Let me state up front that I had problems with the book. The characters were too immature word for me as a reader. All four of our main characters were just too damn whiney and self-absorbed for me to really care what happened to them. We have one individual who complains that he always wanted to be a lawyer but is stuck in his dead-end job so he can pay child support. There is no mention of him ever looking for another job, going to night school etc. The other three characters also had complaints about how lousy their lives were. Everyone complains about their job, spouse, kids etc. sometimes but these guys just never let up. They seem content to wallow in their misery and, for me I need some hook in an unsympathetic character in order to root for them. Instead I felt like slapping some sense into them. The plot also seemed to drag at times and I felt that the action should have zinged a bit more quickly. Once again, I think this draggy feeling might have been due to the large amount of time we heard what each character was feeling – great for a relationship novel, less so for a thriller.The last few chapters of the novel do redeem the book up to a point so that I went from a total loathing of the book to a more moderate “too bad these guys couldn’t have begun their transformation a touch sooner, and then I would have been more vested in their survival”.Sakey does show very well how friendships that might have seemed so solid can crumble so quickly under stress. Marcus Sakey's last book, "Good People" dealt with a young couple that kept a large sum of money that did not belong to them, but thought the money to be untraceable. They did not figure on the real owners wanting the money back and trying to get it back at all costs. If you have not read "Good People", I highly recommend that you read it either before or after "The Amateurs".In "The Amateurs" four young people, one girl and three boys, have been meeting at a bar and call themselves, "The Thursday Night Drinking Club". They discuss their lives and find that they are all dissatisfied with their station in life. When, asked as a game, what each would do if they had fifty thousand dollars, each fantasizes on what they would liked to have gotten from their lives.They find themselves in a situation to realize their dreams by participating in a victimless crime. They became privy to a nefarious deal to be handled by the bar's owner. A large amount of cash is to be paid for a certain item and "The Amateurs" plan a "foolproof" robbery.Needless to say, things do not go well and they find themselves fighting among themselves, and being pursued by mob like figures. As on of them says, "Everything has turned to shit".They find that not only do they have the cash but they also have the material that the cash was to pay for. This "stuff" is so lethal that it could kill thousands of people and it was intended to go to the highest bidder, whoever that may be."The Amateurs" find themselves way over their heads in trouble and second guessing what they have done. They must decide if they will either become a party to possible mass murder, or turn themselves in to the authorities. Both options are full of potential problems.A great read that puts ordinary people in very extra-ordinary circumstances. A fast read that will have the reader looking for the other books of Marcus Sakey.
What do You think about Amateurs, The (2009)?
Well-written. Intense take on how game theory plays out among friends and growing up.
—SusanE
Too predictable. Kind of boring. Didn't like any of the characters.
—pinkyallamsetty
Another great read from an awesome author. Very realistic!
—Cecil41
Easy read and I loved the Chicago connections.
—sunshine229911
