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Bank Job
Jaded, angry and utterly stupid, brothers Leon and Junior Daggett and their homicidal partner, Roy Wade, entertain themselves by knocking over liquor stores and gas stations. When a run-of-the-mill robbery goes sour, they find themselves knocking on the door of a stranger for help. That stranger ends up being Vince Carson, retired bank robber.Thinking they've discovered their big-time score, Leon and Roy take Vince's wife hostage, forcing him to rob the local bank in exchange for Maria's safe return. But Vince has other ideas. He sets out to prove that old age and treachery always triumph over youth and ineptitude.Bank Job plays out like a movie-'The Desperate Hours' meets 'Raising Arizona.' It's just the sort of hilarious mix readers expect from Brewer, author of the recent novels 'Boost' and 'Bullets.'"Brewer's writing is gritty and witty, tough on its characters but easy on the reader."-'The Albuquerque Tribune"Brewer's pacing is among the best in the genre."-'Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- GenresCrime
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2005
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Steve Brewer
63 books36 followersSTEVE BREWER is the author of more than 30 books, including the recent crime novels UPSHOT and COLD CUTS.
His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a 2009 independent Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna.
Under his pen name Max Austin, Brewer wrote three hard-boiled crime stories set in Albuquerque, NM. The first, DUKE CITY SPLIT, was published by Alibi/Random House in April 2014. DUKE CITY HIT followed in December 2014. DUKE CITY DESPERADO came out in June 2015.
Brewer's short fiction has appeared in the several anthologies, and he's published articles in magazines such as Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.
Brewer has taught at the University of New Mexico, the Midwest Writers Workshop and the Tony Hillerman Writers Seminar. He regularly speaks at mystery conventions, and was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe, NM, in 2011.
He served two years on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and twice served as an Edgar Awards judge. He's also a member of International Thriller Writers and SouthWest Writers.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Brewer worked as a daily journalist for 22 years, then wrote a syndicated weekly column for another decade. The column, called The Home Front, produced the raw material for his humor book TROPHY HUSBAND.
Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.
More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com.
BOOKS BY STEVE BREWER
"Lonely Street," 1994, Pocket Books
"Baby Face," 1995, Pocket Books
"Witchy Woman," 1996, St. Martin's Press
"Shaky Ground," 1997, St. Martin's Press
"Dirty Pool," 1999, St. Martin's Press
"End Run," 2000, Intrigue Press
"Crazy Love," 2001, Intrigue Press
"Cheap Shot," 2002, Intrigue Press
"Trophy Husband," 2003, University of New Mexico Press
"Bullets," 2003, Intrigue Press
"Fool's Paradise," 2003, UNM Press
"Boost," 2004, Speck Press
"Sanity Clause," a novella, in "The Last Noel," 2004, Worldwide
"Bank Job," 2005, Intrigue Press
"Whipsaw," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Monkey Man," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Payoff," a short story in the anthology "Damn Near Dead," 2006, Busted Flush
"Cutthroat," 2007, Bleak House
"Limbo," a short story in the Mystery Writers of America anthology "Crimes by Moonlight," 2010, Berkley
"Firepower," 2010, Amazon/Smashwords
"1500 Rules for Successful Living," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Calabama," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"The Big Wink," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Lost Vegas," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Party Doll," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"A Box of Pandoras," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Showdown," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Found Money," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Yvonne's Gone," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Cemetery Plot," a short story, 2013, Amazon
"Duke City Split," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Hit," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Desperado," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2015
"Shotgun Boogie," 2016, Amazon
"Homesick Blues," 2016, Amazon
"Side Eye," 2017, Amazon
"Cold Cuts," 2018, Amazon
"Upshot," 2020, Amazon
His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a 2009 independent Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna.
Under his pen name Max Austin, Brewer wrote three hard-boiled crime stories set in Albuquerque, NM. The first, DUKE CITY SPLIT, was published by Alibi/Random House in April 2014. DUKE CITY HIT followed in December 2014. DUKE CITY DESPERADO came out in June 2015.
Brewer's short fiction has appeared in the several anthologies, and he's published articles in magazines such as Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.
Brewer has taught at the University of New Mexico, the Midwest Writers Workshop and the Tony Hillerman Writers Seminar. He regularly speaks at mystery conventions, and was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe, NM, in 2011.
He served two years on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and twice served as an Edgar Awards judge. He's also a member of International Thriller Writers and SouthWest Writers.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Brewer worked as a daily journalist for 22 years, then wrote a syndicated weekly column for another decade. The column, called The Home Front, produced the raw material for his humor book TROPHY HUSBAND.
Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.
More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com.
BOOKS BY STEVE BREWER
"Lonely Street," 1994, Pocket Books
"Baby Face," 1995, Pocket Books
"Witchy Woman," 1996, St. Martin's Press
"Shaky Ground," 1997, St. Martin's Press
"Dirty Pool," 1999, St. Martin's Press
"End Run," 2000, Intrigue Press
"Crazy Love," 2001, Intrigue Press
"Cheap Shot," 2002, Intrigue Press
"Trophy Husband," 2003, University of New Mexico Press
"Bullets," 2003, Intrigue Press
"Fool's Paradise," 2003, UNM Press
"Boost," 2004, Speck Press
"Sanity Clause," a novella, in "The Last Noel," 2004, Worldwide
"Bank Job," 2005, Intrigue Press
"Whipsaw," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Monkey Man," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Payoff," a short story in the anthology "Damn Near Dead," 2006, Busted Flush
"Cutthroat," 2007, Bleak House
"Limbo," a short story in the Mystery Writers of America anthology "Crimes by Moonlight," 2010, Berkley
"Firepower," 2010, Amazon/Smashwords
"1500 Rules for Successful Living," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Calabama," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"The Big Wink," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Lost Vegas," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Party Doll," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"A Box of Pandoras," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Showdown," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Found Money," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Yvonne's Gone," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Cemetery Plot," a short story, 2013, Amazon
"Duke City Split," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Hit," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Desperado," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2015
"Shotgun Boogie," 2016, Amazon
"Homesick Blues," 2016, Amazon
"Side Eye," 2017, Amazon
"Cold Cuts," 2018, Amazon
"Upshot," 2020, Amazon
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 27, 2020
Steve Brewer has never written a bad crime novel. And yet I can sort of understand why he hasn’t risen above the journeyman ranks in his genre: he’s too unobtrusive. He’s not a prose stylist. He doesn’t appear to feel any particular need to say Great and Important Things to Say About the World in Which We Live. He just lets his watertight stories spool out, year after year after year after year, in a low-key, lightly amused register, and when you’re done with a Steve Brewer novel, you think, “D*mn, that was pretty da*mn good,” and you move on with your life.
So it is with BANK JOB. It’s dark and it’s fun, and it’s violent, and it’s funny, and it’s tight, and it’s loose, and … yeah. Three dumb but violent criminals go to ground after a botched liquor-store robbery near Redding, California (where Brewer has set CALABAMA, among other novels). The house they choose to rest up belongs to a seventy-something couple.
No problem, right? Except Vince, at seventy-two, is a career bank robber who’s spent decades in prison, is pretty smart, and still feels a little of the old juice in his wizened veins. He’s also in violation of his parole and has no interest in returning to the can. He and his wife Maria set about turning the tables on their three captors, who want to use him for “one last job” to get enough cash to get them out of town. After, that is, tying up loose ends, like, say, living witnesses.
What follows is an entertaining, gripping, intricately plotted, completely plausible tale of twists that never feel “twisty” because they’re so completely tethered to character that you never really step back to think, “Wow, what a twist!”
Never once does anybody in BANK JOB behave in a way that makes you think, “This feels a little bit off.” Steve Brewer is too much of a stone pro for that. He simply delivers the goods and stays out of their way, and it’s sad that his esteem in the literary community has to suffer for his subtle competence.
But those of us who appreciate Steve Brewer and stories like BANK JOB, we’re happy to spread the word however we can.
So it is with BANK JOB. It’s dark and it’s fun, and it’s violent, and it’s funny, and it’s tight, and it’s loose, and … yeah. Three dumb but violent criminals go to ground after a botched liquor-store robbery near Redding, California (where Brewer has set CALABAMA, among other novels). The house they choose to rest up belongs to a seventy-something couple.
No problem, right? Except Vince, at seventy-two, is a career bank robber who’s spent decades in prison, is pretty smart, and still feels a little of the old juice in his wizened veins. He’s also in violation of his parole and has no interest in returning to the can. He and his wife Maria set about turning the tables on their three captors, who want to use him for “one last job” to get enough cash to get them out of town. After, that is, tying up loose ends, like, say, living witnesses.
What follows is an entertaining, gripping, intricately plotted, completely plausible tale of twists that never feel “twisty” because they’re so completely tethered to character that you never really step back to think, “Wow, what a twist!”
Never once does anybody in BANK JOB behave in a way that makes you think, “This feels a little bit off.” Steve Brewer is too much of a stone pro for that. He simply delivers the goods and stays out of their way, and it’s sad that his esteem in the literary community has to suffer for his subtle competence.
But those of us who appreciate Steve Brewer and stories like BANK JOB, we’re happy to spread the word however we can.
July 28, 2022
Solid. Good story. No stupid try hard bullshit!
August 12, 2016
Once a robber, always a robber
This book was just what I needed on several rainy days,. Steve Brewer is very clever and more than once I had a laugh out loud moment. Steve does stupid people better than anyone . The plot was good but the crazy characters kept me going. For a real fun romp read Bank Robber.
This book was just what I needed on several rainy days,. Steve Brewer is very clever and more than once I had a laugh out loud moment. Steve does stupid people better than anyone . The plot was good but the crazy characters kept me going. For a real fun romp read Bank Robber.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews