All in the family

Though Berney's novel is called Crooks and centers on folks who aren't shy about bending (or breaking) the law, it's not really a crime novel. Yes there are crimes that happen and yes, the members of the Mercurio family face some criminal choices, but at its heart Crooks is about family and how it binds us. 

Crooks is broken into sections. The first starts with parents Buddy and Lillian fleeing Las Vegas when the heat from their mob ties gets too be too much. But though they try, Buddy and Lillian just can't do normal. To keep the family fed they open a nightclub in 1960s Oklahoma City. As their club takes off - in legal and not so legal ways - each of the Mercurio kids does their part to help in the family business. But as they grow up each is determined to strike out on their own. Those are the next sections of the novel. Jeremy wants to be a star and moves to Hollywood. Tallulah ends up in Moscow working for a circus troop, Ray lands back in Vegas, Alice in New York, and it's only Paul who stays put. As each of their stories unfold, they'll face situations where choices have to be made and they'll need their Mercurio wits and their family to survive.

I loved every bit of this and truly would have read a novel featuring each of the characters. Berney gives each the space to shine, but ties their stories and lives back to each other in ways big and small. Heartwarming isn't a word I'd imagine using for a book called Crooks, but here we are. Nicely done.