Crooks

A Novel About Crime and Family

De: Lou Berney

Narrado por: Johnathan McClain

"Lou Berney's Crooks stands with some of the finest crime novels ever written."—Don Winslow, #1 Internationally bestselling author

"A panoramic, cross-generational look at a unique family pursuing their individual visions of the American dream.”—Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author

From award-winning author Lou Berney comes an electrifying new novel that follows a uniquely American crime family on an unforgettable journey across four decades.

You’ve never met a family like the Mercurios.

They say the American dream is going farther in life than your parents ever did. But how does that work if your parents are criminals?

For Buddy, a low-level mob wise guy, and Lillian, a charming pickpocket, the criminal underworld is the only life they’ve ever known. When they’re forced to flee the glittering Babylon of Las Vegas, they end up opening a club in Oklahoma City—a town that quickly feels like a gold mine of fresh marks and easy new money. Along for the ride are their five children, all of them raised into the family business of crime—until the day comes when they each have a chance to make their own way in the world, even if they can never completely escape the family’s long, dark shadow.

Jeremy, the family’s Golden Boy, will throw himself into the glittering excesses of a drug-fueled Hollywood in the roaring 1980s.

Tallulah, the daredevil, will find herself in the deadly Wild West of post-communist Moscow.

Ray, the dope, the dumb muscle since he was a kid, wants nothing more than to put down his gun, but following orders is all he’s ever known.

Alice, the genius who renounced her life of crime long ago, now sees her white-shoe law firm being blackmailed and must tap into old skills to save both the company and her own life.

And Piggy, a civilian always on the outside looking in on his crime family, desperate to be part of the gang.

Crooks is an epic novel about a truly unforgettable family–forty years of peril as each Mercurio has to grapple, in their own way, with the family’s powerful criminal legacy.

©2025 Lou Berney (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

Lou Berney is one of the most engaging storytellers in the business

This story takes us through the years, following an often-crooked but always redeemable family as they get into and out of trouble. The characters go from Oklahoma to Las Vegas to Oklahoma (again) to L.A. to Moscow, New York, and Scottsdale.

The novel explores just how much a person’s fate is determined by where they come from.

If you liked Dark Ride, or the Shake novels (start with Gutshot Straight), then you will love Crooks. If you have yet to read/listen to any Lou Berney, well please correct that travesty right now.

And the audio is fantastic, I enjoyed the performance very much. Listened to the entire thing in one enjoyable lazy weekend.

Lou Berney is always a pleasure

Thank you again Mr. Berney for the balance of dark and playful, witty and stark. This novel is entertaining! It’s good fun but not empty of real characters and relatable suffering. The performer’s blithe style fit quite well with the story too.