The Snatchers / Clean Break (Starkhouse Crime Classics) - Softcover

White, Lionel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1944520198 ISBN 13: 9781944520199

Publisher: Stark House Press, 2017

Synopsis

Two classic heists...THE SNATCHERSCal Dent has set up the perfect crime, a kidnapping which will bring the gang a half a million dollars. On his side, he’s got Red the ex-boxer and his girl, Pearl, and twitchy Gino, plus Fats Morn, their outside man. The heist goes smoothly. They’ve got the kid and her caretaker, and they’re holding up in a vacation rental at Land’s End, waiting for the payoff. That’s when things start to go wrong. A local cop comes noising around. Gino gets careless inflicting pain on the child and Red beats the hell out of him. Pearl gets drunk and doesn’t stick to the plan. And then there’s Terry, the caretaker. After all this time in and out of the joint, who knew that Dent would find himself having feelings for another person. It was the perfect crime...how could it go so wrong?CLEAN BREAKWhen Johnny gets out after four long, patient years, he is ready to pull the perfect heist. "That's the beauty of this thing," Johnny told her. "I'm avoiding the one mistake most thieves make. They always tie up with other thieves. These men, the ones who are in on the deal with me—none of them are professional crooks. They all have jobs, they all live seemingly decent, normal lives. But they all have money problems and they all have larceny in them. No, you don't have to worry. This thing is going to be foolproof." And it was, until Sherry enters the scene.

About this title

About the Author:

Lionel White was born July 9, 1905 in New York City. He started his career as a police reporter and true crime magazine editor, and turned those experiences toward fiction writing with his first novel, The Snatchers, in 1953, about a failed kidnapping. He wrote more than 35 books, many of them translated into different languages and turned into films like The Night of the Following Day, The Money Trap, The Big Caper, Pierrot le Fou and perhaps most famously, The Killing, adapted by Stanley Kubrick from White s novel, Clean Break. He was considered the master of the big caper, and was credited by director Quentin Tarantino with the inspiration for his film, Reservoir Dogs. White died December 26, 1985, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Review:

Lionel White s crime novels ... were the next generation of lean, tight stories told in the hardboiled style of Dashiell Hammett. He was a master at devising well-planned heists that sound great, but when executed go wrong. --Elgin Bleecker, The Dark Time

Lionel White, if he did not invent the caper story, is certainly one of the ablest practitioners in the field. --Bill Crider, 20th Century Crime & Mystery Writers

This is a pretty hardboiled story, very well told and populated with realistic if seedy characters, all of which make this a very, very compelling read. --Sergio Angelini, Tipping My Fedora

About this edition

• Publisher: Stark House Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1944520198
• ISBN 13: 9781944520199
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 286