12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Subject Matter, January 3, 2010
This review is from: Among Thieves (Hardcover)
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I struggled with this book because I'm not really into the art world. I thought it was a little more mystery when I got it but it's not. I enjoyed David Hosp's fictional account of the museum heist. However, I didn't really get engaged with the characters. I found everyone other than the main character, Finn to be lacking much depth. I thought the pace was really slow in the beginning and it was hard to follow because of the switching back and forth between Finn and his client to the Irish fellows who are killing different people. Someone compared this to a James Grippando book and I disagree because Mr. Grippando's characters are funny and very interesting. I learned a lot about the museum, the heist and the IRA. I would recommend this book to people who get into art mysteries. It was a good book but it just wasn't great for me.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An art theft mystery and legal thriller to savor!, January 16, 2010
This review is from: Among Thieves (Hardcover)
I've been fascinated with the theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, so I was intrigued by the storyline of David Hosp's latest novel. Fortunately, Among Thieves did not disappoint!
Location is as much a character in the novel as the people; David Hosp captures the atmosphere of Boston well from Gardner Museum in the Fenway area to South Boston and the streets of Boston.
While attorney Scott Finn is a convincing and likable lead character, I was drawn in by Finn's colleagues Lissa Krantz and former detective Kozlowski. Lissa Krantz is a strong independent attorney from a privileged background who cares fiercely about her small circle. Tough and burly, Kozlowski ("Koz") built a reputation for integrity and competence in the Boston Police Department but hadn't gotten along with his superiors; after retiring from the police, Koz built a niche as the investigator of their group. When Finn, Koz, and Lissa take on Malley's case in the course of their practice, they approach his case with professional distance. But the three grow increasingly invested and Malley becomes more than a client as the story evolves.
Among Thieves is a satisfying and compelling escape - an art theft mystery and a legal thriller to enjoy.
ISBN-10: 0446580155; $24.99 - hardcover
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 11, 2010), 384 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
There Is No Honor, November 17, 2009
This review is from: Among Thieves (Hardcover)
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Every once in awhile you come across a book that is so relevant and so well written that you find it difficult to put down. David Hosp has written such a book, 'Among Thieves'. Twenty years ago, the biggest art theft and property theft in history occurred at the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston. This crime remains unsolved. David Hosp has given us a story that could have taken place, no one knows but the thieves and they aren't talking, or are they?
Liam Kilbranish, a member of the IRA from Ireland is in Southie, the Irish part of Boston, looking for something that is his. He has had dealings with a man named Whitey Bulger, one of the most infamous Boston bosses of crime, who has gone missing. Liam knows that three men were the only ones privy to information he is seeking, and he will stop at nothing, nothing, murder is his business and it is his life. Into this mess we find two detectives from the Boston Homicide squad, two FBI agent, a lawyer,and his colleagues and his client. Scott Finn has been called to the Nashua Street Jail to see a client. Finn, as he liked to be called, was in a hurry, the Red Sox were playing and he always made the opening day game on Patriots Day. A day to remember and this day would be one for the books. Finn had been a player in Charlestown before he went straight and became a lawyer, and his client, Devon Malley was from the old days. Malley was in trouble and wanted Finn to get him out of this bind. What seems like an easy enough case turns into the case from Hell. Before long, Finn, his partners Lissa, and Kozlowski see enough murder and mayhem for a lifetime.
David Hosp has brought the streets of Southie to us, we feel the poverty, the despair, the southie ganster wanna be's . A few streets down in Charlestown, the grim reality turns into fine homes and condos. Not the Boston Brahmin, but the Irish brogue can still be found. The feel of the city is different, there is hope and clean air. The stories of Southie and Whitey Bulger come alive. The havoc that crime and drugs and drink can wrought are all around us. There for but the grace of God... And, a few miles away is the beautiful Isabella Gardner Museum. We learn of the history of Isabella Gardner and her gift to the city of Boston. My family and I made our second visit to the Isabella Gardner Museum a week after the theft of the art occurred. There were guards on every floor, near every staircase. I bent close to read a plaque on a picture and a guard came over to me and asked me to move back. We could feel the tense electricity in the air, not the place for the beautiful things. David Hosp has captured that atmosphere and more in his novel. This is a real treat, a pearl of a novel. Scott Finn is someone who likes his clients and we can feel that caring. That is part of what this novel brings, into the grim reality of a part of the city that is mired in fear and despair, there is someone who cares.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 11-18-09
Innocence
The Betrayed
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