New from the "reigning prince of crime fiction"*: For four friends, there's only one thing more dangerous than the men chasing them. Each other.

In just three novels, Marcus Sakey has staked a claim as "an astoundingly good writer,"* one whose believable characters-always ordinary people-face excruciating situations with life- or-death consequences. The Amateurs asks a chilling question: Do you get what you deserve, or what you take?

Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just getting by. Every Thursday night they've found solace in a couple of beers and a couple of laughs. But months turn to years, and suddenly a decade is gone. None of them are where-or who-they hoped to be.

And they've decided to do something about it. To stop waiting, and start taking.

But what was supposed to be a victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. A child is in danger. Ruthless men pursue them with relentless fury. And tensions they thought were long-buried threaten to destroy them. As their whole world begins to unravel, each will have to choose between their own life and the lives of others-including their best friends.

• September 2009 Indie Next List
• August 2009 Indie Next List
• July 2009 Indie Next List