Millions of dollars are stolen from a county airport in rural Ohio. The thieves soon find themselves at the mercy of the biggest thief in their midst.
A Russian mobster stumbles onto a plot to rob a county airport where millions in small denominations sit shrink-wrapped on pallets waiting for military transport planes to deliver the money to the Middle East. The mastermind of the heist is the “inside man,” a disgruntled armored-car guard named Smith and his slattern of a wife. Even more astounding to Dimitri Byko, a hardened criminal and psychopathic killer, is that other members of this misfit gang include the pair’s son, a juvenile delinquent, and worst of all, Macbride, an obese, alcoholic professor. When this unlikely band of thieves pulls off the robbery, Byko’s regard for his partners in crime is short-lived. But what he is unprepared for is the woman assigned to hunt him down. Special Agent Annie Cheng has wide experience with the ruthless mafiya of Brighton Beach.
Excerpt
The man standing there was big. So big and wide across the shoulders that Macbride involuntarily took a step backward, which was just as well because the man would have bowled him over if Macbride had hesitated another second.
He didn’t strike Macbride as a man with a lot of friends. He smiled at each of them but it never went as far as his eyes, and that smile was the warmest thing you could say about Mister Dimitri Byko
It was past one in the morning when Smith finished describing the plan. As they were wrapping up in their coats, Macbride proposed meeting somewhere other than his house.
“Why?” asked Dimitri turning to face him.
It was the first time he had looked directly at Macbride since they almost collided at the door. He gave him the identical razor slit of smile.
“I should have mentioned this before,” Macbride said as casually as he could manage without his loathing surfacing, and not sure how to begin. “One of my neighbors has decided to form a neighborhood watch. You see, I found a flyer in my mailbox—”
“We meet here,” Dimitri said without looking up. He gently rapped his knuckles on the coffee table but it had force enough to move it. “If this neighbor of yours becomes a problem, I’ll deal with it.”
Professional Reviews
The Russian Heist
"The Russian Heist" is a gripping noir crime thriller written by Robb White.
The story focuses around Dmitri Byko a Russian mobster based in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. When Byko learns of a plot by an amateur gang of thieves to rob a plane filled with government money headed to the Middle East, he quickly joins in. The robbery is masterminded by an armored truck driver who knows when and where the money will be transported. As the robbery unfolds, it becomes clear to the other members of the gang that Byko has little regard for them and therefore treats them with utter contempt. Moreover, a dogged FBI agent, Annie Ch[e]ng who knows all about the Russian mob in Brooklyn is hot on their heels.
This isn’t your typical heist story. The plot is thrilling and suspenseful. however, where this book really shines is in how the author develops his characters. The main character, Dimitri Byko is extremely ruthless and calculating with very little regard for human life. This causes the other character to be deeply distrustful. The book is very philosophical in nature with morality being the central theme in the book and how greed can corrupt a person’s soul to the point that he or she ceases to be human.
Reviewed By: Michael Shulman,
Manhattan Book Review
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