Scan barcode
arbaazk1999's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
howiedoowinfam's review
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bryce_is_a_librarian's review
4.0
I'm officially petitioning that Ed Brubaker officially change his name to "The Shit".
Three standalones that mesh all too well. Merciless and cold like the best pulp.
Do not fuck with Teeg Lawless.
Three standalones that mesh all too well. Merciless and cold like the best pulp.
Do not fuck with Teeg Lawless.
jhouses's review
3.0
Brabaker sigue explorando el entorno que aparecía en los primeros volúmenes. En esta ocasión tres historias conectadas con diferente punto de vista en torno al pasado del garito que frecuentan los criminales de estas historias. Funciona por acumulacion ya que alguna de las historias no tiene entidad individual, solo como glosa de la primera. Tambien resulta un poco confusa la linea argumental entre los 50 y los 70 con lo que aparecen los padres de los protagonistas del volumen 2 para sorpresa del lector que tiende a pensar en una narrativa mas fija temporalmente.
rltinha's review
5.0
Brubaker tornou-se um verdadeiro mestre do noir. E Criminal incrementa em interesse e em qualidade a cada novo Vol., o que é um feito notável.
krystofsubr's review
5.0
Criminal 3 includes three short stories connected by a new character "Danice" and the fact that it´s happening in the 70s. And it´s really good. Very well written, depressing and very well drawn. Looking forward for more.
thisotherbookaccount's review
5.0
Criminal isn’t a series about happy endings. If you are into that sort of thing, turn back now.
It’s been three volumes anyway. If you don’t already know that about the series, then you haven’t been reading carefully. Brubaker’s crime noir series is darker than dark, and Sin City literally has nothing on the shit hole that is Center City. Dog-eat-dog doesn’t even begin to describe the mean streets here, but that’s just the way I like it.
I like my crime noir, but only in small dosages. Thankfully, these volumes are thin, which means that I don’t have to stay in Center City for very long each time. Make no mistake, this isn’t the kind of place you want to tarry for long, because someone’s going to get killed, and it may be you. Your chances of survival drops significantly if you are 1) a woman 2) in a gang 3) affiliated with a gang 4) in possession of a false sense of justice 5) trying to “do the right thing”.
The last entry to the series, Lawless, took a dip because it featured a character that’s hard to sympathise with, and a plot that mirrors that of the first book. You can read more about it in my review, but both books revolve around the same plot elements (a heist, and a heist gone wrong). Different themes, yes, but there’s a level of sameness to Lawless that didn’t quite sit well with me.
Volume 3, on the other hand, sees Brubaker take things up a notch. We have three different stories and three different sets of characters, all tied together via a single event. Each story takes its turn to unravel, and the complete story you get at the end is gut wrenching. It’s also expertly told, and you slowly come to see how everything is tied in with one another. No one emerges a winner here, and that’s part of the appeal.
It pains me that I do not yet have volume 5 of the series with me, but I will definitely seek it out. If the quality of writing carries on, Criminal is on its way to becoming one of my favourites.
It’s been three volumes anyway. If you don’t already know that about the series, then you haven’t been reading carefully. Brubaker’s crime noir series is darker than dark, and Sin City literally has nothing on the shit hole that is Center City. Dog-eat-dog doesn’t even begin to describe the mean streets here, but that’s just the way I like it.
I like my crime noir, but only in small dosages. Thankfully, these volumes are thin, which means that I don’t have to stay in Center City for very long each time. Make no mistake, this isn’t the kind of place you want to tarry for long, because someone’s going to get killed, and it may be you. Your chances of survival drops significantly if you are 1) a woman 2) in a gang 3) affiliated with a gang 4) in possession of a false sense of justice 5) trying to “do the right thing”.
The last entry to the series, Lawless, took a dip because it featured a character that’s hard to sympathise with, and a plot that mirrors that of the first book. You can read more about it in my review, but both books revolve around the same plot elements (a heist, and a heist gone wrong). Different themes, yes, but there’s a level of sameness to Lawless that didn’t quite sit well with me.
Volume 3, on the other hand, sees Brubaker take things up a notch. We have three different stories and three different sets of characters, all tied together via a single event. Each story takes its turn to unravel, and the complete story you get at the end is gut wrenching. It’s also expertly told, and you slowly come to see how everything is tied in with one another. No one emerges a winner here, and that’s part of the appeal.
It pains me that I do not yet have volume 5 of the series with me, but I will definitely seek it out. If the quality of writing carries on, Criminal is on its way to becoming one of my favourites.
lordenglishssbm's review
4.0
A particularly impressive glow-up, given that I found the first arc lacking and the second predictable, even if it was a bit better-structured. Brubaker finally finds his footing with a complex tragedy told from three different perspectives that touches on race, sex and family. As an added bonus all the arcs are self-contained, so if you're interested in the series you can just skip straight to this one.
crookedtreehouse's review
3.0
A Pulp Fictiony intertwined tale of three tropey characters: a boxer who gets tied up with the mob because of generational family violence, a Vietnam vet with a haunted past has to get free of the same said mob after a heist goes awry, and a woman is OF COURSE sexually victimized and becomes a drug addict trying to break herself free of the violence we've seen in the previous two stories.
It's a massive step up from volume two, but it's still a bunch of tired cliche characters. Without the previous volume for scope and comparison, I might have given this a two-star rating, but the characters, trite as they are, at least seem significantly more realistic than the characters in "Lawless".
I mainly recommend this as a gauge to see how much better both Brubaker and Phillips have become in the intervening years. As they've since crafted similarly themed stories but with more original character motivations, and a better use of body language and facial grammar (the eyes in these first three volumes have been comically reactive in a way that I can't decide if I like).
It's a massive step up from volume two, but it's still a bunch of tired cliche characters. Without the previous volume for scope and comparison, I might have given this a two-star rating, but the characters, trite as they are, at least seem significantly more realistic than the characters in "Lawless".
I mainly recommend this as a gauge to see how much better both Brubaker and Phillips have become in the intervening years. As they've since crafted similarly themed stories but with more original character motivations, and a better use of body language and facial grammar (the eyes in these first three volumes have been comically reactive in a way that I can't decide if I like).