Dead Greedy
Alan Cooper
Jacobytebooks, 2001

Well Recommended

Brian Smith has just about gotten the safe he is cracking open when a loud noise startles him. He has just enough time to grab his tools and hide behind a settee in the posh office when three men enter. One is beaten, elderly and terrified, the other two are determined and armed. One carries a pistol Within a matter of moments the old man, Cables, is forced to open a floor safe filled with heroin, and a sawed off shot gun. Brian watches from his hiding place as the shot gun fires twice at the two younger men, and then as the dying man with the pistol shoots Cables. With all three dead Brian moves again to the safe where he removes a hefty amount of cash. Greed sends him toward the floor safe and a sack of the heroin. From the moment Brian takes the heroin things begin to change for the petty criminal, and not for the better. The half million he garners from sale of the heroin to a known drug peddler brings him little pleasure.

Dead Greedy is a violent romp within the seamy underbelly of society. Writer Cooper paints vivid word pictures with his sound writing. >From the opening paragraph the reader is pulled right into the tale and held fast down to the very end. The reader is introduced to a group of characters who are on the main unprincipled and not very pleasant. Dead Greedy gives a picture into the thinking and disregard for life that many of those involved in the drug trade appear to have for the rest of society. Dead Greedy is filled with hard hitting violence, gritty dialogue and at times a difficult to accept glimpse into a world most of us know only from newspaper articles and television programs. Writer Cooper shows real talent in his ability to present a man society would pillory: Brian Smith is after all a criminal, however he is a likeable sort and the problems he brings on himself leave the reader feeling sad for the fellow.

Cooper's background in law enforcement no doubt is providing him much material and expertise in this field. I hope this is not the only work to be presented by this talented writer. Good Read.