Good people - caught in a bad place ...

When Tom and Anna Reed find $370,000 in their house one night it seems as if all their problems are solved. But what they can't quite wrap their minds around is that nothing in this life is free. Before the week is over they'll know exactly where that $370,000 came from-and come face to face with the brutal truth that in order to save your own life, sometimes you have to destroy your dreams......

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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....

The spectacular Dutton debut of a thriller writer whose ecstatically acclaimed work draws comparisons to luminaries such as Elmore Leonard, George Pelecanos, and Dennis Lehane

A family, and the security to enjoy it: that’s all Tom and Anna Reed ever wanted. But years of infertility treatments, including four failed attempts at in-vitro fertilization, have left them with neither. The emotional and financial costs are straining their marriage and endangering their dreams. So when their downstairs tenant—a recluse whose promptly delivered cashier’s checks were barely keeping them afloat—dies in his sleep, the $400,000 they find stashed in his kitchen seems like fate. More than fate: a chance for everything they’ve dreamed of for so long. A fairy-tale ending.

But Tom and Anna soon realize that fairy tales never come cheap. Because their tenant wasn’t a hermit who squirreled away his pennies. He was a criminal who double-crossed some of the most dangerous men in Chicago. Men who won’t stop until they get revenge, no matter where they find it....

Jason Palmer loved being a soldier. But after returning from Iraq with an “other than honorable” discharge, he’s finding that rebuilding his life is his toughest battle yet.

Elena Cruz is the first woman to make Chicago’s prestigious Gang Intelligence Unit.  A fearless cop, she’s ready for any challenge…until Jason Palmer’s brother, a prominent community activist on the South Side, is murdered—in front of his son.

Now Jason and Elena are caught in a conspiracy stretching from the darkest alleys of the ghetto to the manicured lawns of the city’s power brokers. In a world where corruption and violence are simply the cost of doing business, the two of them are all that stand between an innocent child—and the killers that hunt him.  

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Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just scraping by, finding comfort in each other and the hope that things will get better. But as their twenties fade in the rearview mirror, none of them are turning out to be who—or where—they hoped.

In a time when CEOs steal millions while their employees watch savings dwindle, these four are tired of the honest approach. They’ve decided to stop waiting and start taking.

But a supposedly victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. Ruthless men pursue them. Tensions they thought were long-extinguished are flaring. As their world unravels, each will have to choose between their life and the lives of others.

And for four people pushed to the ragged edge, the only thing more dangerous than the men chasing them might be their best friends....

Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just scraping by, finding comfort in each other and the hope that things will get better. But as their twenties fade in the rearview mirror, none of them are turning out to be who—or where—they hoped.

In a time when CEOs steal millions while their employees watch savings dwindle, these four are tired of the honest approach. They’ve decided to stop waiting and start taking.

But a supposedly victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. Ruthless men pursue them. Tensions they thought were long-extinguished are flaring. As their world unravels, each will have to choose between their life and the lives of others.

And for four people pushed to the ragged edge, the only thing more dangerous than the men chasing them might be their best friends....

Good people - caught in a bad place ...

When Tom and Anna Reed find $370,000 in their house one night it seems as if all their problems are solved. But what they can't quite wrap their minds around is that nothing in this life is free. Before the week is over they'll know exactly where that $370,000 came from-and come face to face with the brutal truth that in order to save your own life, sometimes you have to destroy your dreams......

A family, and the security to enjoy it: That’s all Tom and Anna Reed ever wanted. But years of infertility treatments, including four failed attempts at in vitro fertilization, have left them with neither. The emotional and financial costs are straining their marriage and endangering their dreams. Then one night everything changes. Offered a chance at a future they’d almost lost hope in, they seize it. One simple choice. A fairy-tale ending.

But Tom and Anna soon realize that fairy tales never come cheap. Their decision puts them square in the path of some ruthless men. Men who have been double-crossed. Men who won’t stop until they get revenge.

No matter where they find it....

Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just scraping by, finding comfort in each other and the hope that things will get better. But as their twenties fade in the rearview mirror, none of them are turning out to be who—or where—they hoped.

In a time when CEOs steal millions while their employees watch savings dwindle, these four are tired of the honest approach. They’ve decided to stop waiting and start taking.

But a supposedly victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. Ruthless men pursue them. Tensions they thought were long-extinguished are flaring. As their world unravels, each will have to choose between their life and the lives of others.

And for four people pushed to the ragged edge, the only thing more dangerous than the men chasing them might be their best friends....