"Crooks," | Reviewed by William Winkler

Those who grow up in a family heavily laden with healthcare workers often choose a career in healthcare themselves. The same is true for families of musicians or public servants.

Meet the Mercurio family. Located in Oklahoma City, the Mercurios are a family of criminals, and the subject of Lou Berney’s recent novel “Crooks.”

Paterfamilias Raymond “Buddy” Mercurio is a rising star in the Las Vegas mob, specializing in collecting payment from those overdue in their obligations to the syndicate. Lillian, who Buddy comes to appreciate after noticing her pickpocketing skills, becomes his wife after Buddy shows her how good life on the dark side can be.

The Mercurios are upwardly mobile in the underworld Las Vegas society until someone in the upper echelons discovers Buddy has been doing some freelance work, extorting cash without reporting it to his bosses. He receives a threatening call in the middle of the night, a raspy voice saying one word: “Go.”

Within a half hour Buddy and Lillian have packed their children and the barest of necessities into the family station wagon and are heading out of Las Vegas in the middle of the night.

They end up in Oklahoma City, where Lillian’s aunt has died, leaving her a crumbling house. Although meant to be a temporary stopover, Buddy eventually develops a business opportunity which he runs, naturally, with two sets of books.

The remainder of the novel follows the lives and adventures of the five Mercurio children.

Ray, the oldest, is a quiet hulk of a man, good at taking orders from the Vegas underworld, carrying out his deadly tasks quietly and efficiently until he has a life-altering change of heart.

Jeremy is the more charming of the two older brothers. He ingratiates his way into Los Angeles society, wooing and fleecing wealthy dowagers until the son of one of his conquests learns of his activities and threatens Jeremy with his life.

Alice is the schemer of the family. She learns the ins and outs of her father’s illicit business behavior. Becoming a lawyer in a prestigious New York firm, she seems destined for greatness until her boss sends her on a mission enlisting Alice in activities that could derail her life and career plans.

Tallulah is the child of Choctaw parents forced to give her up for adoption. Buddy and Lillian accept the responsibility out of fear of underground disapproval if they fail to do so. The most physically adept of the children, she ends up in Moscow, where she is a member of an acrobatic troupe specializing in burglarizing the houses of oligarchs.

And Paul, the youngest, known to all as “Piggy,” is an author and educator whose fondest dream is to reunite the family at their ancestral home in Oklahoma.

Each of these characters is richly drawn, and the interactions among the family members moves “Crooks” along in a swift and entertaining manner.

Buy the Book.