- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Prion Books Ltd; New Ed edition (5 Sep 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1853753467
- ISBN-13: 978-1853753466
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,075,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Synopsis
A gripping tale of the planning and execution of a jewellery store heist in a dark and corrupt Midwestern metropolis. Set amid a seedy urban wasteland of crooks, killers and con-artists, the members of the gang are steadily undone by their personal obsessions (teenage girls and mistresses, friendships and blood ties), double-crossing and fate.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An atmospheric tale of rumour, suspicion and double-dealing,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Asphalt Jungle (Film Ink) (Paperback)
William Riley Burnett authored some thirty-six gangster novels, including the classics Little Caesar (1929) and High Sierra (1940). The Asphalt Jungle, first published in 1949, tells the story of a half-million dollar jewellery heist which develops complications. In forty short chapters spanning 230 pages, the novel develops over a series of atmospheric scenes. Despite its huge cast of characters, the reader is drawn into the story of Emmerich, Reimenschneider, Gus, Schemer and Dix. Reimenschneider, just released from prison, has plans for a heist, but needs the financial backing of Emmerich, a rich and powerful lawyer. Emmerich, however, has troubles of his own, which he seeks to resolve with the help of a crooked private detective. The muscle is provided by Dix, "an out of work heavy" who despises the grubby city and his city-girl, Doll, and yearns to go home to the country. Schemer, who dreams of a settled home life with his innocent wife and their baby son, will perform the break-in. Gus, a hamburger flipper, who is "A Number 1 with all the big boys" and knows enough of what's going on in the city "to blow the whole administration out of City Hall", is the driver. Tensions develop as preparations are made for a robbery that each member of the gang hopes will change his fortunes. The planning unfolds against a backdrop of rumour, suspicion and double dealing. When things don't go according to plan, each man must find his own way of escaping.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Rewarding heist story,
By
This review is from: The Asphalt Jungle (Film Ink) (Paperback)
'Herr Doktor' is the criminal mastermind newly released from jail onto the sinister streets of an anonymous Midwestern city. He and his former cell-mate, the improbably named Johnny Cool, are planning 'the big one'; a million dollar jewellery heist. The book covers the planning, recruitment, execution and consequences of the robbery.
This is a straightforward crime thriller with an underlying 'crime doesn't pay' message. The dialogue is well written with a fair dollop of slang such as lucre, moo, a big sock and the ubiquitous 'harness bull'(apparently a uniformed policeman). This is an undemanding read where despite all the nefarious planning in the world there is always blind chance to trip you up. As the little 'Doktor' reflects, the whole crime had 'an atmosphere of farcical accident'. Mr Burnett sets his stall out to tell you a straight, mean crime thriller and that is exactly what he delivers with no frills. If you like noir thrillers this will suit you and it will also provide an easy introduction for newcomers to the genre.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A journey into the darkside of the city.,
By
This review is from: The Asphalt Jungle (Film Ink) (Paperback)
The Asphalt Jungle opens with the thoughts of a journalist who is privy to an audience given by the new police commisioner who is determined to clean up the city which is overflowing with crime and it's twin corruption. The narrative then switches to cast a light on the dark recesses of the city, an underbelly inhabited by a cast of criminals, some of whom we learn are planning a big heist, in fact the biggest the city has ever witnessed. As the story progresses the motivations and trajectories of these characters who inhabit the murky city becomes clearer, Emmerich the Lawyer after years of corrupt wheeling and dealing is staring at the abyss of financial ruin, Louis wants to provide for his wife and young son and Dix just wants a way out of the city. The plot weaves through a spiders web of illegal gambling dens, upmarket villas, safehouses and at the heart everything Gus's store which with it's hunchbacked proprietor acts as a conduit for news flowing through the underworld, until eventually the personal failings of the protaganists look like they will finally catch them up. The Asphalt Jungle is a gripping and fast paced meander through the darkened alleyways of a post-war mid-western city with the pulpy feel of late 1940s/early 1950s crime fiction and well worth delving into
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