Bang Bang

When I heard Gangi reviewed as a "hip-hop Elmore Leonard," I knew this was a book I had to pick up. Following a really bad day in the life of Izzy Levin, a thief who preys on drug dealers, the novel is a furious run, peopled with well-drawn characters and delivered with street-smart panache. Gangi's language is especially compelling, with some terrific turns of noirish phrase ("Watching a woman cry was like watching a glass of red wine spill on a white linen suit in slow motion.") A hell of a debut -- I'm eager to see where Gangi goes next.

I don't usually read thrillers, but after I picked this book up, I honestly couldn't put it down. The author's quick-paced sense of timing and quirky characters are addictive. It's a little violent at times, but the story pulls you in, and you find that you can't wait to discover what will happen next. I'll definitely buy the sequel.

This book is a great thriller with brilliance tucked under its NYC grit and grime. The philosophies addressed are bold and beautiful. Gangi has a knack for portraying the street scene with a realistic flair. The story delivers. You will empathize for these characters. A must read for anyone with connections to New York City.

Theo Gangi blew away all of my preconceptions of how a crime thriller might read. Bang bang has exquisite insight in human psychology, a nuanced plot, and original, breathtaking metaphors. It also has all the great standbys of the genre--fast moving, lots of action, entertaining characters. I can't recommend this book highly enough--for veteran readers of the genre or newbies like me.

Now thirty eight and in the business for years with his psychotic partner Malik "Mal" Dumont, half Jewish half black Ezekiel "Izzy" Levin wonders why his job is titled Stickup Kid and never Stickup man; he ponders whether life expectancy in his line of work is so short that one can never be a man. Still while he muses about his profession of robbing criminals and leaving no witness behind, he relishes the subway World Series as his passion is baseball and his two favorite teams are playing for the championship. However, to even his shock at a bar to watch the game, he becomes more interested in a woman who is also there. He persuades Eva to go out with him in a couple of nights. Mal and Izzy head to Queens accompanied by their client's "agent" Benny. As Mal cleans house, Izzy fails for the first time to make the closer save (like Mariano Rivera always does) by killing her. The witness is Eva whose cousin is lying dead from a knife wound. Understanding the rules of kill all or be a victim, Izzy saves Eva's life, but now Mal is after them to finish the job. As this reviewer read this fascinating crime thriller, I kept thinking of Nova Swing (Harrison): "It starts with a dame" combined with paraphrasing the best man's comment at the wedding of my nephew Marc the cop as his "vocation is the dreams of a Jewish mother". Izzy grips the audience as he is obviously intelligent yet his profession as a criminal closer is not what one would expect of someone with his intellect. On the other hand the over the top of the Empire State Building Mal is crazy enough to be a closer. This is one tour of the Big Apple that will grip readers who, like the police, will follow the corpses as High Noon comes to New York City when a woman coming between two former partners. Harriet Klausner