The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Try Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me.

Try the Dexter novels yes he is in the police fbi team but he is also not as good as he appears I think you should check him out :)

Wyattby Garry Disher might work or Hit Man by Lawrence Block

I copied the titles of the Lawrence Block books. A couple may be novellas.
John Keller, a hit-man in New York City:

Hit Man (1998)
Hit List (2000)
Hit Parade (2006)
Hit and Run (2008)Finalist 2009 Gold Dagger Award
Hit Me (2013)
Block also writes "Bernie the Burglar" books. Bernie Rhodenbarr is the protag.

My husband enjoys Donald Westlake's Dortmunder books. He and his partner Kelp are also burglars. And Westlake is an Edgar winner. You must find his short story Too Many Crooks. It's over the top hilarious. My hubby read it at one of our monthly "shorts" town gatherings and people keep asking if he'll read it again sometime. Westlake passed away a couple of years ago.

Adrian McKinty's Dead Trilogy is excellent (and on the dark side.)

Dead I Well May Be

Also, Stuart Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast is from the POV of a hitman.

If you're looking for series:

Keller Series (John Keller, a hit-man in New York City)
Amsterdam Assassin Series (Katla Sieltjes, freelance assassin in The Netherlands/Europe)
Rain Series (John Rain, assassin in Japan)

i really enjoyed The Hot Spot , keep in mind he wrote it in 1953, really good book.

oh yeh you want POV of a criminal watch HBO's documentary on the iceman, kuklinski. avoid the movie @ all costs what a horrible job of casting i refuse to watch it. another good 1 is the a&e doc about murder inc, abe reles and them.

I just thought of a really excellent series by Tim Hallinan. The first one is called Crashed, and the main character is a professional burglar. It can get dark, but it's also quite funny in spots. I've read all of them now, and I love them.

Modesty Blaise was the first I ever read, although she and Willie Garvin were nice criminals who'd retired.

I think anti-hero is a good keyword. Check this list? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

And may I put a word for AJ Adams? The Degas Girl and The Bonus There are three sex scenes in each book and the other 75% is mob/cartel business seen from the inside.

Try Headhunters by Jo Nesbo. Fantasy book, and the main character is an art thief.

Donald Westlake also wrote the Parker series of crime books (under the name Richard Stark). If you've seen Lee Marvin in the great movie Point Blank, his character Walker was based on Parker. Mel Gibson starred in a remake of that film called "Payback". Then there's "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" (also made into a great film) written by George V. Higgins. From the UK, there's Ted Lewis' trilogy of the criminal Jack Carter. The 1st book in that series was "Get Carter" - subject of yet another great film starring Michael Caine. Two more good British crime books written from the criminal's point of view are Layer Cake, and its sequel, Viva La Madness by J.J. Connolly. "Layer Cake" was yet another book made into a movie, starring Daniel ("James Bond") Craig. Hope this small list is of some help.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. It is completely from the anti-hero perspective.

Also the Serge Storms series by Tim Dorsey

Donna wrote: "Also the Serge Storms series by Tim Dorsey"

My husband LOVES those books. He even wanted us to do a Serge Storms roadtrip here in FL

I read When Elves Attackover the holidays and laughed and laughed. Totally NOT your standard Christmas book but very, very funny.

Every time a new one comes out, I don't see my spouse for a few days.

Martyn V. Halm's Amsterdam Assassin Series. The main character is a professional assassin.
Martyn V. Halm
Peccadillo: A Katla Novel
Rogue: A Katla novel
Reprobate: A Katla Novel

At the risk of being accused of BSP try some of mine (particularly of you like SoA) - and if you find a reliable narrator in any of them please do let me know...

Clara Rinker series by John Sandford. There are only two books featuring this lady so I don't know you could really call it a series. No doubt Lucas Davenport is ever present in these two books but, somehow, Clara steals the show and comes across as the main character.

The Keller series and the Bernie Rhodenbarr series by Lawrence Block.

The Burke series by Andrew Vaachs. Hard boiled as you can get, great stories, fascinating characters and a writing style that's suberb.

Prakash wrote: "Clara Rinker series by John Sandford. There are only two books featuring this lady so I don't know you could really call it a series. No doubt Lucas Davenport is ever present in these two books but..."

Hi Prakash.... "Clara Rinker"?? Is she a secondary character in Mr. Sandford's "Prey" series? I've only noted Italian editions of books with her name in the title on Amazon.

Bob wrote: "Prakash wrote: "Clara Rinker series by John Sandford. There are only two books featuring this lady so I don't know you could really call it a series. No doubt Lucas Davenport is ever present in the..."

She is present only in two books. In the first, i forget its name, she becomes an assassin. In the second, she is hunted down and killed. And no, she is not a secondary character; i think she has more presence than lucas. As i have said elsewhere, i started reading Sandford because the first one that i came across featured this lady. And Sandford has never managed to recreate the magic of the two clara books.

Yesterday I forgot to mention the most attractive criminal as main character. The Butcher's Boy in a series of 3 books by Thomas Perry - The Butcher's Boy, Sleeping Dogs, and Informant.

I get the sense most of the books by Larry Elmore and Walter Mosley are crime stories with more focus on the criminals, but I haven't read enough of their work to be 100% sure.

The Accident Man A hired hit-man See my review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Definitely Elmore Leonard. Books like "52 Pick Up" "Get Shorty" "Pronto" "Glitz" so many more. Great characters, lots of action. Some bad guys, some regular guys in bad situations. Always great dialogue.

How about the Wyatt by Garry Disher and the Good Thief Guides... The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan

Night of the Assassin and Jet by Russell Blake

Also, magazines such as ThugLit, and All Due Respect. Their stories are primarily written from the perspective of the criminal.

Donna wrote: "I read When Elves Attackover the holidays and laughed and laughed. Totally NOT your standard Christmas book but very, very funny."

Are they stand-alone?

The Burke series by Andrew Vaachs. Stick with the earlier ones. Some great characters.

Me & Mario Puzo -:)

Any of Cathryn Grant's suburban noir novels

Wendy wrote: "Donna wrote: "I read When Elves Attackover the holidays and laughed and laughed. Totally NOT your standard Christmas book but very, very funny."

Are they stand-alone?"

I'm not sure but this was the first by this author that I've read.

It is the 14th or something....

Prakash wrote: "Yesterday I forgot to mention the most attractive criminal as main character. The Butcher's Boy in a series of 3 books by Thomas Perry - The Butcher's Boy, Sleeping Dogs, and Informant."

I've read the first book so far. It's quite entertaining..

Try Deadly Messengers by Susan May.

One with a woman as a super hacker who steals from super rich corps. and gives the money to different charities and such, is the ROBIN HOOD HACKER COLLECTION by Carolyn McCray.