Helpful Score: 1
Hard-boiled mystery type book about a bank robbery and how Murphy's Law gets its claws into the whole operation and not only rips it to shreds but gives it a few twists, too. Focuses primarily on the story of Lennon, the wheelman (getaway driver) for a bank job done in downtown Philadelphia. The heist was well-planned and the parties were professionals, so what went wrong? Obviously, someone sold them out. At least one someone, if not more. Fast-paced, violent, with just enough sick and twisted humor to appeal to those who enjoy sick and twisted (like me), the book was hard to put down. Several of the plot twists I didn't see coming, but I did anticipate some of them. Will definitely be reading more by this author!
Helpful Score: 1
I had the privilege of reading Duane Swierczynski's THIS HERE'S A STICK-UP, his non-fiction tome of bank robbery facts and figures, a few years back when it first came out. In THE WHEELMAN, Mr. Swierczynski takes fact, mixes it up with a whole lot of fiction, and comes up with a thrilling crime debut that's well worth the read!
We first meet Lennon, a wheelman or get-away driver, waiting outside a Wachovia bank in Philadelphia as his two associates, Bling and Holden, get caught on their way out of the bank with the $650,000 take. Somehow, Lennon, a mute Irishman who knows nothing more about robbery than how to get away, manages to retrieve his buddies and hightail it out of the city. Unfortunately, someone--in the form of a black SUV--manages to stop Lennon and the get-away car in its tracks.
Cue to Lennon, supposedly dead, in the process of being dumped into a pipe at a Philadelphia Children's Museum construction site. Thankfully, Lennon's not as dead as he looks, and he manages to outsmart his two body-dumpers. Not so fortunate for them when they realize what a pissed-off Irish mute can do for revenge.
Suddenly, getting out of Philadephia isn't as easy a trick as it was supposed to be. Bling and Holden appear to be dead at the bottom of said pipe, the $650,000 is missing, there's a few retired ex-cops on his butt, and both the Russian Mafiya and some old-time Philadephia mobsters are after him--and everyone wants a piece of the bank take.
As things go from bad to worse, with blown-up buildings, lots of gunfire, knife torture, and some really cool close calls, THE WHEELMAN leads us on a chase to find the money from the bank heist and get the heck out of dodge.
Besides being an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat crime thriller, THE WHEELMAN is just pure fun. With interesting facts thrown in--I hadn't realized that it was DilLINger, not DillinGER--and some laugh-out-loud moments--trademark "Scratch-Your-Balls-Until-The-Feds-Arrive"--this is one book you really don't want to miss.
We first meet Lennon, a wheelman or get-away driver, waiting outside a Wachovia bank in Philadelphia as his two associates, Bling and Holden, get caught on their way out of the bank with the $650,000 take. Somehow, Lennon, a mute Irishman who knows nothing more about robbery than how to get away, manages to retrieve his buddies and hightail it out of the city. Unfortunately, someone--in the form of a black SUV--manages to stop Lennon and the get-away car in its tracks.
Cue to Lennon, supposedly dead, in the process of being dumped into a pipe at a Philadelphia Children's Museum construction site. Thankfully, Lennon's not as dead as he looks, and he manages to outsmart his two body-dumpers. Not so fortunate for them when they realize what a pissed-off Irish mute can do for revenge.
Suddenly, getting out of Philadephia isn't as easy a trick as it was supposed to be. Bling and Holden appear to be dead at the bottom of said pipe, the $650,000 is missing, there's a few retired ex-cops on his butt, and both the Russian Mafiya and some old-time Philadephia mobsters are after him--and everyone wants a piece of the bank take.
As things go from bad to worse, with blown-up buildings, lots of gunfire, knife torture, and some really cool close calls, THE WHEELMAN leads us on a chase to find the money from the bank heist and get the heck out of dodge.
Besides being an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat crime thriller, THE WHEELMAN is just pure fun. With interesting facts thrown in--I hadn't realized that it was DilLINger, not DillinGER--and some laugh-out-loud moments--trademark "Scratch-Your-Balls-Until-The-Feds-Arrive"--this is one book you really don't want to miss.
