Book Review: Prince of Thieves

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Prince of Thieves     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Chuck Hogan
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural

Doug MacRay is a product of a working class neighborhood of Boston. The atmosphere of his boyhood provided small time crooks as role models, and as an adult he has followed in their footsteps. A drunken brawl in a bar and a ruined pro hockey career have earned him a light prison sentence, and after his release he joins AA and begins to perceive his friends and his way of life with a more objective view.

But he can't shake the old ways that easily, and works with a small group of friends, meticulously planning and carrying out bank robberies in the Boston area.

One one successful morning, he and his buddies end up with a hostage, the young woman who works as the bank's branch manager. After she is safely released, Doug cannot get her out of his mind. Against his better judgement, but responding to some urge he can neither explain nor control, he contacts her and begins a romance.

However, the FBI agent assigned to the robbery is similarly intrigued by the young woman. The tension between the three main characters and the disintigrating way of life of Doug's Boston neighborhood provide a marvelous backdrop for one of the best reads I have come across in a very long time.

Part love story, part police procedural, part sociological drama, and approaching Shakespearean tragegy - Hogan hits all the high spots.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM