The Buffalo Job

June 9, 2014
Mob-enforcer turned freelance fixer Wilson returns for his fifth brutal adventure. Bored as a mere planner, Wilson agrees to steal a painting from the Art Gallery of Ontario. Success is its own punishment; Wilson's ability to plan and carry out the theft on little notice convinces Albanian crime lord Pyrros Vogli that Wilson is the man to assign the task of stealing a 288-year old Stradivarius violin during a very narrow window of opportunity and nobody says no to Pyrros. Wilson and his teamâconman Miles, driver Carl and Pyrros' nephew Ilirâhead across the border where they discover that not only is there a second gang working to steal the violin, there are angles to the job of which even Pyrros has no inkling. Four men go to Buffalo; not all of them will be coming home. In a world where cunning and planning can run aground on the shoals of avarice and betrayal, Wilson is a survivor because he has shed any delusions of decency that might make him hesitate at a crucial moment. Merciless but honest about being monstrous, Wilson is worthy to stand next to Loren Estleman's Peter Macklin and Donald Westlake's Parker.

May 1, 2014
Wilson, a professional criminal who calls himself a fixer, isn't too keen on his latest job: stealing a painting from an art gallery. The problem is the three kids who hire him and who have already tried (and failed) to do the job themselves, botching it so spectacularly that they nearly killed a guy. But the money's good, so Wilson pulls off the heistand almost immediately discovers that the job was really an audition. Seems one of the kids has an uncle who wants Wilson to steal a valuable violin, a much trickier task. Wilson puts the job together, but let's just say it doesn't go off without a hitch; Wilson nabs the fiddle, but now he must deal with some people willing to commit murder to get their hands on it themselves. Fans of Donald E. Westlake's Parker novels (written under his Richard Stark pseudonym) will be on familiar ground here. But this isn't an imitation: Knowles has his own voice and wisely doesn't try to sound like Westlake. This is a very good entry in a very good series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2014

In this sequel to Never Play Another Man's Game Toronto master thief Wilson is recruited by Ilir, a neophyte, bumbling Albanian "gangster," to steal a valuable painting. Wilson's quick success leads to another job from Ilir's uncle, Vogli, the boss of Toronto's Albanian mob: steal a Stradivarius from a Buffalo, NY, concert hall. As part of the $800,000 deal in which Wilson gets half up front and half on delivery, he must include Ilir in his team as Vogli's eyes and ears. Wilson recruits two additional men and the quartet travel to Buffalo to scout the venue and concoct the plan. What they do not realize is the Buffalo contingent of the Albanian mob also has the same idea. Things turn sour, but Wilson, the brains of the operation, seems to have answers for every situation--up to a point. VERDICT Despite the Elmore Leonard/Donald Westlake plot, Knowles lacks those authors' verbal talents. Ploddingly paced, the book's writing is also clunky, especially in the overuse of similes. Wilson and his cohorts resemble the Keystone Kops more than professional thieves, and readers won't bond with any of them. Also the original art theft is too simplistic and the subsequent crime too convoluted. Purchase only if other books in this series circulate well.--Edward Goldberg, Syosset P.L., NY

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