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beastreader's review
3.0
So I got this book a long time ago. I never picked it up and kind of forgot about it. Recently, I was going through my shelves on something to read and decided that I would try to make a little dent in my TBR pile. I say "little" as it will take me a long time to make a "big" dent. I would need about a year off from work to do this. Not kidding.
I picked up this book and started reading it. I did finish it in one day. It moved fairly quickly and had plenty of good dialect and action to keep the story moving and not getting stale. However, I found that Kirk kind of faded in the background for me. In fact if someone asked me to describe him, I would say "boring". Not true for Carter and especially, Carla. Carter was the bad guy that you loved to hate. I could forgive him even in the beginning for robbing the banks as he was doing it for his family. Yet as he got more bold, he turned into a jerk. Carla on the other hand was very smart and quick on her feet. She I thought, blew all the guys out of the water with her performance.
I picked up this book and started reading it. I did finish it in one day. It moved fairly quickly and had plenty of good dialect and action to keep the story moving and not getting stale. However, I found that Kirk kind of faded in the background for me. In fact if someone asked me to describe him, I would say "boring". Not true for Carter and especially, Carla. Carter was the bad guy that you loved to hate. I could forgive him even in the beginning for robbing the banks as he was doing it for his family. Yet as he got more bold, he turned into a jerk. Carla on the other hand was very smart and quick on her feet. She I thought, blew all the guys out of the water with her performance.
emckeon1002's review
4.0
I read this faster than I did The Professionals. The criminal is much less sympathetic, so it's easier to root for his comeuppance. I will say this story, moreso than The Professionals, followed the "action novel" and film script dictum of increasing the intensity of the threat as the story proceeds, which made it less satisfying as a novel, but simultaneously, impossible to put down. Good story. Solid writer. I look forward to more.
jshel10's review
4.0
I really enjoyed The Professionals - one of the best books I read last year - and I really enjoyed this one, too. Really like Windermere and Stevens, though not sure where there relationship is headed. The plot felt a bit less complicated than in The Professionals and a bit more predictable, but Laukkanen does a good job overcoming that with strong characterizations and some good dialogue. Stevens has the potential to be one of the most interesting characters in contemporary crime fictions and I'm anxious to see how Laukkanen develops him further. Highly recommended.
mojoshivers's review
5.0
This was a standout installment. Most books try to humanize their villains, try to make the audience understand the motivations behind their devious actions. This book took the opposite approach. It started out with Carter Tomlin—accountant, devoted family man, upstanding citizen—robbing banks after being laid off. But then it gave him a niggling bloodlust that grows with every successful heist. It festers slowly at first but eventually bursts forth until Tomlin is a bloody psychopath going on a rampage through a throng of people.
You can literally witness grow less human page by page, depraved murder after murder, and it’s fascinating to watch.
As always Stevens and Windermere make great heroes and are interesting instruments to stir the action, but the real stars of this series so far are its fascinating bad guys.
You can literally witness grow less human page by page, depraved murder after murder, and it’s fascinating to watch.
As always Stevens and Windermere make great heroes and are interesting instruments to stir the action, but the real stars of this series so far are its fascinating bad guys.
taffy_sea's review
4.0
I couldn't put it down. It was a compulsive read, convincingly set in the Twin Cities, and the downward spiral of bank robber/accountant Carter Tomlin was fascinating to read.
martyfried's review
4.0
This is the second book of this series, and is similar in some ways to the first. The first one had villains that were not really evil, just a bit naive who made some bad decisions; at times it was hard not to hope they were successful when the going got rough.
In this one, it started out similarly; a guy who gets laid off during a downturn in the economy, and can't pay his mortgage and other bills. Of course, he's not totally innocent of getting overextended, but it was the pressures of his family and trying to keep them happy. However, he started losing it somewhere along the way, until he lost all sympathy from everyone. He somehow became really evil, and we only hoped he'd die soon.
It probably wasn't very realistic at all. It's pretty hard to believe a rich accountant could become a ruthless killer and not get caught pretty quickly. But it was a fun and exciting ride, with some humor along the way, at least for a while. I had trouble putting it down for the last third or so, and it went very fast with lost of short chapters.
In this one, it started out similarly; a guy who gets laid off during a downturn in the economy, and can't pay his mortgage and other bills. Of course, he's not totally innocent of getting overextended, but it was the pressures of his family and trying to keep them happy. However, he started losing it somewhere along the way, until he lost all sympathy from everyone. He somehow became really evil, and we only hoped he'd die soon.
It probably wasn't very realistic at all. It's pretty hard to believe a rich accountant could become a ruthless killer and not get caught pretty quickly. But it was a fun and exciting ride, with some humor along the way, at least for a while. I had trouble putting it down for the last third or so, and it went very fast with lost of short chapters.
tpaulschulte's review
5.0
Owen Laukkanen's 2nd entry in the Stevens and Windermere series proves that The Professionals (Stevens and Windermere #1) was no fluke. The writing is assured, the plot well thought out and fast moving. Laukkanen is quickly making his mark in crime fiction and is a welcome addition to other great Twin Cities standbys such as Sandford's Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. This series is a wonderful companion and will be a worthy successor once Sandford decides to hang it up. Which I hope is years down the road.
In Criminal Enterprise, we meet Carter Tomlin, a well paid CPA that lives in a McMansion in an affluent area. His perfect life falls apart pretty quickly when he is laid off and resorts to a life of crime to keep the mortgage paid, etc..
Unfortunately for Tomlin, he likes the life, it gives him a thrill and his crimes escalate quickly.
Windermere is hot on the case while dealing with a reluctant partner and Stevens is trying to resist the lure of the excitement of the FBI. Their jobs collide again and the ending is cinematic and climactic.
You will love this series.
Caution: There is language and a few sexual situations.
In Criminal Enterprise, we meet Carter Tomlin, a well paid CPA that lives in a McMansion in an affluent area. His perfect life falls apart pretty quickly when he is laid off and resorts to a life of crime to keep the mortgage paid, etc..
Unfortunately for Tomlin, he likes the life, it gives him a thrill and his crimes escalate quickly.
Windermere is hot on the case while dealing with a reluctant partner and Stevens is trying to resist the lure of the excitement of the FBI. Their jobs collide again and the ending is cinematic and climactic.
You will love this series.
Caution: There is language and a few sexual situations.