Boyos: A Novel [Hardcover]

Richard Marinick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 2004

Richard Marinick grew up running with the Southie gangs during the Whitey Bulger era, and learned to write during a ten-year prison stretch. He writes what he knows, and his shattering, utterly authentic first novel, Boyos is the result.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marinick's confident and brutally authentic first novel should appeal to devotees of hard-boiled crime and urban literary fiction. Set in and around "Southie," the South Boston working-class Irish-American enclave popularized by such novelists as George V. Higgins and Dennis Lehane, the story focuses on Jack "Wacko" Curran, a rising young player in the criminal underworld. Local "boyos" like Curran resent the steady influx of young working professionals, who are gentrifying the area and pricing the old-time residents out. Curran and his coked-out brother, Kevin, work for mob boss Marty Fallon, wholesaling drugs to a network of area dealers. Tired of giving Fallon a cut of every score, Jack dreams of replacing Fallon and figures that the bankroll from the armored-car heist he's planning will put him on his way. Trouble is, Danny King, Curran's getaway driver, has spilled the beans to Fallon. Meanwhile, things on the street are building to an all-out war. The police are systematically raiding the Irish mob joints in Southie and the Italians are hungry for revenge. A one-time Southie gang member and ex-con, Marinick writes what he knows in this visceral, accomplished debut.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Justin, Charles & Co. (September 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932112324
• ISBN-13: 978-1932112320
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #917,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars interesting look at the criminal mind, September 22, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Boyos: A Novel (Hardcover)

In the Southie side of Boston, Jack "Wacko" Curran and his even crazier brother Kevin earn a living working for mob boss Marty Fallon by mostly selling drugs to neighborhood dealers, but also perform other duties as assigned. After gaining needed experience on the job, Wacko decides it is time that the siblings become self employed or do a hostile takeover. To bankroll his venture, Wacko plans an armored car heist.

Meanwhile Marty has not become a mob chieftain by sitting idly by as his underlings gain the skills until they branch out or try to replace him. Instead, he knows when trouble is brewing and believes the Curran brothers are the current duo to put on ice. Fallon knows about the upcoming robbery and turns to his pals in the FBI to put away the latest pretenders to his Southie crime kingdom, but if the Feds fail him, war is imminent with no one sure which side the cops might be on.

This is an interesting look at the criminal mind from an insider's perspective (the author is a former Southie mobster) that grips the reader from the moment they realize how dangerous Wacko and Kevin are. The story line moves forward at rapid pace while insuring fans have a deep look at the ambitious Wacko and to a lesser degree sly king of the mountain Marty and drug crazed loony Kevin. None of the key protagonists are likable or admirable, but these BOYOS will fascinate readers as few characters do.

Harriet Klausner

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavyweight Noir, October 13, 2004

By 

cortright Mcmeel (baltimore, md United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Boyos: A Novel (Hardcover)

Lots of comparisons were made in reviews of "BOYOS" to George V. Higgans and Dennis Lehane. Not to take anything away from those most excellent crimedog writers, but Marinick has a real-deal heavyweight style all his own. This guy writes dialogue true to the streets of Boston and he plots with same complexity and skill as Ellroy. Interwoven plotlines seamlessly work to build a high wire tension that makes the reader feel like they're a part of the Curran Brothers criminal world. Marinick's massive canvas includes Eye-talian diamond merchants, wise guys, bookies, dealers, addicts, a gluttonous FBI agent, wanna bes, sweet irish Grandmothers, boxers, bartenders, gamblers and thieves. And all of them are depicted with a level of veracity rarely seen in the genre. Also, when the characters in BOYOS ham it up with outrageous anecdotes, it feels and sounds real and not cartoonlike as a Tarrantino comic book pseudo criminal does. No this guy is the real thing and I for one look forward to more books from him.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boyo - Boy, October 13, 2004

By 

James P. Scales "Jim Scales" (Winston Salem, NC) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Boyos: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have to admit that I bought this book because one of the author's brothers is a friend of mine. I wasn't expecting much since this was his first book but saying I was pleasantly surprised would be putting it mildly. This book was beyond my expectations and the future holds bright for Richard Marinick.
The author has taken the wit of Robert Parker's Spenser, the gritty dialogue of Elmore Leonard's 70's novels and the suspense and drama of Dennis Lehane and intertwined them into a novel that allows you a glimpse of how the real criminal society functions and survives.
If you enjoy the work of any of the above mentioned authors or have the slightest interest in "Southie" you should buy this book. Guaranteed you will be yearning for Mr. Marinick's next novel.