A great heist story features criminals we love to hate. While we disagree with their actions, a team of thieves is bound to bring drama and keep the pages turning.
This genre has been immortalized in classic films like the Ocean’s 11 series, but there is a bevy of fantastic novels that push the boundaries of what crime fiction and literature is and give us robbers with intricate schemes that tantalize readers with their exploits.
The books on this list range from classics to new literature, all in pursuit of the perfect heist like in my recent novel The Great Gimmelmans, which follows a family in the 1980s that lose all their money in the stock market crash and start robbing banks, kids and all, out of the only thing that hasn’t been repossessed, the family’s gas-guzzling RV.
Here are some other stellar heist tales to add to your collection.
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
A quintessential classic, The Getaway transcends a typical bank robbery novel. A chilling portrait of a heist gone awry without a romanticized getaway for its protagonists Doc and Carol, a charming criminal and a former librarian seduced into this depraved world. The elements of the heist become stripped away as Doc and Carol mix love with self-preservation and a hellish surprise ending that’s as twisted and cynical as all of Thompson’s novels. The original film with Steve McQueen is excellent too, but skip the remake.
Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
Blacktop Wasteland sets up the career criminal who attempts one last job to position himself for financial freedom. Beauregard or “Bug,” a Black man in the rural south isn’t looking for a big score, but to pay for his child’s braces, keep his mother in a nursing home, and keep his auto shop alive. When he joins as a wheelman in a diamond heist, what follows is a breakneck, adrenaline ride, but also a searing rebuke of racism in the south and the opportunities Bug wants for his children that he was never able to have. Lyrical and heart-stopping, this book is a must for heist fans and fans of literature in general.
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
From a bank and diamond heist to the world of art, Portrait of a Thief follows Will, a Chinese-American senior at Harvard, as he assembles a crew to steal back five Chinese priceless sculptures looted from Beijing centuries ago. If they succeed, they walk away with fifty million dollars, but if they fail, they lose everything they’ve worked for and the chance to take back what colonialism has stolen. A thrilling, but also beautifully written and thoughtful critique of the enduring effects of colonialism.
Cherry by Nico Walker
In Cherry, we follow the empty and aimless narrator who starts off with a goal of casual sex and drugs before joining the army and coming home as an opioid addict. To fund his addict lifestyle, he robs banks. With stripped-down prose, the novel is bleakly comic and a takedown of how soldiers are discarded when they return home. Equally thrilling in parts while also giving a commentary on impoverished America, Cherry showcases the reality of American occupation abroad and the dangers of addiction.
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein
In the non-fiction Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, we follow Attila Ambrus, an anti-hero bank robber who is also a professional hockey player in Budapest. It’s bizarre and hysterical while touching on Hungary’s past and Europe during and after the fall of Communism. Attila is sympathized with and considered a hero for outwitting the corrupt Hungarian authorities. Rubinstein has brought to life a character whose travails veer from comical to heartbreaking. A larger-than-life true crime story you have to read to believe.
Canada by Richard Ford
Canada follows 15-year-old Dell Parsons, who must fend for himself after his parents are arrested for robbing a bank. He’s looking back in the present time on the calamitous events, which happened fifty years ago. “They were not the people to rob a bank,” Dell will say. The theme of the novel points out not how the criminals were affected, but their offspring. Making the arrest a defining moment in Dell’s life that set him down a path of destruction, Canada is a book about lament and despair that is spare and unflashy.
The Wheelman by Duane Swiercynski
A non-stop thrill ride that never lets up. The Wheelman follows Lennon, a mute Irish getaway driver who’s fallen in with a heist team that chooses the wrong bank to rob. Add in dirty cops and the Russian and Italian mobs through the streets of Philadelphia, and this classic noir is reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett. Lennon is like John Wick; knock him down and he gets right back up. The book is over-the-top with chapters that punch you in the throat, with sections opening with quotes from real-life crooks. A gem of a crime novel.