CROOKS

The misadventures of a crime family forged in Las Vegas in the 1960s, with a focus on their five children in the ’80s, ’90s, and 2010s.

“Mercurios don’t play by the rules.” So says small-time criminal Raymond “Buddy” Mercurio as he rises through the ranks of the Vegas mob and courts and marries Lillian Ott, a glamorous salesgirl and nimble pickpocket. Ten years and four kids later, they’re on top of the world when Buddy gets a midnight phone call: “Go.” They escape a shootout and retreat to Lillian’s hometown of Oklahoma City. With another baby on the way, it seems like a place where they can lie low “till [they] get back on [their] feet.” Then, a comedy of errors during a restaurant robbery elevates Buddy as a local hero, and he capitalizes on his celebrity by opening up a disco that becomes a surprising hit. Gangsters be gangsters, though, and when one of his investors discovers Buddy’s skimming from the profits, it looks like it could be time to cut and run—until he realizes it’s his wife behind the takedown. After a chase, a gunshot, and a heavy kiss in the freezing rain, they make up (in full view of the children). The rest of the novel follows each of the five children and the effect of their unconventional upbringing on their own choices and paths in life. From beautiful idiot hustler Jeremy to restless adrenaline chaser Tallulah to staid and earnest mob enforcer Ray to tight-laced strategic planner Alice and lonely writer Piggy, they’re all shaped by their criminal parents in different ways. They also move in and out of each other’s stories in appealing ways, emphasizing their loyal bonds even as they keep getting pulled back into their own versions of criminality. As is almost always true in anthology-style works, some stories are more engaging and effective than others, but Berney continues to expand the genre of Western noir with style, humor, and a deep understanding of human frailty and flaw.

Another original from the prolific Berney.