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ericwelch's review
4.0
Ghosting is different from vanishing. Vanishing among professional criminals is discouraged if not condemned. After the job, you are obliged to follow the plan; if you disappear, especially with the money, all bets are off, and everyone will be after you.
Ghosting is very different as it involves assuming different identities and becoming different people. In this book, our protagonist -- the name is hardly relevant since he assumes so many different ones, but we'll call him Jack -- is obliged to fly to Atlantic City to clean up after a Federal Payload job that has gone all wrong. The details of what makes transport of billions of dollars from the Federal Reserve to banks (and especially casinos) around the country is really interesting) and our hero has but 48 hours to clean things up or everything goes to hell for Marcus, the mastermind of the operation who is trying to steal not just from the Treasury department, but the drug cartel. How it was to work is rather ingenious. But things go wrong and one man is killed and another has vanished. Jack is charged with cleaning it up and fixing it.
Some critics have criticized Hobbs for lack of character development. I wonder if this wasn't partly deliberate as the anti-hero is supposed to be colorless, formless and ghostlike. It doesn’t matter that we don’t like him; it's a good story, in this case very well read by Jake Weber ( a narrator I had not heard before but will add to my list of narrators to watch, err, listen for.)
BTW, the protagonist read the Aeneid in Latin as a boy (some kids played with model trains, he read Latin) and he always wanted to be Aeneas. His motto became: 'Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.'
My motto has always been Cave ab homine unius libri.
Ghosting is very different as it involves assuming different identities and becoming different people. In this book, our protagonist -- the name is hardly relevant since he assumes so many different ones, but we'll call him Jack -- is obliged to fly to Atlantic City to clean up after a Federal Payload job that has gone all wrong. The details of what makes transport of billions of dollars from the Federal Reserve to banks (and especially casinos) around the country is really interesting) and our hero has but 48 hours to clean things up or everything goes to hell for Marcus, the mastermind of the operation who is trying to steal not just from the Treasury department, but the drug cartel. How it was to work is rather ingenious. But things go wrong and one man is killed and another has vanished. Jack is charged with cleaning it up and fixing it.
Some critics have criticized Hobbs for lack of character development. I wonder if this wasn't partly deliberate as the anti-hero is supposed to be colorless, formless and ghostlike. It doesn’t matter that we don’t like him; it's a good story, in this case very well read by Jake Weber ( a narrator I had not heard before but will add to my list of narrators to watch, err, listen for.)
BTW, the protagonist read the Aeneid in Latin as a boy (some kids played with model trains, he read Latin) and he always wanted to be Aeneas. His motto became: 'Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.'
My motto has always been Cave ab homine unius libri.
teebark's review against another edition
5.0
This is a great thriller. You'll be introduced to a secret world where you just might start wondering if that stranger sitting next to you on your next plane ride is who he seems to be.
Ghostman is a moniker used by Jack, the main character in the book, for his ability to transform into another identity within minutes. In effect, to disappear from view, like a ghost. Jack can not only change indentity on paper, but he has mastered the ability to use makeup to change his appearance, and even to change his voice to mimic another person.
In this novel, Ghostman is also a master thief, and he uses his unique perspective as a tool to run down another thief, who has just pulled off a huge bank robbery. Jack is roped into the job by a former partner that he owes a favor to.
Along the way, we're treated to a massive shootout during the bank robbery, Jack's repartee with the FBI as they discover his role in the chase, Jack's race to evade the killers that a drug overlord (The Wolf) has sent to make sure Jack never gets to the money, and a whole new vocabulary that will define the terms wheelman, scatter, jugmarker.
It's fast paced, intricate, and just ingenious. I'm looking forward to more great work from this author.
Ghostman is a moniker used by Jack, the main character in the book, for his ability to transform into another identity within minutes. In effect, to disappear from view, like a ghost. Jack can not only change indentity on paper, but he has mastered the ability to use makeup to change his appearance, and even to change his voice to mimic another person.
In this novel, Ghostman is also a master thief, and he uses his unique perspective as a tool to run down another thief, who has just pulled off a huge bank robbery. Jack is roped into the job by a former partner that he owes a favor to.
Along the way, we're treated to a massive shootout during the bank robbery, Jack's repartee with the FBI as they discover his role in the chase, Jack's race to evade the killers that a drug overlord (The Wolf) has sent to make sure Jack never gets to the money, and a whole new vocabulary that will define the terms wheelman, scatter, jugmarker.
It's fast paced, intricate, and just ingenious. I'm looking forward to more great work from this author.
elusivity's review against another edition
3.0
Listened to the audiobook. The narrator spoke slowly and clearly, using fairly decent accents to differentiate between characters. This made the story infinitely more palatable.
Other than that, it's one of those throwaway thrillers that you read when desperately bored, and will instantly forget when you are done.
Something about a failed bank heist. Exploding Federal money packs. Dude who can transform into whatever new face heants, old, young, blah blah.
The memory is bleeding away from the brain even as I type frantically, in an attempt to capture something, before they vanish completely.
...in fact, they already have.
Other than that, it's one of those throwaway thrillers that you read when desperately bored, and will instantly forget when you are done.
Something about a failed bank heist. Exploding Federal money packs. Dude who can transform into whatever new face heants, old, young, blah blah.
The memory is bleeding away from the brain even as I type frantically, in an attempt to capture something, before they vanish completely.
...in fact, they already have.
stephang18's review against another edition
5.0
Almost as good as a Reacher book, except the protagonist is a bad guy.
hcq's review against another edition
3.0
Solid, straight-up heist thriller. There were some odd editing glitches near the beginning, and my husband was a little distracted by how many phones the lead character found it necessary to destroy (there were quite a few), but overall, well done.
For the curious, here's what I mean by an editing glitch: On p.41, we meet two characters. "They didn't seem tough, but buttonmen rarely do." One sentence later: "These two were small Italian guys who...radiated tough-guy body language."
Oops.
Despite a couple such issues, this was certainly an auspicious debut. I'll be curious to read more from this guy.
For the curious, here's what I mean by an editing glitch: On p.41, we meet two characters. "They didn't seem tough, but buttonmen rarely do." One sentence later: "These two were small Italian guys who...radiated tough-guy body language."
Oops.
Despite a couple such issues, this was certainly an auspicious debut. I'll be curious to read more from this guy.
snowcrash's review against another edition
4.0
A very well written book, with an articulate first person narrative. It isn't about good people, the civilians in the background. It is about the criminals who operate both in the background and in the foreground in society. This is kind of along the same vein as Burke from Vachss's novels.
The main character is a Ghostman, someone who can change their appearance, mannerisms, etc. to disappear. He focuses on helping bank robbers "ghost". It is an interesting point of view.
I like how the author demonstrates why the main character has a deep vocabulary. He translates the classics from their original languages as a hobby.
The book is fast paced and quite detailed. I'm going to see if there are more.
The main character is a Ghostman, someone who can change their appearance, mannerisms, etc. to disappear. He focuses on helping bank robbers "ghost". It is an interesting point of view.
I like how the author demonstrates why the main character has a deep vocabulary. He translates the classics from their original languages as a hobby.
The book is fast paced and quite detailed. I'm going to see if there are more.
vkemp's review against another edition
4.0
For a debut novel,this was a humdinger. A heist goes terribly wrong in Atlantic City and the person who put the heist together,the jugmarker, calls in a specialist, a ghostman. This particular ghostman owes the jugmarker a big favor. And, two stories develop in parallel: how the ghostman came to owe the jugmarker a favor because of a past mistake and how, in present-day, the ghostman attempts to pay off his debt. There were some lame spots, which is the reason for four stars, not five. The action was extraordinary and passages read like a "how-to" for criminals. I look forward to seeing how Hobbs progresses as a writer.
rosseroo's review against another edition
5.0
If you like heist movies/stories or fast-paced crime thrillers, then pick this up immediately. The titular "Ghostman" is a career criminal in his mid-30s who we know as "Jack." We meet him as he's holed up in a nondescript apartment, translating one of the classics from the original Latin or Greek into English -- which is his one and only pastime when he's not on a job. Jack's specialty is to be able to transform both his appearance and personality into dramatically different people, a kind of master method actor of the criminal set, with an endless supply of false identities. In addition to being a master ghostman, Jack is very good at tracking down missing things and people -- again, a kind of master private eye working for the other side of the law.
He receives a phone call from someone who shouldn't know his number, requesting/ordering a meeting. It's his old friend/boss Marcus, who would like to kill him, but needs his particular skills immediately. Marcus set up a casino heist in Atlantic City that went haywire -- as the reader is shown in vivid detail -- and now the surviving heister and $1.2 million have gone missing, and if the money can't be recovered within 48 hours, it'll auto-destruct. Despite the seeming impossibility of the ticking clock and task, Jack can't really turn Marcus down, since he was at fault for the failure of big heist Marcus set up in Kuala Lumpur five years earlier.
And we're off on a rollicking ride of a story, as Jack has to battle the ticking clock, as well as the attentions of both an FBI agent who seems to be on to him and the minions of an Atlantic City crime boss who is not pleased to have Jack on his turf. Interwoven with this is Jack's retelling of the Malaysian job and how that all went wrong. Aside from the excellent pacing and twists and turns of the plotting, what really makes the book shine is the level of detail and insider knowledge of the underworld of heists and their planning, cons, false identities, and so much more. I have no idea to what extent the details are true, but the book reads as if the author spent years talking to real criminals and police to learn the tricks of the trade and language used -- which makes it all the more impressive that this is a debut from a 21-year-old.
I suppose some readers may find Jack to be an unsatisfying protagonist, in that he's a total cipher. But the reason to read this book is for the expert pacing, plot twists, and behind-the-scenes details. I read a lot of crime books, and this is probably the best thing I've read in the last year or two -- it is unputdownable.
He receives a phone call from someone who shouldn't know his number, requesting/ordering a meeting. It's his old friend/boss Marcus, who would like to kill him, but needs his particular skills immediately. Marcus set up a casino heist in Atlantic City that went haywire -- as the reader is shown in vivid detail -- and now the surviving heister and $1.2 million have gone missing, and if the money can't be recovered within 48 hours, it'll auto-destruct. Despite the seeming impossibility of the ticking clock and task, Jack can't really turn Marcus down, since he was at fault for the failure of big heist Marcus set up in Kuala Lumpur five years earlier.
And we're off on a rollicking ride of a story, as Jack has to battle the ticking clock, as well as the attentions of both an FBI agent who seems to be on to him and the minions of an Atlantic City crime boss who is not pleased to have Jack on his turf. Interwoven with this is Jack's retelling of the Malaysian job and how that all went wrong. Aside from the excellent pacing and twists and turns of the plotting, what really makes the book shine is the level of detail and insider knowledge of the underworld of heists and their planning, cons, false identities, and so much more. I have no idea to what extent the details are true, but the book reads as if the author spent years talking to real criminals and police to learn the tricks of the trade and language used -- which makes it all the more impressive that this is a debut from a 21-year-old.
I suppose some readers may find Jack to be an unsatisfying protagonist, in that he's a total cipher. But the reason to read this book is for the expert pacing, plot twists, and behind-the-scenes details. I read a lot of crime books, and this is probably the best thing I've read in the last year or two -- it is unputdownable.
perri's review against another edition
4.0
I had a hard time getting into this book at first because no one is likable. But the story of brutal people doing brutal work is oddly mesmerizing. It's like a peek into altered, ugly world and Hobbs makes it feel distressingly real, A couple of Reacher rip offs-"It was everything I wanted, and nothing I didn't" I guess Child can't trademark his catch phrases. Since there are two stories being told simultaneously, there are two exciting climaxes. A smart, well-written thriller.