The Heist

May 30, 2005
In Black's fast-paced third novel (after 2004's Windy City Knights), a stand-alone thriller, the veteran Chicago police officer skillfully interweaves several plot strands-the decision by Johnny "The Mink" Osmand, a high-level Chicago mobster, to cooperate with law enforcement; the schemes of Osmand's boss, Salvatore "Vino" Costelli, to evade prosecution; and the plans of two ex-Marines, Linc Jackson and Rick Weaver, to hit the jackpot by stealing the contents of Osmand's safe-deposit box. Jackson and Weaver don't know that the box holds little of value apart from a videotape documenting a double murder that would put Costelli away for life. When a water-main break disables the security systems of the bank storing the videotape, Jackson and Weaver proceed with the heist of the title, which leads to complicated and unexpected consequences for all parties involved.