Love and Theft

March 30, 2020
Parish’s solid page-turner, a loose sequel to 2014’s Down the Shore, centers on a New Jersey single mother, Diane Alison, whose grown son, Tom, was the previous novel’s protagonist. Diane knows that Clay, Tom’s father, was involved in illegal activities before he died decades earlier, but she learns more about Clay’s past after meeting the charismatic Alex Cassidy, who turns out to have once worked with Clay. The two are instantly attracted to each other, and Diane ends up agreeing to spend a weekend at Alex’s beach house in Mexico. She’s stunned when Alex reveals that he was the mastermind behind a recent $22 million jewel heist in Vegas, but—in large part because of his feelings toward Alison—he vows to quit the business forever. Before Alison can decide whether she wants to continue the relationship, Tom and Alex’s adult daughter, Paolo, who are lovers, are kidnapped, and Alex is forced to complete one more job. Well-developed characters, relentless pacing, palpable levels of tension throughout, and a notable closing twist make this a winner. Parish is a thriller writer to watch. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group.

May 15, 2020
After pulling off an audacious jewel heist from a Las Vegas hotel boutique, Alex Cassidy decides it's time to get out of the game. But his criminal associates won't let him quit until he does their bidding one more time. Alex has good reasons to retire--not only his slice of the $22 million grab, but also Diane Alison, the charismatic celebrity caterer he falls for while hiding out in New Jersey. Alex quickly realizes that he met her once before--some 20 years ago with his teenage partner in theft, Clay. Clay and Diane subsequently entered into an ill-fated romance that ended when he was shot to death. She later gave birth to their son, Tom. Now, during an impromptu family gathering in Mexico that started out as a romantic getaway for Alex and Diane, the wayward Tom is swept away by Alex's spirited daughter, Paola. She is visiting from Colombia, where she lives with her mother. Things go south for everyone when Tom and Paola are abducted as a way to convince Alex to go to the south of Spain and deliver to the bad guys a Chinese fat cat threatening to sue Vegas power brokers over the loss of his pre-purchased $7 million necklace. Though furious at Alex for putting her child at risk, Diane flies off with him to Spain and becomes a key player in the Mission: Impossible-style team he assembles. Her transformation happens rather quickly. And Tom (introduced in Parish's Down the Shore, 2014) and Paola drop out of the book rather abruptly. But like Don Winslow, Parish is both a hard-bitten storyteller and a very good writer. A drug-altered scene "liquefies and darkens like sugar over heat." And the plot heats up just right. A hard-boiled thriller that's equally good at love and theft.

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