Bang Bang [Paperback]

Theo Gangi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

Stickup kid (n.): an urban gunslinger who preys on other criminals, often stealing already stolen property, using violence and intimidation. Izzy picks a bad time to have a conscience crisis. As a stick up kid in New York's underworld, he has a good thing going - robbing the worst drug lords in the city and leaving no witnesses behind. It is a game of high risk and high reward. There is just one problem: Izzy is in his thirties now, and for good reason, there is no such thing as a stickup man.When a job gets botched, leaving Izzy's psychotic partner guilty of yet another homicide, Izzy knows what he is supposed to do - kill the remaining witness or be killed himself. But a bystander named Eva seems different from others he has done before. Is she the exception to Izzy's number one rule? Izzy has never jacked himself into a problem he could not jack himself out of. But that was before. Now, on the unforgiving streets of New York City - where the skyline stretches out like a graveyard - there is a war on and there is no room for mistakes. His ex-partner is hellbent on revenge and is no longer acting alone. And as bodies start to fall around Izzy, he is left to take on both his enemies and his inner demons face first in a battle that has no questions, no conversation. Just bang bang.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gangi serves up a judicious portion of gangsta street talk (Break out the raws, cuzzie-cuz), rough romance and raw violence in this exciting and gritty debut thriller. Even though he's 38 and been working the streets for years, Izzy is what is known in crime circles as a stickup kid—a gunman who preys on other criminals. He and his partner, the jittery, brutal Mal, have one hard-and-fast rule when pulling a job: once they kill someone, all the witnesses have to die. Since their victims are armed thugs, this rule usually results in a roomful of bodies. Mal is the chief killer, but he insists that Izzy contribute his fair share. Through a series of improbable scenarios, Izzy ends up on the run from a gang of vicious Albanians after refusing to shoot his girlfriend when she witnesses Mal shooting several dealers. That shouldn't faze any reader willing to let plausibility take a back seat to compelling action and reluctant admiration for cool, well-spoken Izzy. (Nov.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758220545
• ISBN-13: 978-0758220547
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,596,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fascinating crime thriller, October 30, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bang Bang (Paperback)

Now thirty eight and in the business for years with his psychotic partner Malik "Mal" Dumont, half Jewish half black Ezekiel "Izzy" Levin wonders why his job is titled Stickup Kid and never Stickup man; he ponders whether life expectancy in his line of work is so short that one can never be a man. Still while he muses about his profession of robbing criminals and leaving no witness behind, he relishes the subway World Series as his passion is baseball and his two favorite teams are playing for the championship. However, to even his shock at a bar to watch the game, he becomes more interested in a woman who is also there. He persuades Eva to go out with him in a couple of nights.

Mal and Izzy head to Queens accompanied by their client's "agent" Benny. As Mal cleans house, Izzy fails for the first time to make the closer save (like Mariano Rivera always does) by killing her. The witness is Eva whose cousin is lying dead from a knife wound. Understanding the rules of kill all or be a victim, Izzy saves Eva's life, but now Mal is after them to finish the job.

As this reviewer read this fascinating crime thriller, I kept thinking of Nova Swing (Harrison): "It starts with a dame" combined with paraphrasing the best man's comment at the wedding of my nephew Marc the cop as his "vocation is the dreams of a Jewish mother". Izzy grips the audience as he is obviously intelligent yet his profession as a criminal closer is not what one would expect of someone with his intellect. On the other hand the over the top of the Empire State Building Mal is crazy enough to be a closer. This is one tour of the Big Apple that will grip readers who, like the police, will follow the corpses as High Noon comes to New York City when a woman coming between two former partners.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hell of a debut, January 11, 2008

By 

Marcus Sakey "Bestselling Novelist" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bang Bang (Paperback)

When I heard Gangi reviewed as a "hip-hop Elmore Leonard," I knew this was a book I had to pick up.

Following a really bad day in the life of Izzy Levin, a thief who preys on drug dealers, the novel is a furious run, peopled with well-drawn characters and delivered with street-smart panache. Gangi's language is especially compelling, with some terrific turns of noirish phrase ("Watching a woman cry was like watching a glass of red wine spill on a white linen suit in slow motion.")

A hell of a debut -- I'm eager to see where Gangi goes next.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Crime Thriller!, December 15, 2007

By 

Urban Reviews "Your Source for the Best in AA... (Online) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bang Bang (Paperback)

Izzy is a 38-year-old stick-up kid in New York that robs the city's worst drug dealers and leaves no witnesses. Izzy has a good run doing this but now his conscience is getting the best of him and he starts to question his life choices. When a job goes wrong and Izzy's partner is responsible for another homicide, Izzy is supposed to kill all of the witnesses before he gets killed himself. But Izzy's plans are derailed when a beautiful bystander named Eva is the lone survivor of this latest job. Will she be the exception to his rule? Time is running out for Izzy as his ex-partner and others are seeking revenge and won't stop at nothing until Izzy is gone for good.

Bang Bang is an explosive debut by Theo Gangi. Gangi crafted an urban crime thriller that is anything but ordinary. The characters are interesting and complex. When reading this novel, you get the feeling that on one hand Izzy likes his life of crime, but on the other hand he wants some semblance of a normal life. Readers are also introduced to the harsh life of Eva who has a number of issues of her own. Gangi does a great job of tying in Izzy with a host of other secondary characters in this story. Readers need to pay close attention when reading this story or you will miss how these characters intertwine with one another. Bang Bang is gritty and action packed, making for a marvelous start to Theo Gangi's writing career.

Reviewed by Radiah Hubbert
for Urban Reviews