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The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers
Late one night in August 1934, following a yearlong spree of bank robberies across the Midwest, the Firefly Brothers are forced into a police shootout and die . . . for the first time.
In award-winning author Thomas Mullen’s evocative new novel, the highly anticipated follow-up to his acclaimed debut, The Last Town on Earth, we follow the Depression-era adventures of Jason and Whit Fireson—bank robbers known as the Firefly Brothers by the press, the authorities, and an adoring public that worships their acts as heroic counterpunches thrown at a broken system.
Now it appears they have at last met their end in a hail of bullets. Jason and Whit’s lovers—Darcy, a wealthy socialite, and Veronica, a hardened survivor—struggle between grief and an unyielding belief that the Firesons have survived. While they and the Firesons’ stunned mother and straight-arrow third son wade through conflicting police reports and press accounts, wild rumors spread that the bandits are still at large. Through it all, the Firefly Brothers remain as charismatic, unflappable, and as mythical as the American Dream itself, racing to find the women they love and make sense of a world in which all has come unmoored.
Complete with kidnappings and gangsters, heiresses and speakeasies, The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is an imaginative and spirited saga about what happens when you are hopelessly outgunned—and a masterly tale of hardship, redemption, and love that transcends death.
In award-winning author Thomas Mullen’s evocative new novel, the highly anticipated follow-up to his acclaimed debut, The Last Town on Earth, we follow the Depression-era adventures of Jason and Whit Fireson—bank robbers known as the Firefly Brothers by the press, the authorities, and an adoring public that worships their acts as heroic counterpunches thrown at a broken system.
Now it appears they have at last met their end in a hail of bullets. Jason and Whit’s lovers—Darcy, a wealthy socialite, and Veronica, a hardened survivor—struggle between grief and an unyielding belief that the Firesons have survived. While they and the Firesons’ stunned mother and straight-arrow third son wade through conflicting police reports and press accounts, wild rumors spread that the bandits are still at large. Through it all, the Firefly Brothers remain as charismatic, unflappable, and as mythical as the American Dream itself, racing to find the women they love and make sense of a world in which all has come unmoored.
Complete with kidnappings and gangsters, heiresses and speakeasies, The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is an imaginative and spirited saga about what happens when you are hopelessly outgunned—and a masterly tale of hardship, redemption, and love that transcends death.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
51 people are currently reading
1860 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Mullen
22 books830 followersThomas Mullen is the author of Darktown, an NPR Best Book of the Year, which has been shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southern Book Prize, the Indies Choice Book Award, has been nominated for two Crime Writers Assocation Dagger Awards, and is being developed for television by Sony Pictures with executive producer Jamie Foxx; The Last Town on Earth, which was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction; The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers; and The Revisionists. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 225 reviews
March 2, 2010
People love to turn certain types of outlaws into folk heroes. Thieves and murderers are portrayed as varying versions of Robin Hood, and when they die, there are often stories about how they faked their deaths somehow. Billy the Kid and John Dillinger were both rumored to be alive long after they met their ends. Jesse James was dug up and DNA testing done a century after he was killed to prove it was really him in the grave. But what if there were famous outlaws who simply couldn’t die?
Jason and Whit Fireson are brothers who lead the so-called Firefly gang of bank robbers during the Great Depression. The death of Dillinger has made them the top priority for J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling Bureau of Investigation. The book begins with their deaths. Sort of.
The Fireson brothers wake up in the morgue with fatal bullet wounds. Confused and scared, they quickly escape and try to figure out what happened to them during their last day and how they managed to come back from the dead.
The police think that their bodies were stolen and Jason sees this a great opportunity to vanish forever with no one looking for them. They need money to get away and they plan to pull a couple of bank jobs and then disappear with confusion about their reported deaths keeping a serious man-hunt from being done. But Jason’s girlfriend has been kidnapped, and their uncertainty about how they died and returned is haunting them. The title of the book should be a clue that the dying isn’t over for the Fireson’s yet.
This was a unique idea for a story with an interesting structure. It starts with their ‘deaths’ and then uses flashbacks to tell the story of the Fireson family along with how Jason and Whit turned to bank robbery.. I liked how the author didn’t play along with the usual ‘30s era bank robber Robin Hood myth. Whit has leftist radical tendencies and tries to think of the robberies as class warfare, but Jason doesn’t allow himself such delusions. He knows that they’re just criminals.
The book also does a nice job of showing the toll that this takes on the non-criminal members of their family like their brother Weston, who has to try and hold onto his job even as the Bureau of Investigation is putting pressure on his employer. There was also a lot of interesting detail about life during the Great Depression.
Good book that put an interesting twist on the legend of the Depression-era bank robbers.
Jason and Whit Fireson are brothers who lead the so-called Firefly gang of bank robbers during the Great Depression. The death of Dillinger has made them the top priority for J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling Bureau of Investigation. The book begins with their deaths. Sort of.
The Fireson brothers wake up in the morgue with fatal bullet wounds. Confused and scared, they quickly escape and try to figure out what happened to them during their last day and how they managed to come back from the dead.
The police think that their bodies were stolen and Jason sees this a great opportunity to vanish forever with no one looking for them. They need money to get away and they plan to pull a couple of bank jobs and then disappear with confusion about their reported deaths keeping a serious man-hunt from being done. But Jason’s girlfriend has been kidnapped, and their uncertainty about how they died and returned is haunting them. The title of the book should be a clue that the dying isn’t over for the Fireson’s yet.
This was a unique idea for a story with an interesting structure. It starts with their ‘deaths’ and then uses flashbacks to tell the story of the Fireson family along with how Jason and Whit turned to bank robbery.. I liked how the author didn’t play along with the usual ‘30s era bank robber Robin Hood myth. Whit has leftist radical tendencies and tries to think of the robberies as class warfare, but Jason doesn’t allow himself such delusions. He knows that they’re just criminals.
The book also does a nice job of showing the toll that this takes on the non-criminal members of their family like their brother Weston, who has to try and hold onto his job even as the Bureau of Investigation is putting pressure on his employer. There was also a lot of interesting detail about life during the Great Depression.
Good book that put an interesting twist on the legend of the Depression-era bank robbers.
February 3, 2018
Imagine being a bank robber in the Depression era. Never mind right now what factors in life turned you to crime, you are a bank robber. A famous one: a hero to the poor people who have lost their jobs, a villain to the representatives of law and order. As if there could be very much of that in these terrible years!
But then one day you wake up dead. Well, you wake up after being shot dead. You and your brother both. And neither of you remembers how you died. You just know that you have to get out of the police morgue you find yourself in, and you have to try to figure out what happened, because you have no memory of the actual dying.
This is how we first meet Jason Fireson and his brother Whit. And other than the usual WTF moments they have during their first re-awakening, the most puzzling question they had for each other was: "What are we going to tell Ma?"
This was a great story: from the opening scenes to the slow revealing of the family life and circumstances that led to these events, right up to the end where we all finally learn WHY. I stayed up way too late last night to find that out but it was worth it!
I have read three Thomas Mullen titles now and will be eagerly watching for more.
But then one day you wake up dead. Well, you wake up after being shot dead. You and your brother both. And neither of you remembers how you died. You just know that you have to get out of the police morgue you find yourself in, and you have to try to figure out what happened, because you have no memory of the actual dying.
This is how we first meet Jason Fireson and his brother Whit. And other than the usual WTF moments they have during their first re-awakening, the most puzzling question they had for each other was: "What are we going to tell Ma?"
This was a great story: from the opening scenes to the slow revealing of the family life and circumstances that led to these events, right up to the end where we all finally learn WHY. I stayed up way too late last night to find that out but it was worth it!
I have read three Thomas Mullen titles now and will be eagerly watching for more.
April 17, 2011
Set during the Depression, a time of desparation and bank robbings this is a relatively quick read. Combination of historical fiction, mystery, crime and murder. The Fireson Brothers are survivors. They are surviving poverty, unemployment, family disputes and murder. The greatest mystery is not the who or the how of the story but the why. Why do they not die?
July 24, 2018
A very different kind of story featuring a couple of brothers who rob banks for money during the Depression era when the public vicariously thrill to the news stories of famous robbers succeeding - until they don't.
As you might be able to tell from the book's title, the firefly brothers just can't stay dead.
Not a perfect book, sometimes meandering between stories causing bouts of confusion, but it is fun to read. I will try other books by this author.
This was a library loan.
As you might be able to tell from the book's title, the firefly brothers just can't stay dead.
Not a perfect book, sometimes meandering between stories causing bouts of confusion, but it is fun to read. I will try other books by this author.
This was a library loan.
June 25, 2010
The Many Deaths of the Firefly by Thomas Mullen is an amazing book. It is one of those rare titles where everything works. Starting with the outside, it has a deep red jacket with a fedora clad silhouette walking towards the reader its trench coat flapping slightly. It has an intriguing title that makes you want to pick it up, and it is a hefty in size. The book is about a pair of Dillinger-esque bank robbers called the Firefly Brothers. As you read Mullen’s beautiful prose you settle into a non-chronological account of two men caught up in there own story. For this book is very much about story – the stories in the newspapers, the stories they tell each other (and the ones they don’t), the history and mythology of the era, and even the stories they can’t remember.
“…people need to tell there stories to place themselves somewhere solid in this great swirl…” – Mullen
Jason is the dapper one, as charmed as he is charming. He didn’t want any part of his father’s store and the two strong men butted heads. So, Jason took off to become a driver for a bootlegging operation. Sure it was illegal, but wasn’t Prohibition the real crime, seemed to be the thought process, besides he like the fast cars and the good clothes. Two jail stints and his father’s death, which haunts the book, escalated him bootlegger to bank robber. He honestly hadn’t wanted to get his brothers involved in what he did, but eventually he saw no choice, especially when it came to Wit.
Wit, the youngest Fireson, is rougher around the edges then his brother and not nearly so vain. He is on the path of anger fueled self destruction and Jason figures if he takes him along then at least he can attempt damage control. Together they have adventures galore and the next big score is always right around the corner. Jason tries not to think of the killing as his fault –self defense or an over zealous conspirator. He tries to reject the newspapers myth making and see himself as level headed.
But, little of this do you find out right away. See, Jason and his brother Wit are introduced to us waking up on cold metal slabs in a police morgue. They’d been killed and have the bullet holes to prove it. They know who they are, but not how they got there. The book bounces around in time telling you stories from various points of view. Some are from past, many are from the present and the all stitch themselves together nicely. Conjuring as if by magic, what it meant to live in that era, why people mythologies some criminals, and how these men found themselves in that life, even if they are not sure why they are alive.
“She wanted to breathe the brothers back into life with their stories.” — Mullen
Books like this one enthrall me. I listened to this one audio (purchased from Audible.com) even though I love the physical book. The audio production is superb. It is read by William Dufris whose voice I remembered from listening to a Richard K. Morgan novel a while back. He really breathes life into all the characters. The author talks about the phoneme of someone speech or there geographically dialect and Dufris keeps pace with it all. In the end The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is a wonderful historical fiction that I’m sure my co-workers will get tired of me raving about. It is the kind of wonderful that makes me afraid that any clumsiness in my review will turn somebody off to it, yet I can’t just leave it at, “A Must Read!”
“…people need to tell there stories to place themselves somewhere solid in this great swirl…” – Mullen
Jason is the dapper one, as charmed as he is charming. He didn’t want any part of his father’s store and the two strong men butted heads. So, Jason took off to become a driver for a bootlegging operation. Sure it was illegal, but wasn’t Prohibition the real crime, seemed to be the thought process, besides he like the fast cars and the good clothes. Two jail stints and his father’s death, which haunts the book, escalated him bootlegger to bank robber. He honestly hadn’t wanted to get his brothers involved in what he did, but eventually he saw no choice, especially when it came to Wit.
Wit, the youngest Fireson, is rougher around the edges then his brother and not nearly so vain. He is on the path of anger fueled self destruction and Jason figures if he takes him along then at least he can attempt damage control. Together they have adventures galore and the next big score is always right around the corner. Jason tries not to think of the killing as his fault –self defense or an over zealous conspirator. He tries to reject the newspapers myth making and see himself as level headed.
But, little of this do you find out right away. See, Jason and his brother Wit are introduced to us waking up on cold metal slabs in a police morgue. They’d been killed and have the bullet holes to prove it. They know who they are, but not how they got there. The book bounces around in time telling you stories from various points of view. Some are from past, many are from the present and the all stitch themselves together nicely. Conjuring as if by magic, what it meant to live in that era, why people mythologies some criminals, and how these men found themselves in that life, even if they are not sure why they are alive.
“She wanted to breathe the brothers back into life with their stories.” — Mullen
Books like this one enthrall me. I listened to this one audio (purchased from Audible.com) even though I love the physical book. The audio production is superb. It is read by William Dufris whose voice I remembered from listening to a Richard K. Morgan novel a while back. He really breathes life into all the characters. The author talks about the phoneme of someone speech or there geographically dialect and Dufris keeps pace with it all. In the end The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is a wonderful historical fiction that I’m sure my co-workers will get tired of me raving about. It is the kind of wonderful that makes me afraid that any clumsiness in my review will turn somebody off to it, yet I can’t just leave it at, “A Must Read!”
February 4, 2010
Mullen's Public Enemy saga features the Fireson family. Patriarch Pop is a hard working man, the owner of small grocery stores, and a man attempting to improve the lives of his family through real estate investments. Bad business partners and the crash have taken care of those dreams. Although Pop has attempted to instill his three sons with his Horatio Alger values, oldest son Jason has taken to bootlegging to bring in money. He is his father's greatest disappointment. Younger brothers Whit and Weston seem to be following in Pop's foot steps until Pop is charged with the murder of a business partner and convicted. Upon Pop's untimely death in prison, Jason turns to bank robbing, a more lucrative profession than bootlegging. Against his best reasoning, Jason allows Whit to join his gang. The Firesons soon become known as the Firefly Brothers because of their lightning fast robberies and getaways. Younger brother Weston continues to attempt an honest profession. However it is the proceeds of the Firefly Brothers' exploits that support the family.
It is no spoiler to state that Jason and Whit begin their tale by waking from the dead following an incident they cannot remember. Both have been shot. They lie on cooling boards in a morgue in a small Indiana town. As though their earlier exploits were not enough to raise them to mythic status, their continued appearances following the reports of their deaths certainly do.
John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are all dead. However, the Firefly Brothers continue to capture the imagination of victims of the economic plight of the great depression. Torching mortgages in the banks they rob, giving food to the homeless in Hoovervilles across the country may seem to make them heroes. However, the Firefly Brothers will not hesitate to kill whomever might be a threat to their failure or capture.
During the books brightest moments, the times of the great depression are vividly portrayed. There are episodes reminiscent of Davis Grubb's "Fools' Parade", Horace McCoy's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"; and Edward Anderson's 1937 classic, "Thieves Like Us".
Unfortunately, the brighter moments are obscured by the meaningless repeated resurrections of the Firefly Brothers. The brothers make no changes in their lives for better or worse as they ponder their apparent immortality.
Author Thomas Mullen's debut,"The Last Town on Earth" was favorably reviewed by The Washington Post, a Chicago Tribune book of the year in 2006, and USA Today's Debut Novel of the Year. Mullen's second effort is not as notable.
It is no spoiler to state that Jason and Whit begin their tale by waking from the dead following an incident they cannot remember. Both have been shot. They lie on cooling boards in a morgue in a small Indiana town. As though their earlier exploits were not enough to raise them to mythic status, their continued appearances following the reports of their deaths certainly do.
John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are all dead. However, the Firefly Brothers continue to capture the imagination of victims of the economic plight of the great depression. Torching mortgages in the banks they rob, giving food to the homeless in Hoovervilles across the country may seem to make them heroes. However, the Firefly Brothers will not hesitate to kill whomever might be a threat to their failure or capture.
During the books brightest moments, the times of the great depression are vividly portrayed. There are episodes reminiscent of Davis Grubb's "Fools' Parade", Horace McCoy's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"; and Edward Anderson's 1937 classic, "Thieves Like Us".
Unfortunately, the brighter moments are obscured by the meaningless repeated resurrections of the Firefly Brothers. The brothers make no changes in their lives for better or worse as they ponder their apparent immortality.
Author Thomas Mullen's debut,"The Last Town on Earth" was favorably reviewed by The Washington Post, a Chicago Tribune book of the year in 2006, and USA Today's Debut Novel of the Year. Mullen's second effort is not as notable.
March 2, 2010
The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is set in the great depression and follows the immortal escapades of the Fireson brothers, Whit and Jason.
The tone of Firefly Brothers is fairly light, almost comical, and while the action is often gruesome and many of the events are heavy the overall feeling of the novel is kinda fluffy. While the story is a good blend of the familiar clichés with a touch of originality one does feel like the story needs something more.
Part-one ‘the first death of the Firefly brothers’ is mired in backstory and flashback, which is somewhat interesting but much of the history we are exposed to is too mundane and slows the pace of the story, considering we start off with the fascinating resurrection of the brothers but hardly address the issue until many many pages later.
And while the mystery of why the brothers are immortal is enough to propel the book forwards there is an extreme lack of good storyline beyond this. Essentially the brothers continually get themselves into deadly situations until eventually lost memories surface that explain their predicament. Memories which I ultimately found disappointing, while the supernatural explanation was sufficient the attempt at shocking backstory revelation, while logical and fitting, to be anticlimactic.
Attempts to spice up the story with a love interest kidnap might have been more interesting if it was tied in with the brothers better, however it just felt like page filler while we wondered about the brother’s immortality.
In the end The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is a good book, and perhaps would have made (or make) a great movie, but doesn’t quite reach the upper echelons of highly recommended.
The tone of Firefly Brothers is fairly light, almost comical, and while the action is often gruesome and many of the events are heavy the overall feeling of the novel is kinda fluffy. While the story is a good blend of the familiar clichés with a touch of originality one does feel like the story needs something more.
Part-one ‘the first death of the Firefly brothers’ is mired in backstory and flashback, which is somewhat interesting but much of the history we are exposed to is too mundane and slows the pace of the story, considering we start off with the fascinating resurrection of the brothers but hardly address the issue until many many pages later.
And while the mystery of why the brothers are immortal is enough to propel the book forwards there is an extreme lack of good storyline beyond this. Essentially the brothers continually get themselves into deadly situations until eventually lost memories surface that explain their predicament. Memories which I ultimately found disappointing, while the supernatural explanation was sufficient the attempt at shocking backstory revelation, while logical and fitting, to be anticlimactic.
Attempts to spice up the story with a love interest kidnap might have been more interesting if it was tied in with the brothers better, however it just felt like page filler while we wondered about the brother’s immortality.
In the end The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is a good book, and perhaps would have made (or make) a great movie, but doesn’t quite reach the upper echelons of highly recommended.
September 8, 2011
In the summer of’34, Jason and Whit Fireson wake up in the morgue. Apparently both have died from gunshot wounds, possibly in a police ambush. A miracle or a second chance? You’ll have to take a ride along with the Firefly brothers, to find out. They are a pair of Depression-era bank robbers, modeled after Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, reviled by the law and adored by the public.
This is a well-written and exciting tale, chock full of machine-guns, kidnappings, double-crosses and of course car chases, with the intrepid police always in hot pursuit.
Mullen writes in clean fast prose and he’s done his homework too. Highly recommended.
This is a well-written and exciting tale, chock full of machine-guns, kidnappings, double-crosses and of course car chases, with the intrepid police always in hot pursuit.
Mullen writes in clean fast prose and he’s done his homework too. Highly recommended.
July 15, 2019
I would like to give this book five stars. It’s a great story with great characters and keeps you intrigued the whole story. However, the main female character is set up to be strong and able to handle her own but she continually falls into the “Damsel in Distress” archetype. She even finds new lows to bring the archetype to. It really takes you out of the book and eventually makes you want to skip through her parts of the book.
October 5, 2020
Superb
April 7, 2010
More than anything, this booked skewed my views. Characters that should have angered me, that I should felt righteous indignation towards, were instead viewed as dangerously dashing protagonists who were doing right by themselves, their families and their loved ones. The characters that should have been applauded, who were just doing their jobs to keep the public safe, were instead vilified and set aside as incompetent, bumbling, misguided fools.
Let me start with Thomas Mullen’s writing. To say it was “evocative” wouldn’t be enough. It went beyond seeing his images in my head. It was more like I was there, driving down the dusty roads with Jason and Whit, staring at the hopelessness of those around Weston, stewing in close-quartered offices of the local police with Delaney. I know a good author is supposed to do that with their writing, but there was something more to Mullen’s style. It was descriptive, sure, but it was also...well, charming, for lack of a better term. And even that phrase is inadequate.
So let me move on to the characters. I didn’t expect to like Jason or Whit, to be honest. But, Mullen was able to transform my scorn into regard and wonder. The lure of the crime, despite the whole “it’s immoral and wrong” argument, dragged me further into the brothers’ world.
I fell for Jason. So calm, so smart, so suave and so strong. I felt less inclined towards Whit and Weston, but they do hold special places in my memory. I loved Darcy’s spunk, spontaneity, and grit. I became engrossed by their lives. I wanted them to succeed, I wanted them to survive, I wanted them to realize all their dreams, dammit! I was so invested in their story and well-being that by the time I hit “The Second Death of the Firefly Brothers”, my insides were screaming, “NOOOOOO!”
The only criticism I have is that there were a few predictable moments. Like from the beginning, you’re fairly certain of the identity of the snitch. Then, though Mullen did an excellent job of building up the suspense of just what happened the night of the Fireson’s first death, when it came to the “Ah-ha!” moment, it was just all too clear. Maybe it was designed to be that way, though. This reader spent the majority of the book creating, analyzing and dispensing with theories as to who “did ‘em in”, and yet I never managed to conjure up the truth...at least, not until it the exact moment that it was slowly dawning on the brothers. So, maybe I can live with that one.
There were so many thoughts that were in my head throughout the entire story. I loved the small nuggets of history that were thrown in to lend a bit of background and color. I enjoyed the background that Mullen created for each of the three main characters, as well. I fell into those side-stories, willing them to continue, and hoping it’d give insight into what would happen at the end.
I was continually thinking, “These guys are crazy!”; thinking, “They’re doomed!”; thinking, “They’re AWESOME!” And they really were. All the swagger of being on the wrong side of the law aside, Jason and Whit were truly, spectacularly, awesome.
Despite their flawed brotherly relationship, they managed to stick together, to grieve together. Jason showed he truly cared for Darcy, and Whit sometimes showed his feelings for Veronica. Throw in their feelings for their mother and Weston, and it made them whole.
Oh, and I must applaud the devious ending. I was wondering, as I was reading it, where Mullen was going with the doings of Darcy’s mind. In truth, I was frightened by the unhinged Darcy that was creeping out towards the end. The discussions in my mind went between shock that she was unraveling, to outrage at my shock. I had to remind myself that Darcy’s moods weren't so strange, especially after all she’d been through. I reminded myself that she had remained strong through it all, and that she was much stronger and smarter than I could ever hope to be (I’m mean to myself when I have these conversations...)
And then, the ending that wasn't quite closure, but still somehow felt final. I see now what he was doing, that sneaky author, and knowing that he was delivering a sort of “choose your own adventure” ending makes it all the more entertaining. For myself, I chose the only ending that would be worthy of the Fireson brothers, and I'm fairly certain that I picked the best ending.
Let me start with Thomas Mullen’s writing. To say it was “evocative” wouldn’t be enough. It went beyond seeing his images in my head. It was more like I was there, driving down the dusty roads with Jason and Whit, staring at the hopelessness of those around Weston, stewing in close-quartered offices of the local police with Delaney. I know a good author is supposed to do that with their writing, but there was something more to Mullen’s style. It was descriptive, sure, but it was also...well, charming, for lack of a better term. And even that phrase is inadequate.
So let me move on to the characters. I didn’t expect to like Jason or Whit, to be honest. But, Mullen was able to transform my scorn into regard and wonder. The lure of the crime, despite the whole “it’s immoral and wrong” argument, dragged me further into the brothers’ world.
I fell for Jason. So calm, so smart, so suave and so strong. I felt less inclined towards Whit and Weston, but they do hold special places in my memory. I loved Darcy’s spunk, spontaneity, and grit. I became engrossed by their lives. I wanted them to succeed, I wanted them to survive, I wanted them to realize all their dreams, dammit! I was so invested in their story and well-being that by the time I hit “The Second Death of the Firefly Brothers”, my insides were screaming, “NOOOOOO!”
The only criticism I have is that there were a few predictable moments. Like from the beginning, you’re fairly certain of the identity of the snitch. Then, though Mullen did an excellent job of building up the suspense of just what happened the night of the Fireson’s first death, when it came to the “Ah-ha!” moment, it was just all too clear. Maybe it was designed to be that way, though. This reader spent the majority of the book creating, analyzing and dispensing with theories as to who “did ‘em in”, and yet I never managed to conjure up the truth...at least, not until it the exact moment that it was slowly dawning on the brothers. So, maybe I can live with that one.
There were so many thoughts that were in my head throughout the entire story. I loved the small nuggets of history that were thrown in to lend a bit of background and color. I enjoyed the background that Mullen created for each of the three main characters, as well. I fell into those side-stories, willing them to continue, and hoping it’d give insight into what would happen at the end.
I was continually thinking, “These guys are crazy!”; thinking, “They’re doomed!”; thinking, “They’re AWESOME!” And they really were. All the swagger of being on the wrong side of the law aside, Jason and Whit were truly, spectacularly, awesome.
Despite their flawed brotherly relationship, they managed to stick together, to grieve together. Jason showed he truly cared for Darcy, and Whit sometimes showed his feelings for Veronica. Throw in their feelings for their mother and Weston, and it made them whole.
Oh, and I must applaud the devious ending. I was wondering, as I was reading it, where Mullen was going with the doings of Darcy’s mind. In truth, I was frightened by the unhinged Darcy that was creeping out towards the end. The discussions in my mind went between shock that she was unraveling, to outrage at my shock. I had to remind myself that Darcy’s moods weren't so strange, especially after all she’d been through. I reminded myself that she had remained strong through it all, and that she was much stronger and smarter than I could ever hope to be (I’m mean to myself when I have these conversations...)
And then, the ending that wasn't quite closure, but still somehow felt final. I see now what he was doing, that sneaky author, and knowing that he was delivering a sort of “choose your own adventure” ending makes it all the more entertaining. For myself, I chose the only ending that would be worthy of the Fireson brothers, and I'm fairly certain that I picked the best ending.
December 10, 2012
The premise of this book is gripping: two bank-robbing brothers during the Depression era are repeatedly killed during their illegal exploits, but keep coming back to life. The book opens with the brothers, Jason and Whit, waking up in the police morgue, with no memory of the events leading up to their apparent death. Of course, they escape and the rest of the novel covers their struggle to evade the police and reunite with their girls. It's not much of a spoiler to add that they die a few more times, given the title. Woven through the main narrative are many flashbacks to the events that led them to this life of crime and to that first death, as they slowly remember what happened. Also included is the perspective of a young law school graduate, who finds himself working for the newly formed FBI and trying to track down the brothers who have become Public Enemy #1.
But the pacing was just so darn slow. The first section, in particular, as Mullen establishes the setting and characters, just drags on and on. I almost abandoned the book, but I wanted to find out what happened (after all, the premise is good) and I really enjoyed Mullen's debut novel, The Last Town on Earth. So I kept slogging along and the pace did pick up, although it was still slow at times.
The characters didn't really do it for me, either. Jason is the slick, ladies' man, former bootlegger. Whit is the angry, communist-leaning, anarchist trying to stick it to the man. (Sticking it to the man seems to be a major theme for Mullen.) Like LToE, Mullen is pretty clear about who we should be rooting for, with a little sympathy allowed for some of the less-evil villain types, but most being portrayed as pure evil, or bumbling idiots. He showed the staggering effects of the Depression on the country as a whole, which felt very timely considering the pickle our country is currently in. But... I still couldn't connect with the protagonists enough to really care what happened to them.
The ending left me really unsatisfied. Maybe I just didn't connect all the dots, but it was far too ambiguous for my taste.
I feel kind of harsh only giving the book 2 stars, because Mullen is a good writer. But the general information about the Depression and the outlaw culture that developed during that time appealed to me more than the main plot. I'm more interested in reading the non-fiction book he recommended at the end than I was in his carefully crafted narrative, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, so I can't really justify giving a 3-star rating.
But the pacing was just so darn slow. The first section, in particular, as Mullen establishes the setting and characters, just drags on and on. I almost abandoned the book, but I wanted to find out what happened (after all, the premise is good) and I really enjoyed Mullen's debut novel, The Last Town on Earth. So I kept slogging along and the pace did pick up, although it was still slow at times.
The characters didn't really do it for me, either. Jason is the slick, ladies' man, former bootlegger. Whit is the angry, communist-leaning, anarchist trying to stick it to the man. (Sticking it to the man seems to be a major theme for Mullen.) Like LToE, Mullen is pretty clear about who we should be rooting for, with a little sympathy allowed for some of the less-evil villain types, but most being portrayed as pure evil, or bumbling idiots. He showed the staggering effects of the Depression on the country as a whole, which felt very timely considering the pickle our country is currently in. But... I still couldn't connect with the protagonists enough to really care what happened to them.
The ending left me really unsatisfied. Maybe I just didn't connect all the dots, but it was far too ambiguous for my taste.
I feel kind of harsh only giving the book 2 stars, because Mullen is a good writer. But the general information about the Depression and the outlaw culture that developed during that time appealed to me more than the main plot. I'm more interested in reading the non-fiction book he recommended at the end than I was in his carefully crafted narrative, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, so I can't really justify giving a 3-star rating.
March 15, 2011
The only thing worse than a writer with no talent is a writer who squanders talent. Armed with a great concept, first chapter, and even a Cormac McCarthy quote to kick off his novel, Thomas Mullen proceeds to kill off anything remotely resembling an interesting piece of literary fiction. Even the backdrop of J. Edgar Hoover's "public enemies" and The Great Depression were not enough to save it, as the research had clearly gone not one step further than Wikipedia. Poor descriptions, worse choices, and a cast of characters that talked like no human beings from any era littered the pages and left me wondering when the pain was going to subside. Quite honestly, I'm not sure how any self-respecting editor green-lighted this without asking for some simple changes to beef up the story/characters/descriptions/anything or calling for a second draft. Oh, and for those of you wondering if it was truly that bad, I've included some excerpts:
"The place smelled of old ladies' perfume and sorrow."
"Yes, you are rather sorry sometimes." She grinned. "But the rest of the time you're exceptional."
"Life had returned, and she needed sustenance."
"Then he tried to submerge that thought in the amnesia of a long kiss..."
"The place smelled of old ladies' perfume and sorrow."
"Yes, you are rather sorry sometimes." She grinned. "But the rest of the time you're exceptional."
"Life had returned, and she needed sustenance."
"Then he tried to submerge that thought in the amnesia of a long kiss..."
December 18, 2016
3 1/2 stars. Story is centered around 2 bank robbing brothers from the depression era and their families, parents, 3rd brother, spouses and others. These brothers continue to rob banks in towns mysteriously after they have been shot dead by authorities in another? Author does an excellent job of describing the time frame and what is going on during the great depression that puts the reader right there as it's occurring. This is the second book I've read written by author Mullen (Darktown) and I look forward to reading his original debut novel. Would recommend this book to those that enjoy historical fiction and action with the bootlegging and bank robbing action. I've seen others have this book listed as a science fiction book however if that was the case I never would have finished it as sci-fi is not my thing. The unexplainable reason these brothers are not dying is more fictional thinking than sci-fi.
April 1, 2022
“We believe there are things that are possible and things that are not, actions we can imagine doing and others that are beyond the pale. But then doors are swung and what was once impossible, unthinkable, is there before us, happening to us. Sometimes we throw open the doors ourselves, sometimes someone else pushes them open and points at what lies beyond. Sometimes we don’t even want to look. But we never have a choice.”
“The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers” is the story of fictional bank-robbing folk heroes Jason and Whit Fireson. Jason was a rum runner and bootlegger during the Prohibition, and the brothers robbed banks together during the Great Depression. They each had different reasons for choosing that path, but once they did, they were stuck together for life… and death.
It’s a book of miracles or curses, depending on your angle. It’s a book about what you do after the impossible has happened: where do you place your faith after every truth you knew has crumbled around you? It’s a book about brave men and women stubbornly hanging onto life after it has been ripped from them, both literally and figuratively. It’s a book about betrayal, sibling angst, and hope. It’s riveting and darkly beautiful.
“The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers” is the story of fictional bank-robbing folk heroes Jason and Whit Fireson. Jason was a rum runner and bootlegger during the Prohibition, and the brothers robbed banks together during the Great Depression. They each had different reasons for choosing that path, but once they did, they were stuck together for life… and death.
It’s a book of miracles or curses, depending on your angle. It’s a book about what you do after the impossible has happened: where do you place your faith after every truth you knew has crumbled around you? It’s a book about brave men and women stubbornly hanging onto life after it has been ripped from them, both literally and figuratively. It’s a book about betrayal, sibling angst, and hope. It’s riveting and darkly beautiful.
June 8, 2018
More like 3.5 stars. Captivating premise, distinct characters. The framing device felt a little heavy-handed and unnecessary. Towards the end, too much philosophizing from all the characters.
February 8, 2015
I'm not sure what to say about this book. Although overall I enjoyed it, I didn't find it as compelling as I hoped. I enjoyed the scenes between the brothers, but I didn't really like most of the characters individually.
There are three Fireson brothers. Jason and Whit are bank robbers, Weston is trying to lead a straight life. Whit is most interesting when you don't know much about him. Once you get a look inside his head and see how he views the world, he's a lot less interesting. I think Weston is supposed to stand in for everyman, but I didn't really warm up to him either. Although you have a certain sympathy towards him for how he's treated, he's not likeable enough to really root for. Both Whit and Weston were kind of mealy-mouthed. If Whit had been a little more committed to the supposed principles that he espoused, he would have been a much more compelling character. And just a smidgen of backbone would have made Weston a little more admirable.
I found the character of Darcy, Jason's girlfriend, to be flimsy and one-dimensional. Rich girl, hates her father, falls in love with handsome gangster. Then she gets kidnapped and becomes a damsel in distress. Not very interesting. One of the most intriguing characters in the book is Whit's wife Veronica, and Mullen deals with her and their son in as perfunctory a manner as possible. Despite going to great lengths to establish how tough she is, he doesn't develop the character beyond that. Although based on his treatment of Whit, I fear that I wouldn't have liked her if he'd done so. In any event, she only appears in one scene in the book.
I also didn't care for his use of flashbacks. A well-used technique, Mullen constantly travels back in time to fill in gaps in our knowledge. After awhile, this started to annoy me. I found that I no longer cared what happened the night that their father was accused of murdering someone. By the time that the whole evening was fully revealed, there was no shock or surprise, just a weary feeling of can we move on?
I didn't like the ending of the book either. If Mullen had skipped the last chapter and the little coda at the end of the penultimate chapter, then I would have found it more satisfactory. But he didn't.
All that said, I liked the concept, I thought the action scenes were well-written, and enjoyed the sections of the book where it just dealt with the brothers on the lam. The scenes of the federal agent trying to track them down was also well-done. And he did a great job of evoking the Depression. So there was great promise there. But unfortunately, Mullen couldn't deliver, and the book was less than it could have been. Disappointing.
There are three Fireson brothers. Jason and Whit are bank robbers, Weston is trying to lead a straight life. Whit is most interesting when you don't know much about him. Once you get a look inside his head and see how he views the world, he's a lot less interesting. I think Weston is supposed to stand in for everyman, but I didn't really warm up to him either. Although you have a certain sympathy towards him for how he's treated, he's not likeable enough to really root for. Both Whit and Weston were kind of mealy-mouthed. If Whit had been a little more committed to the supposed principles that he espoused, he would have been a much more compelling character. And just a smidgen of backbone would have made Weston a little more admirable.
I found the character of Darcy, Jason's girlfriend, to be flimsy and one-dimensional. Rich girl, hates her father, falls in love with handsome gangster. Then she gets kidnapped and becomes a damsel in distress. Not very interesting. One of the most intriguing characters in the book is Whit's wife Veronica, and Mullen deals with her and their son in as perfunctory a manner as possible. Despite going to great lengths to establish how tough she is, he doesn't develop the character beyond that. Although based on his treatment of Whit, I fear that I wouldn't have liked her if he'd done so. In any event, she only appears in one scene in the book.
I also didn't care for his use of flashbacks. A well-used technique, Mullen constantly travels back in time to fill in gaps in our knowledge. After awhile, this started to annoy me. I found that I no longer cared what happened the night that their father was accused of murdering someone. By the time that the whole evening was fully revealed, there was no shock or surprise, just a weary feeling of can we move on?
I didn't like the ending of the book either. If Mullen had skipped the last chapter and the little coda at the end of the penultimate chapter, then I would have found it more satisfactory. But he didn't.
All that said, I liked the concept, I thought the action scenes were well-written, and enjoyed the sections of the book where it just dealt with the brothers on the lam. The scenes of the federal agent trying to track them down was also well-done. And he did a great job of evoking the Depression. So there was great promise there. But unfortunately, Mullen couldn't deliver, and the book was less than it could have been. Disappointing.
July 9, 2011
From the back cover:
Jason and Whit Fireson, the notorious, bank-robbing duo known as the Firefly Brothers, wake to find themselves lying on cooling boards in a police morgue. Riddled with bullet wounds, the reality is inescapable: They've been killed. But they're alive.
It is August 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression but in the waning months of the great crime wave, during which the newly-created FBI killed such famous outlaws as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd. Across the nation, men are out of work and families are starving, and Americans are stunned and frightened by the collapse of their country's foundations.
The Firesons' lovers Darcy and Veronica struggle between grief and an unyielding belief that Jason and Whit have survived, while their stunned mother and straight-arrow third brother desperately try to support their family and evade police spies. And through it all the Firefly Brothers themselves race to find the women they love, and make sense of a world come unmoored.
Review:
Set in the Depression era of 1930s America, this is the story of Jason and Whit Fireson, two bank-robbing brothers who are killed many times, but just can't seem to get the hang of staying dead. Sounds amusing, but this isn't your average run-of-the-mill gangster lark: America in the '30s was a bleak place for most, and that undercurrent runs through the whole book - it's stark with a capital S.
The blurb above sums this up a whole lot better than I could ever hope to, but I will say that essentially, this is a book about love: Of family loyalties, sibling rivalries and the love between two people that will always prevail, even when faced with death. The prose is beautiful and eloquent, the dialogue snappy, and every character is so well drawn that I felt their plight - and rooted for them - every step of the way. It took me longer than usual to read this, but all that meant is that I savoured every moment of it entirely. A tremendous, thoroughly enjoyable book.
Jason and Whit Fireson, the notorious, bank-robbing duo known as the Firefly Brothers, wake to find themselves lying on cooling boards in a police morgue. Riddled with bullet wounds, the reality is inescapable: They've been killed. But they're alive.
It is August 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression but in the waning months of the great crime wave, during which the newly-created FBI killed such famous outlaws as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd. Across the nation, men are out of work and families are starving, and Americans are stunned and frightened by the collapse of their country's foundations.
The Firesons' lovers Darcy and Veronica struggle between grief and an unyielding belief that Jason and Whit have survived, while their stunned mother and straight-arrow third brother desperately try to support their family and evade police spies. And through it all the Firefly Brothers themselves race to find the women they love, and make sense of a world come unmoored.
Review:
Set in the Depression era of 1930s America, this is the story of Jason and Whit Fireson, two bank-robbing brothers who are killed many times, but just can't seem to get the hang of staying dead. Sounds amusing, but this isn't your average run-of-the-mill gangster lark: America in the '30s was a bleak place for most, and that undercurrent runs through the whole book - it's stark with a capital S.
The blurb above sums this up a whole lot better than I could ever hope to, but I will say that essentially, this is a book about love: Of family loyalties, sibling rivalries and the love between two people that will always prevail, even when faced with death. The prose is beautiful and eloquent, the dialogue snappy, and every character is so well drawn that I felt their plight - and rooted for them - every step of the way. It took me longer than usual to read this, but all that meant is that I savoured every moment of it entirely. A tremendous, thoroughly enjoyable book.
February 7, 2013
Interesting because of all of the information about outlaws and bank robbers and life in the 1930s. But the story was severely weakened, in my view, by the failure to explain why or how the brothers kept coming back to life. Also, by the end I was getting extremely tired of rooting for a couple of murderous thugs. There did not seem to be any good guys in the story. Everyone was either robbing and killing and kidnapping, or aiding an abetting the robbers. The end came as no surprise, and something of a relief.
February 16, 2010
I thoroughly enjoyed "The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers." Now I confess that I'm biased because a) I adore historical fiction b) You can't keep me away from a good caper and c) the author is an Oberlin Alum and a friend. All that being said, the characters are interesting and believable and the story moves along quickly and is never predictable. Several times when my alarm went off in the morning I picked up this book instead of hitting snooze.
June 15, 2012
I dove into this book because it seemed such an interesting plot. I was curious to how those “many deaths” would be explained.
Turns out they’re not explained at all … not really. Well, not in the first 40 pages or so. I supposed it was my expectations that disappointed me. I wanted something mysterious. Something really clever. Instead I get clumsy “We’re dead; we’re alive again” gimmick that seemed pointless.
Turns out they’re not explained at all … not really. Well, not in the first 40 pages or so. I supposed it was my expectations that disappointed me. I wanted something mysterious. Something really clever. Instead I get clumsy “We’re dead; we’re alive again” gimmick that seemed pointless.
September 24, 2012
I've never been one for stories that leave the reader to imagine the outcome. Call me low brow or dim witted, but I like everything neatly tied up with a bow when I reach the end of a book. Firefly Brothers was a good story that left too many unresolved conflicts.
April 16, 2012
Enjoyable read. A different spin on gangsters.
February 15, 2014
really enjoyed this, would like to go for a 4.5
September 21, 2019
Gangs, molls and robbing banks. Just the ingredients for a good-old yarn, right? You can practically smell the gunpowder and spilled gin… And yet? “The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers” is more than that. Much more.
First, I need to say that this Depression-era novel was eerily reminiscent of today. Of this time in our country where nothing is certain and days are filled with fear and worry about what the next day may bring. This book is set in 1934 – but there many similarities to what is making the news in 2010.
“The reality we’d all believed in, so fervently and vividly, was revealed to be nothing but a trick of our imagination, or someone else’s, some collective mirage whose power to entrance us had suddenly and irrevocably failed. What…had happened? What had we done to ourselves? The looks I saw on people’s faces. The shock of it all. Capitalism had failed, democracy was a sad joke. Our country’s very way of life was at death’s door, and everyone had a different theory of what would rise up to take its place.”
Jason and Whit Fireson rob banks. They steal money from the few places that still have money in 1934 – and they become anti-heroes to the Americans who are so desperate and so angry at seeing all they believed in and trusted being destroyed. Banks are foreclosing at constant rates, people are out of work, the stock market has crashed, and families are desperate. So when the pair starts garnering fame for stealing from those who are perceived as causing the financial chaos…they are dubbed the “Firefly Brothers” and their admirers start to outnumber their pursuers.
I picked this book hoping for some pure escapism, but got instead a great story AND some great insights.
“People tell their stories to place themselves somewhere solid in this great swirl that they can’t otherwise understand. The stories define what is possible, what the tellers yearn for, what they believe they deserve. The self-made man, the American dream, Capitalism, socialism, religion – all those narratives that try to contain everyone’s desires and fears within neat lines. Different tales, different obstacles, but the hero is always us, and the ending has us attainting what we’ve always wished for.”
Wow…I just had to read that again.
This really was a great story. It was a compelling tale of escape and adventure, of getaway cars and hideouts. Of double-crosses and dirty money. A chance to enter the mind of a criminal and look around.
“The right thing was confusing, and difficult, and sometimes Jason wondered if it was in fact a nonexistent ideal, like heaven or the American dream. There was no right thing. You did what you did for whatever reasons occurred to you at the time, depending on whichever emotion was running thickest in your blood. Your desire and fear and adrenaline and longing. You made your choice and came up with the reasons later.”
But what I keep coming back to is not what the story had to say about Depression-era criminals, but about us, about people in general. People who aren’t criminals, but who find themselves forced to consider choices they never expected.
“We believe there are things that are possible and things that are not, actions we can imagine doing and others that are beyond the pale. But then doors are swung shut and what once was impossible, unthinkable, is there before us, happening to us. Sometimes we throw open the doors ourselves, sometimes someone else pushes them open and points at what lies beyond. Sometimes we don’t even want to look. But we never have a choice.”
Law abiding citizens and criminals. Seemingly different sides of a coin – polar opposites. But in uncertain times, when the world seems upside down…identifying which one is good and which is bad becomes a much harder task.
First, I need to say that this Depression-era novel was eerily reminiscent of today. Of this time in our country where nothing is certain and days are filled with fear and worry about what the next day may bring. This book is set in 1934 – but there many similarities to what is making the news in 2010.
“The reality we’d all believed in, so fervently and vividly, was revealed to be nothing but a trick of our imagination, or someone else’s, some collective mirage whose power to entrance us had suddenly and irrevocably failed. What…had happened? What had we done to ourselves? The looks I saw on people’s faces. The shock of it all. Capitalism had failed, democracy was a sad joke. Our country’s very way of life was at death’s door, and everyone had a different theory of what would rise up to take its place.”
Jason and Whit Fireson rob banks. They steal money from the few places that still have money in 1934 – and they become anti-heroes to the Americans who are so desperate and so angry at seeing all they believed in and trusted being destroyed. Banks are foreclosing at constant rates, people are out of work, the stock market has crashed, and families are desperate. So when the pair starts garnering fame for stealing from those who are perceived as causing the financial chaos…they are dubbed the “Firefly Brothers” and their admirers start to outnumber their pursuers.
I picked this book hoping for some pure escapism, but got instead a great story AND some great insights.
“People tell their stories to place themselves somewhere solid in this great swirl that they can’t otherwise understand. The stories define what is possible, what the tellers yearn for, what they believe they deserve. The self-made man, the American dream, Capitalism, socialism, religion – all those narratives that try to contain everyone’s desires and fears within neat lines. Different tales, different obstacles, but the hero is always us, and the ending has us attainting what we’ve always wished for.”
Wow…I just had to read that again.
This really was a great story. It was a compelling tale of escape and adventure, of getaway cars and hideouts. Of double-crosses and dirty money. A chance to enter the mind of a criminal and look around.
“The right thing was confusing, and difficult, and sometimes Jason wondered if it was in fact a nonexistent ideal, like heaven or the American dream. There was no right thing. You did what you did for whatever reasons occurred to you at the time, depending on whichever emotion was running thickest in your blood. Your desire and fear and adrenaline and longing. You made your choice and came up with the reasons later.”
But what I keep coming back to is not what the story had to say about Depression-era criminals, but about us, about people in general. People who aren’t criminals, but who find themselves forced to consider choices they never expected.
“We believe there are things that are possible and things that are not, actions we can imagine doing and others that are beyond the pale. But then doors are swung shut and what once was impossible, unthinkable, is there before us, happening to us. Sometimes we throw open the doors ourselves, sometimes someone else pushes them open and points at what lies beyond. Sometimes we don’t even want to look. But we never have a choice.”
Law abiding citizens and criminals. Seemingly different sides of a coin – polar opposites. But in uncertain times, when the world seems upside down…identifying which one is good and which is bad becomes a much harder task.
December 2, 2017
The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers • by Thomas Mullen (2009 / 2010)
Overview: ...set during the heyday of J. Edgar Hoover's war on crime in the 1930s, violent bank robbers Jason and Whit Fireson (aka the Firefly Brothers) wake up in an Indiana morgue, having miraculously survived bullet wounds that led the authorities to triumphantly announce their deaths. The pair escape and inform the third Fireson brother, Weston, and their mother, that they're alive...This is but the first of a number of fantastic episodes in which the criminals cheat death, with no logical explanation.
Their first death and waking in the morgue is 1934. They had lots of money from a big job and were planning to collect their loves, Darcy and Veronica, and retire to a safe place. Now they are penniless again and again they turn to crime to raise money so they can retire to a legal businesses; they want to go straight.
Heartless banks are foreclosing; putting people out on the streets. Robbing such banks made them heroes. Now the feds crackdown and the promise of a reward turns some folks against them. As a young man Jason got swept up in the thrill of bootlegging during prohibition. After two arrests Jason planned to be law abiding, but no one would hire an ex-con. In despair he turns to crime and plans to be the best at it; make enough money to start his own business and then go straight.
At the next robbery they are again shot dead and are driven by accomplices to a hide out where they again wake up, A-Okay. Other bad guys, thinking the brothers are dead, decide to kidnap Darcy and ransom her to her rich daddy. The brothers go after the kidnappers, find them and during the rescue are shot dead, but again they wake up and we learn daddy hired the kidnappers so he could collect insurance money--hard times for all.
Finally they remember what happened at their first shoot out and death. Their younger brother turned them in and so they shoot each other in an argument. Now the story logic falls apart and we don't know what's real; are they ghosts or what? The police blow them up and Darcy goes to the cemetery to dig them up.
The fabulous writing ends just as the story concludes leaving enigmatic loose ends. How did their brother betray them? Are they now ghosts?
Thomas Mullen novels
The Last Town on Earth (2006)
● The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers (2010)
The Revisionists (2011)
Darktown (2016)
Lightning Men (2017)
•
Overview: ...set during the heyday of J. Edgar Hoover's war on crime in the 1930s, violent bank robbers Jason and Whit Fireson (aka the Firefly Brothers) wake up in an Indiana morgue, having miraculously survived bullet wounds that led the authorities to triumphantly announce their deaths. The pair escape and inform the third Fireson brother, Weston, and their mother, that they're alive...This is but the first of a number of fantastic episodes in which the criminals cheat death, with no logical explanation.
Their first death and waking in the morgue is 1934. They had lots of money from a big job and were planning to collect their loves, Darcy and Veronica, and retire to a safe place. Now they are penniless again and again they turn to crime to raise money so they can retire to a legal businesses; they want to go straight.
Heartless banks are foreclosing; putting people out on the streets. Robbing such banks made them heroes. Now the feds crackdown and the promise of a reward turns some folks against them. As a young man Jason got swept up in the thrill of bootlegging during prohibition. After two arrests Jason planned to be law abiding, but no one would hire an ex-con. In despair he turns to crime and plans to be the best at it; make enough money to start his own business and then go straight.
At the next robbery they are again shot dead and are driven by accomplices to a hide out where they again wake up, A-Okay. Other bad guys, thinking the brothers are dead, decide to kidnap Darcy and ransom her to her rich daddy. The brothers go after the kidnappers, find them and during the rescue are shot dead, but again they wake up and we learn daddy hired the kidnappers so he could collect insurance money--hard times for all.
Finally they remember what happened at their first shoot out and death. Their younger brother turned them in and so they shoot each other in an argument. Now the story logic falls apart and we don't know what's real; are they ghosts or what? The police blow them up and Darcy goes to the cemetery to dig them up.
The fabulous writing ends just as the story concludes leaving enigmatic loose ends. How did their brother betray them? Are they now ghosts?
Thomas Mullen novels
The Last Town on Earth (2006)
● The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers (2010)
The Revisionists (2011)
Darktown (2016)
Lightning Men (2017)
•
November 26, 2018
1930s bank robbers aren't really my jam, and I honestly read this for the fantastical elements. But I ended up really enjoying the story, and now I want to know more about the famous bank robbers of the Great Depression, the myths and folktales that sprung up around them, and their role in the formation of the modern FBI.
The Fireson brothers were nicely nuanced. I wavered between sympathy and anger toward them during the story, and I really liked the tension between the glittering legends and the all too human reality of the brothers. My main criticism was that Darcy's POV chapters were kind of tedious, and her hearing voices in her head didn't have much of a point. Just to show that she was going a little nuts during her kidnapping and imprisonment? Nothing else was ever really made of it. I was also disappointed that Veronica didn't get much of her own story, and the narrative never returned to Weston after spending quite some time developing him. I want to know what happened to him and the rest of the family after the brothers were "killed" for the last time, but all we get is Darcy, who I was thoroughly sick of by that point. The dropped side stories made the middle of the narrative seem unfocused, and it was disappointing when a lot of stuff wasn't followed through on.
As for the end:
The Fireson brothers were nicely nuanced. I wavered between sympathy and anger toward them during the story, and I really liked the tension between the glittering legends and the all too human reality of the brothers. My main criticism was that Darcy's POV chapters were kind of tedious, and her hearing voices in her head didn't have much of a point. Just to show that she was going a little nuts during her kidnapping and imprisonment? Nothing else was ever really made of it. I was also disappointed that Veronica didn't get much of her own story, and the narrative never returned to Weston after spending quite some time developing him. I want to know what happened to him and the rest of the family after the brothers were "killed" for the last time, but all we get is Darcy, who I was thoroughly sick of by that point. The dropped side stories made the middle of the narrative seem unfocused, and it was disappointing when a lot of stuff wasn't followed through on.
As for the end:
July 15, 2018
Mullen is a good writer, with well developed characters, admirable language and descriptions, engaging plot, and a few twists and big surprises. This is set in the 30's and the plight of the average American during the depression is well depicted. The Firefly brothers are bank robbers whose lives become more and more complicated as one of their compatriots is kidnapped by unknown parties. There is the background story of their upright father seemingly the victim of unscrupulous bankers and wrongly convicted of murder. The rather magical happening that the brothers survive and recover from violent deaths , surprisingly, did not detract from the tale's credibility. However, the story to me was too reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde. You knew it was not going to come to a good end. Although he is an engaging writer, Mullen's topic was too steeped in violence for my taste. But he is worth watching as a writer.
November 17, 2020
The best part of this book was the focus on urban life in the Great Depression. That part was interesting, and a good reminder that while this year sucks, it could suck a lot worse. Unfortunately everything else just felt pretty meh. I love the concept - bank robbing brothers who keep returning from the dead - but it goes basically nowhere. They never learn from it, and there's never a good explanation for why it's happening. The main female character is a rebellious automotive heiress with a shitty dad - another concept that does not live up to its potential. I've had this book on my to-read list for a very long time and sadly it didn't live up to my (probably inflated) expectations.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2025
Rating:
2⭐
Review:
While I found the author's commentary on society interesting (depression era life, the mythology built around criminals and individuals that are larger-than-life), I found the narrative to be incredibly dull. Starting off with an incredibly interesting premise and moment of waking up from death then immediately going into flashbacks and the pacing slowed down. Ultimately, I didn't care about the flashbacks because I didn't care about the brothers yet.
Interesting look at a moment in history and what it possibly would have been like with the news media and the actions of larger-than-life banks and criminals.
2⭐
Review:
While I found the author's commentary on society interesting (depression era life, the mythology built around criminals and individuals that are larger-than-life), I found the narrative to be incredibly dull. Starting off with an incredibly interesting premise and moment of waking up from death then immediately going into flashbacks and the pacing slowed down. Ultimately, I didn't care about the flashbacks because I didn't care about the brothers yet.
Interesting look at a moment in history and what it possibly would have been like with the news media and the actions of larger-than-life banks and criminals.
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