edited by Gary Phillips & Richard Brewer
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Culprits is a crime thriller anthology of short stories edited by Gary Phillips and Richard Brewer. It follows a crew of professional thieves after they go their separate ways after the biggest heist of their lives.
This book really caught (and kept!) my attention and I practically read it in one sitting. I loved the whole idea of this anthology and how it was put together. The editors wrote “The Heist,” and then individual authors chose one character each to write about what happened to them after. It absolutely felt like one through line of a story even though there were seven authors involved in addition to the editors: Jessica Kaye, Zoë Sharp, David Corbett, Manuel Ramos, Joe Clifford, Brett Battles, and Gar Anthony Haywood.
As with most anthologies, I liked some short stories better than others. My two standout favorites were “The Wife” by Zoë Sharp and “Hector” by Richard J. Brewer. I really liked that the editors finished out the collection with “All Debts Paid,” which ties the whole anthology neatly with a bow.
If the name of the book sounds familiar to you, it’s also a hit tv show on Disney+ and Hulu! I definitely plan to check it out to see how it fares as live action media.
If you like books that feature morally gray characters who aren’t above a bit of betrayal amongst friends, you should absolutely pick up this character-driven heist anthology.
CW: firearms, violence, death, domestic abuse
I received a complimentary review copy from Datura Books. All opinions contained herein are my own.
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