Review by Booklist Review
Jack has an unusual job. He helps people who are on the run find safe havens. It's not strictly a legal occupation, but it pays pretty well, and it's interesting work. Jack didn't think he was in need of an extra jolt of excitement in his life, but when an ex-girlfriend shows up after several years with a plan to steal a fortune in diamonds, he thinks, well, why not? Murphy's second book, following his well-received debut, An Honest Living (2022), is a terrific heist novel. The author, editor-in-chief of the popular website CrimeReads, nails all aspects of the genre, from the intriguing characters to the complicated plan, the twists and turns and reversals, and a lean, mean writing style. Some caper novels feel by-the-numbers, as though the writer had a list of boxes to check but no real enthusiasm for the material. Murphy obviously loves what he's writing about, which means we love reading him. For fans of heist and caper stories, this one's a must-read.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This atmospheric heist thriller from CrimeReads editor Murphy (An Honest Living) proves that genre readers really can have it all: terrific characterization, an intricate plot, and stylish writing to boot. Jack Betancourt lives in the rundown Massachusetts beach town of Onset. He leads a quiet life, working at a business built by his ex-spy father that helps people in trouble disappear: thieves, mobsters, spies, and fugitives of all sorts. Jack's old girlfriend Elena, a lawyer with a very shady past, arrives back in Onset after a seven-year absence. She has a plan to steal diamonds valued between three and 180 million dollars (depending on the buyer) from a law firm colleague's safe and needs Jack's help to do it. Their scheme has a lot of moving parts, and bad luck threatens to shut them down, but Elena's a ruthless leader, and Jack is driven by a cocktail of motivations even he can't quite untangle. Murphy's spare, polished prose carries a touch of Elmore Leonard and a whisper of Ernest Hemingway, but in balancing those influences he locates a style all his own. Strong characters, sharp wit, breathless action, and real emotional depth make this exceptional neo-noir sing. Agent: Duvall Osteen, Aragi, Inc. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A cache of diamonds is the MacGuffin of Murphy's second novel, in which two former lovers plan a heist in the faded Massachusetts beach town of Onset. Jack Betancourt, whose job is stashing all manner of fugitives in safe housing and moving them across state lines with new identities, is lured into a supposedly can't-miss scheme by his ex-girlfriend Elena, a rising New York attorney whom he hasn't seen in seven years. The plan is to break into the home safe of a colleague of Elena's and substitute fake stones for gems that are worth millions. "You only have to conceive of a thing as yours," says Elena, a born hustler. "That's what a good theft is." A low-key operator living in the shadow of his ex-spy father, who started the relocation business, Jack does his job according to the rules, however cruel they may be. Boasting a law degree himself--from Harvard--he is most in his element playing basketball. When he and Elena and the crew they put together for the heist run into a patch of bad luck, they respond with uncommon cool. "It has nothing to do with money," says Elena. Jack says he believes her but only because "it was a nice night and I didn't want to spoil anything." A kind of flip noir, Murphy's follow-up to An Honest Living (2022) has a subtle off-center quality that niftily evades crime-fiction formulas. Only when Jack knowingly transports an innocent teenage boy to a grisly end does the underlying darkness break through--and the once-monied Onset, "kind of a Big Rock Candy Mountain for lowlifes and runners," reveals itself as a toxic setting for locals and temporary visitors alike. A shrewd, offbeat original. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
