Saturday, August 08, 2009

Pg. 99: Marcus Sakey's "The Amateurs"

This weekend's feature at the Page 99 Test: The Amateurs by Marcus Sakey.

About the book, from the publisher:
New from the “reigning prince of crime fiction”*: For four friends, there’s only one thing more dangerous than the men chasing them. Each other.

In just three novels, Marcus Sakey has staked a claim as “an astoundingly good writer,”* one whose believable characters—always ordinary people—face excruciating situations with life- or-death consequences. The Amateurs asks a chilling question: Do you get what you deserve, or what you take?

Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just getting by. Every Thursday night they’ve found solace in a couple of beers and a couple of laughs. But months turn to years, and suddenly a decade is gone. None of them are where—or who—they hoped to be.

And they’ve decided to do something about it. To stop waiting, and start taking.

But what was supposed to be a victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. A child is in danger. Ruthless men pursue them with relentless fury. And tensions they thought were long-buried threaten to destroy them. As their whole world begins to unravel, each will have to choose between their own life and the lives of others—including their best friends.
Read an excerpt from The Amateurs, and learn more about the author and his work at Marcus Sakey's website.

Marcus Sakey is the author of The Blade Itself, At the City's Edge, and Good People.

The Page 69 Test: The Blade Itself.

The Page 69 Test: At the City's Edge.

The Page 69 Test: Good People.

The Page 99 Test: The Amateurs.

--Marshal Zeringue