The Hard Stuff

May 13, 2019
In Gordon’s uneven sequel to 2018’s The Bouncer, Joe Brody—strip club bouncer, recovering drug addict, and former elite black ops specialist whose specialty was killing people—is faced with a seemingly impossible task for a coalition of New York City mob bosses: steal $4 million worth of diamonds to pay for a shipment of heroin and then steal the diamonds back again. Assisting him in the risky endeavor is Yelena Noylaskya, a Russian-born master safecracker, burglar, and all around badass. Joe’s shenanigans are highly entertaining, and Gordon has a knack for twisty story lines, nonstop action, and over-the-top sequences, like the memorable diamond heist that occurs on the streets of midtown Manhattan. But some readers may be disappointed that his characters, who tend toward caricature, lack emotional connection. FBI agent Donna Zamora, who played a significant role in The Bouncer, doesn’t get much exposure this time. Still, fans of lighter crime capers will be satisfied. Agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic.

Starred review from May 1, 2019
With The Bouncer (2018), Gordon established himself as a major player in comic thrillerdom, right up there with Thomas Perry. As Perry is also wont to do from time to time, Gordon dials back the laughs a bit (though the sly wit remains ever present) in this latest chapter in the story of Joe Brody, strip-club bouncer and Mob fixer. New York's capos have another problem with terrorists: an al-Qaeda splinter group wants to sell heroin to the Mob in exchange for diamonds, which the group plans to use to fund an attack. Joe helped the bosses solve a little terrorist issue in The Bouncer, and now they have a new proposition for him: steal four million in diamonds, trade the jewels for the heroin, then steal the diamonds back before the terrorists can get them out of the country. Now that's a caper. Naturally, Joe will need the help of safe-cracking, knife-wielding Yelena Noylaskya, his sometime lover, sometime partner in crime, and lurking around the edges again is FBI agent Donna Zamora, who still can't decide if she'd rather arrest Joe or make love to him. Much of Gordon's genius comes from his ability to build character in a few subtle brush strokes, so his entire cast, including the morally and sexually ambiguous New York mobster Gio Caprisi, get under our skins in an instant and stay put. There are some grisly doings this time, but the lightness of touch that distinguishes Gordon's prose, whether his characters are bantering or dismembering, is still what makes this series soar.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)