Criminal Enterprise (Stevens and Windermere Series #2)

by Owen Laukkanen

Overview

The new Stevens and Windermere novel from Owen Laukkanen, author of the dazzlingly acclaimed The Professionals—“one of the best debuts of the year" (Mystery Scene).

Accountant Carter Tomlin has a secret. He’s lost his job, the bills are mounting, and his perfect life is hanging by a thread. Desperate, he robs a bank. Then he robs another.

Reuniting for the first time after their first case, FBI Special Agent Carla Windermere homes in on Tomlin from one direction, while Minnesota state investigator Kirk Stevens picks up the trail from another.

Because Carter Tomlin likes robbing banks. And it’s not because of the money anymore. Tomlin has guns and a new taste for violence. And he’s not quitting anytime soon.

Praise for Owen Laukkanen

"Puts readers in mind of what a collaboration between John Sandford and Elmore Leonard would be like...a master storyteller."--Bookreporter.com

"Really terrific."--Lee Child

"Fans of crime thrillers shouldn't miss this one or anything else with Laukkanen's name on the cover."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101609286
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/21/2013
Series:	Stevens and Windermere Series , #2
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	234,560
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

After graduation, Owen Laukkanen answered a Craigslist ad—and for the next three years, he was the tournament reporter for a poker website, traveling from the luxurious casinos of Monaco and Macau to the sketchiest card rooms of Atlantic City. A resident of Vancouver, he is now at work on a third book featuring Stevens and Windermere.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Laukkanen is slam-bang brilliant.”—John Sandford

“Owen Laukkanen is a writer to watch.”—Thomas Perry

“A terrific new voice.”—John Lescroart

Praise for The Professionals

“Really terrific—characters that live and breathe, and chills aplenty.”—Lee Child

“Like waking up on a roller coaster, just as the car plunges down a steep fall. Laukkanen’s prose is fighting-weight lean, and the pace is relentless.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“A page-turning blend of classic suspense fiction and chillingly postmodern amorality. Ingenious plotting, perfect-pitch characterization, and evocative sense of place combine to create an impressive debut.”—Jonathan Kellerman

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2014
Carter Tomlin was living the American dream: a successful career, a beautiful wife, and two kids. But after he loses his job and the bills start piling up, Carter impulsively holds up a bank with a simple note. Soon the thrill of robbing banks becomes a drug for Carter and as the money stacks up, the heists become more dangerous and his sense of morality crumbles. VERDICT Fans of Breaking Bad will love this good-man-turned-bad story that has all the pacing of a car careening out of a control and enough stomach-twisting carnage to satisfy adrenaline junkies. (LJ 3/1/13)

Library Journal

In Laukkanen’s fine sequel to his impressive debut, The Professionals (2012), laid-off Minneapolis accountant Carter Tomlin starts to rob banks once he realizes he can no longer pay his mortgage or support his beautiful wife and two kids. But his secret life as a bank robber is more addicting than he anticipates, and he’s making money faster than ever before. As Tomlin’s heists get more and more outrageous, FBI special agent Carla Windermere targets him as her prime suspect, despite the semblance of a perfect family life, a Victorian mansion, and a fancy car. When Windermere fails to persuade anyone that this embodiment of the American Dream could be leading a double life, she turns to her old partner, Minnesota state investigator Kirk Stevens. The hard-boiled narrative moves at a quick clip, and the tension between Windermere and Stevens adds some spice to the intrigue, though Tomlin’s over-the-top actions may strike some readers as unconvincing. Author tour. Agent: Stacia Decker, Donald Maass Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Laukkanen is slam-bang brilliant.”—John Sandford

“Owen Laukkanen is a writer to watch.”—Thomas Perry

“A terrific new voice.”—John Lescroart

Praise for The Professionals

“Really terrific—characters that live and breathe, and chills aplenty.”—Lee Child

“Like waking up on a roller coaster, just as the car plunges down a steep fall. Laukkanen’s prose is fighting-weight lean, and the pace is relentless.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“A page-turning blend of classic suspense fiction and chillingly postmodern amorality. Ingenious plotting, perfect-pitch characterization, and evocative sense of place combine to create an impressive debut.”—Jonathan Kellerman

From the Publisher

With this second thriller in a series, Laukkanen's latest provides an entertaining worst-case scenario of an accountant gone bad. Carter Tomlin has a lovely wife, daughter and home, but the good life in Minnesota comes crashing down when he's laid off from his accounting job. Now no one wants to hire him, and consulting can't pay the bills. How can he support his family and their lifestyle? Well, banks have money. He'll rob one. Just one ballsy heist to tide him over, and he's done. It doesn't yield him enough cash, though, and he discovers that scaring the living bejesus out of harmless bank tellers is a lot more fun than balancing books. So, he has to amp up his game, and he and a young lady partner go for bigger scores. Bullets start to fly, and soon, Tomlin is in much deeper trouble than he'd ever expected--and he's loving it, all while his innocent family remains clueless. Meanwhile, FBI agent Carla Windermere and detective Kirk Stevens team up to identify the robber and try to bring him down. They've previously worked together in Laukkanen's debut, The Professionals (2012), and have a professional and personal chemistry that makes them fun to follow and easy to root for. Tomlin takes them through plenty of twists and turns as he becomes increasingly unhinged and dangerous--even other bad guys had best give him a wide berth. Fans of crime thrillers shouldn't miss this one or anything else with Laukkanen's name on the cover. The writing is so crisp, the pages almost want to turn themselves. He's a terrific storyteller.

Kirkus Reviews