the end of Cold Shot To The Heart. Now professional thief Crissa is desperately trying to rebuild her nest egg and get control of her life again. But desperation is a dangerous thing to have in this business. Desper......more

Quotes

“[The] power lies in Wallace Stroby’s uncannily exact imagery, precise language, and narrative credibility. Stroby’s depiction of heists is so believable you almost wonder if writing is just a sideline for him…Economy of language has been a key element of crime fiction since the days of Dashiell Hammett, but Stroby makes it feels fresh and vital again…Kings of Midnight is remarkable for its stylistic rigor. There’s not a word out of place, no detail that isn’t essential to the story…This is what hard-boiled writing should be.” Los Angeles Review of Books

“Stroby seems to get better book by book. This one offers plenty of excitement and plot twists, a solid body count, and vividly drawn characters. Crissa is crime fiction’s best career criminal since Richard Stark’s Parker…The Kings of Midnight puts Stroby in the same league as Stark and other exemplars of hard-edged crime.” Booklist (starred review)

“Chasing her retirement number, superthief Crissa Stone fills bunches of money bags. And body bags…Once again Stroby demonstrates how adept he is at making readers empathize with the essentially unworthy.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“As coolly efficient and professional as its heroine, this thriller evokes Donald Westlake’s Parker novels with lean storytelling that pauses only for meticulously detailed descriptions of criminals at work or in conflict.” Publishers Weekly

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