I was quite surprised by this as I expected a real family crime saga but what is written is very much more light hearted and almost feels like a book full of novellas about the children and the growing into adults of the Mercurio Family.

The chapters are short, the characters are quirky but somewhat wooden as they are not new creations but they are written well.

All in all, it’s a fast read full of crime capers and the coming of age of a family. Hard boiled mobster gangland warfare it is not. But it’s enjoyable but maybe doesn’t reach the heights of previous efforts from Lou Berney

Maybe a slight amended blurb would be beneficial.

Although this book is well-written, it was not the cohesive family story that I was expecting. In general, I dislike short stories, preferring to invest my reading time into novels. So, this was just okay for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Lou Berney's latest standalone novel. the author successfully incorporates both style and substance, leaving me thoroughly engrossed in the story and marveling over the pitch-perfect way in which it is told.

The Mercurios are not your typical American family. From the time they meet and marry, Buddy and Lillian are involved in ways to make money that are not strictly legal, with their crowning success a disco club they open in Oklahoma. They welcome their five children into the family business from an early age by giving them some of the less dangerous tasks in the club, and each child reacts in a different way.

The book follows each child in turn as they reach adulthood, revealing how their childhood experiences influence how they conduct the rest of their lives. Ray, the oldest, is clearly the muscle. As an adult, he works for a low-level gangster, never backing down from a difficult or lethal assignment. Jeremy has star quality, encouraged especially by his mother to make his fortune with his looks and charisma. Tallulah, the Choctaw girl who is the only adopted daughter, is the athlete. She travels in Russia with a circus group that is comprised of thieves, where she is the resident acrobat who loves to "fly," both while performing and while she is involved in a heist. Brainy Alice goes in the opposite direction, becoming an attorney who avoids doing anything that will jeopardize her professional status. And then there's Piggy, so much younger than the others that he considers himself an only child, who never feels included with his siblings and can't even get them to call him his real name,

What delighted and surprised me was finding out how each of the siblings is able to change as they question what they really want out of life--romantic love, the thrill of danger, a new purpose that gives their life meaning. The final scenes are both gratifying and unexpected. Berney is a master with character development, and his portrait of an unusual family is nothing less than unforgettable.

My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

I enjoy Lou Berney books. Crooks is never boring. Not even close. Crooks is brisk, stylish, funny, and dirty /grimey like you would expect about a family with mob ties. This is Lou Berney doing what Lou Berney does best: giving us compelling people we want to invest in, even when we know better. As someone the lives in OKC I greatly enjoyed the story that spoke about areas I recognise. The book is separated in parts broken up by each family member. I will say the last few chapters of each person I started to lose interest. The chapters were short which is a bonus so they went fast. #Crooks #Netgalley

Thank you for the opportunity to preview’s Crooks.
I’d you enjoy a good crime novel with colorful characters, this is a goon one for you.
Each chapter details a new scenario and outcomes.
I liked this book but found some of it was over the top.
3 stars

The book being broken up into 7 parts was fun, but I found myself not feeling an urge to want to finish up each section and I felt as soon as I felt very invested in the characters part, it was time for a new part. The chapters were a little too short for my liking with a total of 96 chapters in this book.

In Lou Berneys previous work after finishing one of his books I've thought about it often. I dont feel this way after finishing Crooks. I believe my expectations were too high as my last Lou Berney read was a page turner, I couldn't put it down, I gave it 5/5 stars. This book was good, just not one of my favorites. 

All in all, Lou Berney is a great writer and though its not my favorite, id still recommend this book.

A crime family that at times feels more like the bad "Brady Bunch" and less like THE GODFATHER.
Mom and dad start their relationship with petty crimes and work their way up to involvement with the Vegas mob then to their own club in Oklahoma with the 5 kids growing up along the way. When the Mecurio siblings part ways Jeremy uses his good looks to score big in Hollywood, Tallulah goes adventuring in the new Moscow, Ray stays not knowing anything else but being muscle, Alice runs in the other direction and goes into a law practice and the youngest just wants to do anything with his siblings and get them to call him by his name. Alternating chapters keep us jumping along with each character and all the bumps and bruises along the way. Each one is full of the promise of a better life, weighed by their crooked past and crazy logic to justify it. At times really funny and at other times chilling, this is a classic crime novel Lou Berney style. A tough story with bad guys you should hate but end up cheering for. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Love it. Fast pace with short chapters. Couldn't figure it out which made me want to read each chapter faster .While the ending might feel a bit far-fetched, still was great. 4.5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy

Lou Berney delivers the goods, every single time. This is a literary thriller that focuses on a family of criminals, some more successful than others. It's a perfect crime novel with characters so vivid and real that I almost feel like they are neighbors (albeit ones that I would never, ever want).

Lou Berney knows how to write crime fiction the way Sinatra knew how to wear a tux: sharp, smooth, and just a little smug about how good he looks doing it. He sidles up to genre tropes like he might borrow a cigarette, but then he steals the whole damn pack and makes off with your lighter too. His latest, Crooks, is a dissertation in stylish subversion: part character study, part caper, and all Berney. His rat-a-tat prose, scene-stealing dialogue, and turns of phrase are as lean as they are lethal. Crooks is about a crime family (kinda) who pull off a number of heists (sorta) and deliver it flambé style (definitely delicious). Crooks is a zinger of a read that goes down as smoothly neat as it does on the rocks. And Crooks has rocks to share.

Now let’s be clear. This ain’t a saga about a criminal empire. Crooks is not The Godfather, it’s not The Sopranos, hell, this ain’t even the Byrdes of Ozark. The Mercurio clan, fathered by nom de guerre’d up Buddy, are less a syndicate than a scattered deck of wild cards. They steal, they scheme, they screw up. Mostly, they run. But like any good family story, it’s not about what they do, it’s about who they are. And Crooks is their story.

The structure’s clever: each chapter is its own mini-heist, zooming in on one member of the Mercurio clan. Buddy and Lillian start the story. How this parental Bonnie and Clyde meet in Vegas. How they lived and loved, conned and ran. Subsequent chapters focus on each of their offspring: Jeremy, the radiant gigolo chasing money and love in neon-lit '80s Hollywood; Tallulah, who crash-lands into self-discovery in post-Soviet Moscow; Ray, the romantic bruiser with dreams of restoring vintage Vegas charm; Alice, the brainiac too clever for her own good yet falls into a blackmailing quagmire; and finally boring Piggy, the one who opted out. He’s the designated driver at the afterparty for a family who never sobered up. Each chapter reads like a novella and Berney uniquely crafts his style for each.

For Ray’s chapter? Berney weaves straw into gold. A smoky cocktail of Ocean’s 11 vibes, low-key love, and just enough gunplay to keep things spicy. There’s a monkey. There’s a betrayal. There’s a glimmer of redemption. In other words, a regular Tuesday night in Vegas. Ray’s the kind of character you want to root for, even when you know there is going to be trouble. Alice comes close. Her brain is a weapon, her moral compass demagnetized, but she is spinning towards justice. Or at least an accounting.

And while Berney makes sure none of the Mercurios are purely villainous (even when they’re up to no good), there’s enough grit on these pages to keep ya flipping. Not everyone wants out. Not everyone can get out. That’s the tension. That’s the tragedy. Most importantly, that’s the fun.

Now, cards on the table, Crooks ain’t Berney’s best. But “not his best” still puts him five city blocks ahead of most. What’s missing, maybe, is that final stitch. The closing knot. A full-circle reckoning for the Mercurios as a whole. There are threads still dangling here. Some of the arcs don’t close as much as they drift off, like smoke from a snuffed-out cigar. And maybe that’s the point. Maybe Crooks is more jazz than symphony. But still, you’d like there to be one more beat.

That said, Crooks is never boring. Not even close. Crooks is brisk, stylish, funny, and dirty in all the right ways. This is Lou Berney doing what Lou Berney does best: giving us compelling people we want to invest in, even when we know better. The biggest crime here? That we have to wait for Lou’s next novel.

A bada-bing of thanks to William Morrow for the advance treat. Any time I get a Lou Berney ARC is a cause for celebration. Cheers. Slainte. And the next round’s on me.

Rounded up from 4.5 stars.

No, this isn't the hard-boiled crime saga the blurb might have you expecting. It's something even better (at least in my opinion): a surprisingly big-hearted book about family—most of whom happen to be criminals of one flavor or another.

The first portion of the book focuses on the Mercurio family when the five siblings are still kids and the parents still anything but upright citizens or PTA material. The second portion homes in on each sibling during a different period of his or her life, and it's wonderful to see how each has (or hasn't) evolved. Little is predictable; all is evoked perfectly. I really loved just about everything about this book.

Thank you, William Morrow and NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I would give Crooks a 4 out of 5 stars. Big fan of Lou Barney’s books and this is a really good one. Loved the format. Several novellas for the main characters. My only complaint was the stories each ended without conclusion. Only over the following stories are the endings provided.

Berney's latest is a light-hearted and sometimes surprisingly touching novel about the Mercurios, a family, that is full of, well, crooks: small-time chiselers, con artists, thieves, and swindlers, with a story that follows their exploits from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City to Moscow as this sprawling yet good-natured family disconnects and reconnects in surprising ways. Berney, a well-established name in the crime/thriller genre, focuses on the importance of family - natural, found, or otherwise - in a chaotic world. Recommended.

I received an advance reader copy of Crooks via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book is set for release on September 9, 2025.

Crooks traces the Mercurio family across four decades, offering a series of glimpses into the lives of the Mercurio children and their parents. Based on the title, I was expecting something more in the vein of The Godfather—a gritty, sweeping saga steeped in organized crime. Instead, the novel unfolds more like a collection of vignettes or novellas, each focusing on a different child and their journey.

Though it wasn’t quite what I anticipated, I still found it engaging. Some stories resonated more than others, but collectively, they created a layered and nuanced portrait of a family shaped by both legacy and personal choice. While hardcore Mafia/Crime fans may not find the genre's usual hallmarks here, the influence is there—subtle, thematic, and woven throughout.

Readers seeking a book that brings to mind the television series and movie Fargo or Elmore Leonard novels will do well to pick up Lou Berney's work of interconnected stories featuring members of one particular family. Beginning in the 1960s with a couple who meet while performing crimes, the novel progresses throughout the next 50 years as each offspring of the criminal couple has their own illegal stories to tell. Marked with intricate steps to crimes, punctuated by violence and incorporating dry, dark humor (see: Fargo) this well constructed book moves very quickly. Each sibling has their own take on crimes from mob enforcer, scam artist, white collar crime to human trafficking. Characters are well fleshed out but each with a sympathetic side. Savvy readers may see a parallel in the interconnected tales to Amor Towles short story collection, Table for Two. The final chapter seems rushed and a bit out of step but that is forgiven as the majority of the book holds fascination for all crime readers.

It’s only May, but I feel confident that Crooks will be my book of the year.

This spectacular, multi-generational saga introduces the Mercurios: the most endearing family of misfits this side of Tenenbaums. It all starts in 1960s Las Vegas, when Buddy (a small-time mobster) and Lillian (a charming pickpocket) are forced to flee after a job goes wrong. They land in Oklahoma City and build a new life, raising five unforgettable children who go on to blaze their own paths of twists and trouble: the Hollywood golden boy looking for his big break; the acrobat in Moscow who can’t slow down; the white collar lawyer in NYC who wants nothing to do with her crooked kin; the meat-headed but soft-hearted bodyguard in Vegas who’s learning to think for himself; and the youngest of them all, a naive writer desperate to belong.

Berney’s writing is electric. Every character crackles with life, and each storyline is compelling on its own. (Though a 10-year-old Russian orphan unexpectedly steals the show midway through.) The novel moves across decades and continents, but its heart is always the Mercurios—brilliant, brash, funny, selfish.

For fans of Spoonbenders or Sneaky Pete, this is storytelling at its finest. The tagline is true: you’ve never met a family like the Mercurios. I’ve read every Lou Berney novel and can safely say he’s outdone himself here.

My only complaint is also a compliment: Because each character gets their own novella, essentially, it’s hard to leave them behind. I loved each Mercurio for very different reasons, and I missed them dearly when I had to move on to the next one’s story. If that’s not the sign of a terrific writer, I don’t know what is.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Crooks is a riveting tale of a one-of-a-kind crime family’s forty-year run of corruption, scams, transgressions and business dealings. Lou Berney delivers an extraordinary tale that is unlike anything you’ve ever read. It’s engaging, sinful and wickedly entertaining.

This is the story of the Mercurio family. The patriarch is Buddy, a Vegas mob guy, and the matriarch is Lillian, a charming woman with criminal proclivities of her own. After fleeing Vegas to avoid their imminent demise, they surface in Oklahoma City and start a disco that seemingly prints money through legitimate and illegal activity. And their five young children are all involved. Which sets each one off on a different path to either embrace or escape their family’s dark history. Kicking off a trip through four decades that checks in on each member of the family at different times, showing how their past has shaped their future…for better or worse.

The structure of Crooks storytelling is fascinating. It starts with the parents, then shows the family together in their early years, before transitioning to focus on each one of the kids individually at different points in time. The story builds chronologically, but through the actions and exploits of each individual character before moving to the next one at a later date. Allowing for a deep dive into each character, developing their story and showcasing their life choices without interruption or distraction from what the others are up to at that moment. And while there is some overlap of the characters in some of the sections, this book can be viewed as 7 separate short stories that come together to form a complete novel through the common thread of exploring a single family’s life through the years.

It’s a unique method to keep the intrigue levels high and to create a sense of urgency for the reader to want to move forward in order to learn each character’s story. Kudos to Lou Berney for coming up with this concept and executing it so well. It makes for an absorbing and exceedingly interesting reading experience.

I really liked how each member of the family was given time to tell their story. It definitely did, however, leave me wanting more - I definitely wanted the gaps filled in on everything we missed for each person's life. Perhaps, we only saw what was "important" though. I could easily see books being written with each family member as a main character - they could each fill a novel all on their own....well except maybe poor Piggy.

Overall, while this wasn't necessarily the story I initially though it would be based on the cover/description, it was in fact literally about a family of mostly crooks of one form or another. A well-written, intriguing novel I'd recommend to anyone.

Thank you to William Morrow and Net Galley for this ARC. #Crooks #NetGalley

I just love Lou Berney's writing. It's tight, smart, and often very funny.

Here, he's hit his sweet spot with a sort-of generational epic, sort-of collection of connected short stories, centering around a family of... well, crooks.

The antiheroes are all engaging, and the crime stories don't fail any of them; thrilling, surprising, and rooted in character. I liked some of the earlier stories a little better than the later ones, with Ray's story the clear standout -- but I felt like the book stuck the landing nonetheless. I don't think I could have more thoroughly enjoyed it.

**Not For Me!

In fairness to the author, my disappointment in Crooks is not due to his writing style, as Berney writes in a style that provides the reader with a fast-paced read.

Rather, my opinion as to why Crooks was not a book for me stems from the following factors:

…My incorrect expectation from the book’s description was that it was going to be a crime family novel on the order of the Corleone family in The Godfather; which is one of my favorite types of books. Instead, it was a book about a family named the Mercurios, consisting of the husband, wife and their five children; each of whom engaged in mostly low-level criminal activities over about a 40 year time span.

…This misunderstanding, despite being somewhat disappointing, in and of itself wouldn’t have been a big issue for me. However, what was a very big source of dissatisfaction is that the book reads like five separate stories, each about the exploits of the five Mercurio children over time; with little that ties each of these stories together, along with an update on their parents, until the final chapters of the book. For me, some of the individual stories of the Mercurio children were interesting and attention-grabbing, while others were not very interesting and compelling.

…So, while Crooks was a fast read, it was too inconsistent in terms of its ability to sustain a high level my interest throughout, causing me to consider Crooks to just be a fair book.

#Crooks #NetGalley