Wallace Stroby

Wer die Parker-Romane von Richard Stark oder Gary Dishers Reihe um den sympathischen Berufsverbrecher Wyatt mochte, wird sich im zweiten Teil der Crissa-Stone-Serie des amerikanischen Autors Wallace Stroby sofort heimisch fühlen. Die nach einem mißglückten Coup untergetauchte Protagonistin erfährt zufällig von den immer noch verschwundenen Millionen aus dem gigantischen Flughafen-Überfall 1978, in dessen Folge die daran beteiligten Mafia-Clans sich einen gnadenlosen Vernichtungs-Feldzug lieferten. Mit wenigen loyalen Vertrauten riskiert Crissa Stone die Suche nach dem vermutlich irgendwo gebunkerten Geld, und schnell wird klar, daß sie nicht die Einzige ist, die danach sucht.
Neben der detaillierten Figurenzeichnung & einer straff geführten, stimmigen Dramaturgie schreibt Stroby auch ausgezeichnete, authentische Dialoge, die der Übersetzer gekonnt ins Deutsche bringt: grandios!… (más)

After reading the first book in the Crissa Stone series, I thought I would give Stroby one more chance. I was annoyed because much of the plot in that book depends upon one stupid mistake made at the beginning of the book, when a character who has betrayed his partners is allowed to live. Well, after reading Kings of Midnight, I'm going to have to give up on Stroby and this series, because this book relies on even more stupid mistakes for its plot. Don't expect to enjoy Crissa Stone's clever plotting to pull off a big heist--there is none of that, and the author doesn't really seem capable of nuanced plotting. This book starts with a stupid confrontation, and then Crissa ends up teamed with an ex-gang guy who may know where a lot of money is hidden. But this character just does one stupid thing after another, and Crissa, who is supposed to have good sense, keeps rescuing him. This is supposed to make us see what a fundamentally decent person she is, but it is out of character for someone who is supposed to be a successful thief. And, as I said, we never get to see her skills as a thief anyway. But we do see Crissa as Rambo on more than one occasion. Someone should have revoked Stroby's writer's license after this one. VERY DISAPPOINTING.… (más)

Crissa Stone, the star of this book, makes one big mistake near the start, and not a single reader won't be able to see the trouble it will cause her. This was extremely annoying, since in general books that base their plots on supposedly smart people (in this case, smart criminals) doing really stupid things already have two strikes against them. Luckily, he doesn't do anything else quite so bad, and we find out that one other puzzling plot twist has a very good reason. I kept listening because 1) this is about the best performed audiobook I have ever heard--Coleen Marlo makes every voice, even the male ones, distinctive; I don't know HOW she manages it and at times it sounds like a different person--a real male voice--speaking; and 2) the book is short and doesn't waste a lot of time on boring parts. Stroby writes pretty well, with a hint of style. The book is extremely violent and more than a bit graphic. The important characters are pretty well-drawn, especially the bad guy who just got out of prison and has a lot of lost time to make up for. Crissa herself is a great character as well, but she needs to learn the signs of danger and do a better job staying out of the paths of psychopaths. I have downloaded the next audiobook, and I hope it shows a smarter Crissa--otherwise it will probably be the end of the road for me on this series.… (más)