Ghostman

Hobbs, Roger. Ghostman. New York: Knopf 2013. Print

First Sentences:

Hector Moreno and Jerome Ribbons sat in the car on the ground level of the Atlantic Regency Hotel Casino parking garage, sucking up crystal meth with a rolled-up five spot, a lighter and a crinkled length of tin foil. They had thirty minutes.

There are three good ways to rob a casino. The first is in the front door. It worked back in the eighties, if not so much anymore. Just like a bank, a couple of guys would walk in with masks and guns and put some iron to the pretty little thing behind the bars. She'd start crying and begging for her life while the manager would hand over the stacks from the drawer. The bad guys would walk back out the front door and drive away, because common sense said that a gunfight would cost the casino more than whatever you'd got from the cages.

But times change. The cashiers are trained for it now. Security's more aggressive. As soon as the silent alarm goes, and it always does, guys with guns are coming out of the woodwork. They still wait for you to leave, though as soon as you step back out the door there are forty guys waiting with AR-15s and shotguns to take you down. No two-minute lag like before.

Description:

This book contains graphic violence. (See, you can even evaluate a book by the first sentence of a review!). Usually I am not a fan of Clint Eastwood macho-types righting wrongs and dealing with bad guys with excessive force and gun play. And a first sentence like above featuring the use of crystal meth is off-putting.   

However, the next sentences seal the deal for me. A bank robbery is about to occur, so I'm in. Heists are my favorite reading. Can't wait to learn what the other two ways are to rob a bank and which method will be used for this caper. 

Ghostman, by first-time author Roger Hobbs, is so well-crafted in plot, character, and action that it overcomes any reservations I had about potential violence and drug use. The focus is on the complex, carefully-timed robbery of an Atlantic City casino that goes completely wrong. The perpetrators barely make their getaway, wounded but with over one million dollars in cash. 

But of course there is a catch. The stolen money is a federal payload armed with security safeguards that will cause the stacks of money to explode in 48 hours unless they are returned. Caught your attention yet?

Enter Jack Delton, the "Ghostman," a person who assists criminals carry out their robberies and escapes. He is seemingly invisible, with no identity papers, no home, no traceable presence. He moves without leaving a trail, a master of disguise, fake passports, and prepaid cell phones (which are destroyed after each use).   

Marcus, the mastermind behind the heist, realizes only a ghostman like Delton can clean up the mess from the botched casino job, locate the fugitives and the money, disarm the cash, and bring it to him. Completing these tasks will clear an old debt between Marcus and Delton, incurred when a previous heist went bad due to a mistake made by the Ghostman himself.  

Of course, Delton must also elude the police, the casino investigators, and the "Wolf," a major drug kingpin with a personal interest in the money. Delton pursues lead after lead to the location of the cash, trying to preserve his anonyminity and stay alive. And the clock continues to tick. 

This may sound like a familiar plot, but in the hands of a great storyteller like Hobbs, Ghostman is very different from other thrillers. The heist as well as the previous Delton/Marcus caper are each recounted in meticulous detail, reveling jobs that plan to address every possible contingency (until, of course, something goes wrong).  

Author Hobbs also incorporates into the narrative interesting information from the criminal world such as the details of the construction and layout of an armored car, the trick to drawing a one dollar bill from memory, and why and how to destroy a cell phone after each use. The language he uses comes across as genuine bad-guy jargon, with new (to me) terms sprinkled throughout like "ghostman" and "jugmaster" (the heist planner).  

Yes, there are shootings and some violence, but thankfully no drugs after the first paragraphs. There are threats to do bodily harm, but these are necessary to the plot and in character, not gratuitous. It is certainly not a Rambo bloodbath or a Die Hard scenario with bodies everywhere.

This is a well-plotted, carefully written novel of the highest order for suspense, unpredictable action, and interesting characters. Perfect for those of us who occasionally love a heist that is fresh, compelling, action-packed, and yes, contains some violence.

Happy reading. 



Fred
www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments 

Previous posts

________________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Child, Lee. The Killing Floor. 

First book in the Jack Reacher series featuring an ex-military policeman of the Clint Eastwood mold: quiet, peace-loving, and good - until bad guys come along and bother him. Lots of violence, but is extremely well-written in plot and character. The first three in the Reacher series (Die Trying and Tripwire are the other two) are the best in my opinion, although I only read about six of them. (Jack Reacher and these books (One Shot) are the basis for the 2013 movie, Reacher, starring Tom Cruise)