Der Auslöser

by Marcus Sakey, Ulrich Thiele (Translator)

Jeder kriegt, was er verdient


Warum die Reichen nicht um ein paar Dollar erleichtern? Sich ein Stück vom Kuchen holen? Sich nehmen, was man verdient hat? Doch der vermeintlich todsichere Millionen-Coup verwandelt sich für vier Freunde in einen Albtraum. Das organisierte Verbrechen kommt dem Quartett auf die Schliche. Doch schlimmer als die Feinde von außen sind die besten Freunde, die plötzlich zu erbitterten Feinden werden. Ein blutiges Spiel beginnt …

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Novels

376 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Marcus Sakey is the bestselling author of nine novels, including the Brilliance Trilogy, which has sold more than a million copies.

His novel AFTERLIFE (July 18, 2017) is soon to be a major motion picture from Imagine Entertainment and producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. His novel Good People was made into a film starring James Franco and Kate Hudson.

Marcus lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter.

Review Quotes

"Ridiculously good...Sakey makes you grin at high-flying feats of imagination, and then grin harder because he sticks the landing. The master of the mindful page turner."
-Gillian Flynn

"Nothing short of brilliant."
-Chicago Tribune

"It's depth and intelligence and passion and emotion that set Sakey apart."
-Lee Child

"Sakey reminds me why I keep reading."
-Cleveland Plain-Dealer

"One of our best storytellers."
-Michael Connelly

Reviews

[Syndi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a promising plot. Very promising. It can be a very explosive plot/ story. In the hand of Marcus, it becomes a cold and dead plot. The interaction between the characters are bland. the character development is nil.

I hope they never make a movie from this book.

[Kelly Roll · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me state up front that I had problems with the book. The characters were too immature word for me as a reader. All four of our main characters were just too damn whiney and self-absorbed for me to really care what happened to them. We have one individual who complains that he always wanted to be a lawyer but is stuck in his dead-end job so he can pay child support. There is no mention of him ever looking for another job, going to night school etc. The other three characters also had complaints about how lousy their lives were. Everyone complains about their job, spouse, kids etc. sometimes but these guys just never let up. They seem content to wallow in their misery and, for me I need some hook in an unsympathetic character in order to root for them. Instead I felt like slapping some sense into them.
The plot also seemed to drag at times and I felt that the action should have zinged a bit more quickly. Once again, I think this draggy feeling might have been due to the large amount of time we heard what each character was feeling – great for a relationship novel, less so for a thriller.
The last few chapters of the novel do redeem the book up to a point so that I went from a total loathing of the book to a more moderate “too bad these guys couldn’t have begun their transformation a touch sooner, and then I would have been more vested in their survival”.
Sakey does show very well how friendships that might have seemed so solid can crumble so quickly under stress.

[Larnacouer de SH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah benim zavallı amatörlerim; Perşembe Gecesi Müdavimleri.
Ne yalan söyleyeyim ara sıra aklıma geleceksiniz. :')

[Max Zacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff, kept me up past my bedtime to see what happens next! Fun characters and character development as well!

[Monie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Thursday Night Drinking Club that met at Rossi's each week consisted of four friends. Mitch is the loveable loser. He has absolutely no backbone and wouldn't stand up for himself against anyone. Ian is the closet druggie and gambler. He's facing some serious hurt if he doesn't pay his gambling debts. Alex is the divorced father. Working as a bar tender he hasn't been able to keep up with his child support payments and his ex-wife is threatening to take his daughter out of state. Jenn is the only girl in the group. She's secretly sleeping with one of the guys and yearns for more adventure in life.

Playing the game of "What would you do with a million dollars?" one night gets them all thinking about an easy score when Alex mentions to his friends that his boss left a lot of cash in the office safe.

But when the easy score turns into murder, their ho-hum lives are turned upside down in the split second it takes to pull the trigger and the once close friends can no longer trust each other.

Seriously guys, this book was incredible and may have just taken the crown from Saints in Limbo as my favorite book this year.

The friends are each kind of damaged in their own way but they all step up when faced with the terrible consequences of their actions. My favorite character of the four is Mitch. I adored him for both his door mat self in the beginning and what he became after the robbery. The ending was a complete shock but plays well with the storyline. Really the whole book is genius and I can't really say too much more without giving away some of the plot.

You have to trust me on this one and pick up your own copy today. This was my first book by Sakey but from his website I see that he has plenty more to offer that I can't wait to read. I also saw that three of his previous novels were optioned for movies. I hope The Amateurs makes it to the big screen also. This is a must read for suspense and thriller lovers.

[Berf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitap sonuna kadar gayet sürükleyiciydi.

Size şunu söyleyebilirim ki karakterler tam olarak kitaba uygunlardı. Yani spoiler vermeden nasıl anlatabilirim bilmiyorum ama vermeleri gereken tepkileri veriyorlar, yapmaları gereken şeyleri yapıyorlardı. Her şey gayet güzeldi ta ki son elli sayfasına gelene kadar.

Benim burada her şey koptu. Size şöyle açıklayayım. Yazar bu kitapta sosyal mesaj gibi bir şey vermeye çalışmış. Ama bunu sonuna pat diye yerleştirince insan bir afallıyor ve ''bu da ne alaka?'' diye soruyor. En azından ben sordum.

Şöyle düşünün: herhangi bir kitap okuyorsunuz. Kitap aşk kitabı. Çok güzel derken bir anda son elli sayfasından itibaren politika ön planda tutulmaya başlıyor. Ama kitabın başında politikanın 'p'si bile geçmemiş.

Bilmiyorum, bana biraz garip geldi. Sanki yazar kitabı yazmış ama yayıncılar kitabın taslağını okudukları zaman 'bunu yayınlayamayız, sonuna sosyal bir mesaj vermelisin' demişler gibiydi. Zorlama ve anlamsız. Benim için televizyonda çıkan zorunlu kamu spotundan farksızdı.

Çok tepki mi veriyorum, bilinmez. Ama ben oraya kadarki her şeyi beğendim. Gerçi bir iki mantık hatası vardı ama genede güzeldi. Bu yüzden dört puan veriyorum. Okumanızı önerir miyim? Eğer daha önce 'suç' işlesem ne olurdu diye düşündüyseniz, evet öneririm.

NOT: Jenn tam olarak beni yansıtan bir karakterdi. Yani, gerçekten. Benim gelecekteki halim gibiydi.

[Debbie J · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Amateurs is a serviceable mystery despite having a significant part of its resolution emerge right out of the gate.

The four main characters are well-drawn if not a wee bit stereotypical. There’s the coke-snorting stock trader with a costly gambling problem. Next to him is the beefy bartender and divorced dad frantically behind on his child support payments. Across the table is the super analytical nerd who's just about tired enough of being underestimated by his male cohorts and the woman he secretly desires. Finishing the quartet is the 30ish single lady who fears her Cosmo Girl chance to "have it all" may have passed her by while she was enjoying her swinging 20s.

Author Marcus Sakey’s story speeds along, and most of what happens seems reasonable within the plot’s fairly straightforward context. Kudos to him for employing a particularly scary “monster” but the terrorism angle annoyed this reader. In my opinion the basic premise was fine and it didn’t need to be turned up to 11.

This is a perfect airport book. In fact, a few tweaks would’ve made The Amateurs a great Law & Order series episode, post-9/11. Sakey has definitely earned another place on my “to read” list.

[Michelle Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a bit of a crush on Marcus Sakey. I love his writing and his show, Hidden City. He writes great stories about normal people doing really stupid things out of desperation. And sometimes, the good, normal people get killed cause they're in way over their heads. What? Yes!

The two of his I've read have both been set in Chicago, his hometown, so....love! Very good, quick summer reads.

[Matthew Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sakey definitely knows how to write crime fiction and the book worked for me on a purely visceral level. But the protagonists were so mind-numbingly dumb that the whole thing felt like an exercise and not a real relatable story. With a better story, could have really worked and i will look to see what else he's done.

[Gülay Akbal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aslında hikayesi oldukça iyidi. Ama yazar bir kişiden başka bir kişiye çok çabuk atlıyordu ve ilk etapta karakterleri tanıyana kadar bayağı bir kafa karışıklığı yaşadım. Sonra bir şeyler yerine oturdu ama... Bir şeyler eksikti. Tam olarak adlandıramıyorum ama belki her şeyden biraz eksiklik vardı. O yüzden çok iyi bir hikaye olmasına karşın kurgusu zayıf kalmıştı.

[Beyza Uyanık · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yazarın bu dünyaya karşı bakış açısı, onu değerlendirişi ve eserine işleyişi bana şu tanıtımı yapmayı düşündürüyor:
Hayatınızın oyunu hayatınız olsaydı sizi başarıya ulaştıracak olan güven mi olurdu ihanet mi? Hazır ve başla!

[Bruce DeSilva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine crime novel from Sakey. To read my Associated Press review, follow this link:
http://www.newsday.com/robbery-goes-b...

[Ömer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,4/5

Ah o arka kapak yok mu :D Kitabın yorumu için:
http://kronikokur.blogspot.com.tr/201...

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best thing I can say about this is that it's a quick read. I didn't like any of the characters and couldn't actually decide if I wanted them to get away with it or not. I think I finished it just to see, but the ending was lame.

[Greg Zimmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, entertaining, dips into cliche a bit too often. What's amazing is how far Sakey has come as a writer in the 9 years since this book.

[Hugh Mulligan · Rating 4 out of 5]

audio book - CD

[Mom24dogs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. Second book I have r ad by this. Author. Fast read.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time for this author. A pretty good book.

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The group dynamic is easy to grasp between the main characters. There is little character building anywhere else. This is what makes the story zoom by. Good climax.

[Bill Holden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read, interesting plot and ending

[Mike Baniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a page-turning read with a lukewarm payoff. Perfect commute book.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Couldn't put it down.

[John Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard Print: Amateurs' Hour

Marcus Sakey Shows That Crime is Best Left to the Pros

By John Hood (The Lead Miami Beach August 21, 2009 http://bit.ly/iTLwur)

It sounded so simple. After all, they'd seen it done on screen a million times. Walk in, point a gun, grab the money, and leave. Even easier since there'd be two guns and a designated getaway driver. OK, so someone would have to be smacked to avoid suspicion. And they'd never done anything even remotely like this before. Still, how hard could it be? In and out in a matter of minutes. And living it up the rest of their lives.

Of course there's no such thing as simple, not when it comes to knocking off somebody. Even a pro will tell you that. There are all sorts of unseen situations that can arise. Knocking off a player can be even less simple. So you better be braced for anything.

Fortunately for us, the foursome that comprises Marcus Sakey's "The Amateurs" (Dutton, $25.95) aren't braced nearly enough for the unseen situations that will befall them once they knock off a low level gangster with a safe full of loot. Hell, they aren't even braced for what's gonna go down while they're doing it. Good thing too, 'cause if they were, we wouldn't have anything close to this roaring story.

Here's the set-up: A quartet of also-rans in the City of Big Shoulders meet each Thursday night over cocktails and commiserate about their less than glorious fates. Alex tends bar in the joint where they drink and seems stuck in his station. Same goes for Mitch, who took a temporary doorman job some years back and hasn't looked forward since. Ian made one very right move on the trading floor and could've parlayed that into something, but he didn't. And now he's lucky if his gambling losses leave him money enough for an 8-ball. Then there's Jenn, the travel agent who dreams of adventure while she arranges the adventures of others.

Bored yet? Don't worry, they are too. Bored with their lives and boring each other to death. But even a Caspar Milquetoast would know that there's no living unless one takes the plunge. So when Alex let's slip that his boss Johnny Love is sitting on a stack of greenbacks and about to make some kinda drug deal, the "Ready, Go" game the gang likes to play becomes "Yes, Let's."

Yeah, there's some hemming and hawing among the group before they decide to do the deed. And most of it comes from Mitch, for whom timidity might be an aspiration. But Mitch hates being left out of things too, despite a life of being just that. And he really digs Jenn. So when she and the other two say they'll make the move with or without him, Mitch is in.

As you might suspect, he's in way over his head; as are they all. And the best laid plan that the four amateurs devise becomes a kinda worst case scenario from a-to-fucking-z. More importantly, everything each and every one of them ever was or wanted to be gets called into question, kicked to the curb and crushed under the weight of consequence.

Written with the kinda tension a tightrope walker must suffer as the balancing bar falls to the ground, and soaked with the kinda dread a chronic victim must feel as they stare down the barrel of loaded revolver, "The Amateurs" is like bitch-slapping the dream of a lifetime and then laughing about it later. No quarter is given. No remorse is granted. And no pitiful apologies are offered or accepted.

Since Sakey's a high stylist of immense talents, it's also the kinda character etching a Thompson or a Crumley would concoct, had they Algren's adopted hometown to skew from. What makes us tick? What makes us true? What makes us bleed? And in the end, how far are you willing to go to redeem yourself?

Almost everyone in the world at one time or another has wondered what they would do given the chance to do something bold and inexplicable. This book puts somebody's wondering to rest.

[DJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very seldom do I give a bad review. I always try to say at least a little something positive about a book. But this book sucked.

The characters in this book are all horrible, not one of them has any redeeming values. I was glad most of them died. I wished they would have all kicked the bucket. The story was uninteresting as well.

I've enjoyed other books by Marcus Sakey, but not this one... It was all I could do to finish it.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcus Sakey's last book, "Good People" dealt with a young couple that kept a large sum of money that did not belong to them, but thought the money to be untraceable. They did not figure on the real owners wanting the money back and trying to get it back at all costs. If you have not read "Good People", I highly recommend that you read it either before or after "The Amateurs".

In "The Amateurs" four young people, one girl and three boys, have been meeting at a bar and call themselves, "The Thursday Night Drinking Club". They discuss their lives and find that they are all dissatisfied with their station in life. When, asked as a game, what each would do if they had fifty thousand dollars, each fantasizes on what they would liked to have gotten from their lives.

They find themselves in a situation to realize their dreams by participating in a victimless crime. They became privy to a nefarious deal to be handled by the bar's owner. A large amount of cash is to be paid for a certain item and "The Amateurs" plan a "foolproof" robbery.

Needless to say, things do not go well and they find themselves fighting among themselves, and being pursued by mob like figures. As on of them says, "Everything has turned to shit".

They find that not only do they have the cash but they also have the material that the cash was to pay for. This "stuff" is so lethal that it could kill thousands of people and it was intended to go to the highest bidder, whoever that may be.

"The Amateurs" find themselves way over their heads in trouble and second guessing what they have done. They must decide if they will either become a party to possible mass murder, or turn themselves in to the authorities. Both options are full of potential problems.

A great read that puts ordinary people in very extra-ordinary circumstances. A fast read that will have the reader looking for the other books of Marcus Sakey.

[Brett Starr · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven't heard of Marcus Sakey yet, you will soon! Three of his four novels have already been optioned for movies. The Blade Itself: A Novel had its rights picked up by Ben Affleck's production company and the movie will star Chris Pine from Star Trek. Actor Tobey Maguire bought the rights to Good People.

"The Amateurs" is my first read (but not last) of Marcus Sakey. I finally decided to take the plunge after hearing over and over again about his smash debut novel "The Blade Itself" and reading one of his short stories (The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away) from the short story thriller anthology Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can't Put Down.

The book is a serious page turner and a very realistic story. Four friends Jenn, Ian, Mitch and Alex come up with a plan that will change their lives forever. Of course much like in the real world, nothing ever goes as planned and nothing is ever as simple as it may have seemed.

The characters make this book, they are each perfect in every way for the story. If Sakey had written the characters poorly, this novel would be a flop, lucky for us he nailed it. Getting to know the characters as you read and watching them change after "the big event" is really outstanding.

This book is a true thriller! Great writing, great characters and a great plot!

Highly, highly recommended!

Enjoy~

** Not only is Marcus Sakey a great writer, he's a good guy. To find him at his website, head to www.marcussakey.com and you'll see as I did that he's a very reader friendly author.

[Bill Krieger · Rating 2 out of 5]

QOTD
"GENIUS." - Chicago Tribune
- review on the cover of The Amateurs

Okay. Um, not a genius.
But how gull-a-Bill am I to even read the crap on the cover. He he. In my defense (weakly), this book did get a nice mention on an index card at Anderson's. So be it.

The Amateur rates barely 2 stars. the book is saved from 1-star ignominy by an unconventional ending. The reading is super light. In fact, I got the distinct impression that I was reading an episode of CSI Someplace. Now, this may seem odd since I've never actually seen any of those shows, but what can I say?

This is a plot book. It's about four 20-somethings who decide to spice up their lives a bit by stealing some dough from a drug dealer. The characters are strictly 2-D. My favorite one (sarcasm alert!) was the doorman who was passionately tired of carrying other peoples bags and being polite. Or maybe you prefer the screwed up bartender. Sigh.

The other thing that struck me after reading The Amateurs... it was devoid of any humor whatsoever. The story is told with deadpan seriousness. I picked up my next Wallander book after finishing The Amateurs and right off the bat he starts talking about really digging in to his case of stolen cars being sent to Poland. Now, I know that's not funny on it's own, but it's a running joke in the Wallander series, and it made me laugh out loud (excuse me, LOL). It's the type of inside humor that makes you think that the author is actually enjoying the book as much as you are. There is none of that smart writing in The Amateurs.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it!! Not only can I identify with the Thursday night drinking club, although mine is on Wednesday nights, I can really identify with their characters. I know what it feels like to not end up where you wanted to be by the time you reach a certain age. Not that you're unhappy, ungrateful, or upset, you're just not where you thought you would be & you want something more out of your life then to just drift through. Although, it is kind of hard to believe that someone would still be a bartender (and making crap money!), or a doorman for a fancy hotel in your early 30's. I think you'd have to try really hard not to climb the ladder at that point. It would have made more sense if they were either in their early 20's, or they were also in school, making a career change, or something dramatic happened. Nonetheless, I thought it was awesome! Heart-pounding, laughable moments, crazy/stupid decisions, and brilliant ideas! A real page turner. The dynamics of the group are very realistic, and the author walks you through an array of emotions as they start out as "just another person" to "the person who just killed someone & stole a crap-load of money." I liked it & found it very enjoyable.

Watch out though if you're listening to this book on your Kindle, it is very hard to follow along because it jumps characters pretty frequently. Just have the book in a place where you can glance down from time to time to make sure you know where you are.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four friends have devised the perfect plan. Jenn is yearning for adventure, Ian has an eye for the dangerous, Alex just found out his ex-wife is moving far away and taking their daughter, and Mitch is sick of being completely predictable. When Alex finds a couple hundred dollars in his bosses safe, he and his friends joke about taking the money. Then, the joke starts to sound like an incredibly good idea. The guy they're ripping off has a history of being ruthless. Will these four friends find out how ruthless or will these four normal seeming, clean record, upstanding citizens perform the perfect theft?

WOW!! Yeah, all caps, it's like that! This book was amazing. I felt like I was part of the robbery. I highly recommend this book. What are you waiting for? Order it now:)