Grand Theft [Hardcover]

Timothy Watts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2003

Timothy Watts possesses one of the most arresting voices in crime fiction. With Grand Theft, he delivers his most accomplished, hard-boiled, and suspenseful story yet.

Teddy Clyde is a career car thief-a pro who clears three to four hundred grand a year boosting high-end automobiles off the streets of Philadelphia. He's cooler than the other side of the pillow, always managing to stay one step ahead of any trouble. That is, until one night after driving home from a lucrative evening on the job, he pulls over to change a flat and finds the body of Philly Mob boss Dominic Scarlotti dead as a doornail in the trunk of his car.

Now his biggest concern is staying alive long enough to find out who set him up. And to do so, he'll have to outwit and outlast a mobster with a grudge, an Assistant U.S. Attorney with a chip on his shoulder, and two international arms dealers-not to mention a gorgeous investigative journalist whom he's falling in love with.

The novels of Timothy Watts have been compared to those of Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson, Donald Westlake and James Crumley, but this modern noir story is in a class by itself. Fueled by muscular prose, dead-on dialogue, a cast of unforgettable dishonorable characters, and enough double-crossing to keep your head spinning, Grand Theft marks the return of a master.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Watts has often been compared to Elmore Leonard, and his latest crime thriller (after 1996's Steal Away) begs to be cast along the same lines as Out of Sight. Teddy Clyde, the charming upscale Philadelphia car thief, is instantly recognizable as a George Clooney type, and who else but Jennifer Lopez could play Natalie, the investigative reporter "with a great rear end" who is working undercover as a waitress in a mobbed-up strip club? Of course, smart Teddy is the only one who recognizes her in her skimpy disguise. And while he's scoping out her assets, she's musing that "he had a look like you'd see in the movies. Not Disney. More like, what? A John Grisham film. Sociable on the outside but something hidden behind the eyes." Watts, who has been writing screenplays of late, loads his story with empty characters waiting to be filled with real actors-the short-fused, dim-witted, foul-mouthed Mafia underboss who arranges a hit on his superior without considering the consequences; the height-challenged, ruthless federal prosecutor who treats his own staff worse than he does the mobsters he's chasing; the wise old Jewish master criminal using the local ruffians for a big deal of his own. Watts is a clean, glib writer who can drop in a cutting line with ease-he refers to the nasty prosecutor as "a Rudy Giuliani, but without the class"-but readers hoping for a diverting couple of hours might be better off waiting for the film version.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Teddy Clyde is a professional car thief. He only deals in luxury models, does plenty of market research, and is careful about his distribution system. So what's the body of Philadelphia Mob boss Dominic Scarlotti doing in the trunk of Teddy's own car, a modest Acura? It's a long story, and Watts tells it beautifully, with snappy dialogue, lots of streetwise wit, and a nice dollop of romance. In the best caper novel tradition, Teddy begins by only wanting to extricate himself from the mess he's landed in but quickly realizes that because he'll probably wind up dead anyway, why not try to make a little something for himself? The cast of supporting characters is every bit as compelling as Teddy himself, from his bumbling brother, to the bada-bing mobsters he sets out to con, to the Philadelphia Enquirer reporter he falls for, to the two shrewd Jewish gangsters he encounters along the way. Thriller fans will be reminded of Elmore Leonard's Sting, Brad Smith's All Hat, and the many other jaunty caper novels in which a larcenous but lovable hero stands up to a bent world with a grin on his face. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (October 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399150994
• ISBN-13: 978-0399150999
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,830,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous crime thriller, October 14, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: Grand Theft (Hardcover)

In Philadelphia, Teddy Clyde uses the job of a stockbroker as a front to hide his real career as a car thief. He even has a storefront and clients, but his prime nontaxable income is from vehicle repossession that leaves him in the high six-digit income bracket.

His moronic brother Davey tries to steal a Porche and it is only thanks to Teddy's quick response that his sibling is saved from doing time. The brothers go to the Palisades Club owned by the mob's number two guy Anthony Bonica, but unbeknownst to Teddy he carries the body of the mob chief (who was killed by a pro) in his trunk. Everyone wants Teddy from the mob to the US Assistant Attorney Donald Shaffer to other alphabet groups. He hides with an undercover reporter that he begins to fall in love with making his life even more complicated than it is.

GRAND THEFT is a fabulous crime thriller that fans will read in one sitting. The reason readers will want to see what happens next is due is to a strong prime cast. The audience will appreciate the charming rogue, and enjoy seeing the downfall of two villains, including one in the Office of the DA, and a couple of deadly scoundrels whose morality can be traced in one case directly to the concentration camps and the other through his mentor. Anyone who reads this winning thriller will seek more works by Timmy Watts because this is a great novel.

Harriet Klausner

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haiku Review, July 25, 2006

By 

Robert J. Baca "high school english teacher" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grand Theft (Paperback)

Car thief stiffed with stiff
has to outwit mob, pretty
reporter helps him

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Another elmore leonard wannabe, November 20, 2004

By 

Bobby (seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Theft (Paperback)

This book was atrocious. The dialogue was juvenile. Intelligent adults just don't speak this way. The characters were lame and the plot had so many holes you could drive a bus through it.

Pass this one up.