The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers

Written by Thomas Mullen

Narrated by William Dufris

Late one night in August 1934, following a yearlong spree of bank robberies across the Midwest, Jason and Whit Fireson are forced into a police shootout and die...for the first time.

Now it appears that the bank robbers known as the Firefly Brothers by an admiring public have at last met their end in a hail of bullets. Jason and Whit's lovers-Darcy, a wealthy socialite, and Veronica, a hardened survivor-struggle between grief and an unyielding belief that the Firesons have survived. While they and the Firesons' stunned mother and straight-arrow third son wade through conflicting police reports and press accounts, wild rumors spread that the bandits are still at large. Through it all, the Firefly Brothers remain as charismatic, unflappable, and as mythical as the American Dream itself, racing to find the women they love and make sense of a world in which all has come unmoored.

Complete with kidnappings and gangsters, heiresses and speakeasies, The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is an imaginative and spirited saga about what happens when you are hopelessly outgunned-and a masterly tale of hardship, redemption, and love that transcends death.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 22, 2010
• ISBN: 9781400185597

Thomas Mullen

Thomas Mullen is the author of The Last Town on Earth, which was named Best Debut Novel of the Year by USA Today and Best Book of the Year by Chicago Tribune, and won the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son.

Reviews for The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers

[Joseph Mazza · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I would like to give this book five starts. It’s a great story with great characters and keeps you intrigued the whole story. However, the main female character is set up to be strong and able to handle her own but she continually falls into the “Damsel in Distress” archetype. She even finds new lows to bring the archetype to. It really takes you out of the book and eventually makes you want to skip through her parts of the book.

[lkernagh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When the colder, darker weather of autumn comes along, I seem to gravitate towards stories with a slightly darker feel to them, be it Gothic, noir or something a bit on the gritty side. Mullen’s Depression-era story is the perfect read to go along with rainy, wind-swept days. The title is an apt one, and provides the reader with a bit of insight into the story considering the story starts out with the Fireson brothers resurrection. One may throw their hands up in frustration at this but Mullen uses this “spoiler” of his own disclosure to build a wonderful story around the fact that the Fireson brothers have no memories of the events that lead to them “waking up” in the police morgue with their bodies altered by what looks like bullet holes. The story takes the reader on a Depression-era crime adventure in keeping with the myth, legend and lore of outlaw celebrities the likes of the Dillinger Gang and Bonny and Clyde. The story has everything – bank heists, bumbling cops, fedora-wearing Tommy-gun toting men, shoot-outs, a car chase, an intrepid young Bureau of Investigation agent, crooked business men and even a “damsel in distress”. While reading this one, I was able to see the story play out, like watching a flickering old black and white gangster movie. The story has a decidedly noir feel to it, in part due to the gloomy Depression setting. Even with that gloom, the story provides glimpses of Robin Hood style flair as the Firefly Brothers become folk heroes of the destitute populous. There is a noticeable divide between the hard-core villains and the “charming gentlemen” criminals (hence that Robin Hood angle I mentioned earlier). Yes, the story has a phantasmagorical aspect to it in the resurrection of the Firefly Brothers and some of the story comes across as a bit of a cliché but, the heart of the story is really about a family (the Firesons) and the lies that people tell themselves and the people they love. The deep dive Mullen does into the past lives of his characters makes it stand out, for me anyways, from other bank heist-styled stories I have read to date. Outside of that core family piece, [The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers] is a wonderful escapism read where even the criminals are not “cut and dry” characters. As one reviewer has mentioned, “the story wonderfully illuminates why 1930’s America spawned so many dark heroes”. Everyone needs an idea or an individual to look up to, even if the attention is focused on an antihero. Under Mullen’s pen, one can easily see why antiheros can be so popular.

[auntmarge64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's 1934, with brother outlaws Jason and Whit Fireson awakening in the morgue, pierced with deadly bullet holes and with no idea what's happened, or even whether they're alive, dead, or in between. As they struggle to make sense of their situation, and to escape and stay ahead of the cops, they take advantage of reports of their deaths to plan a few more heists and to find their girls, both of whom have disappeared. Death makes its appearance again (and again), and with the newly-formed FBI finally facing the fact that the Firesons may not really be dead, the law closes in. Will the brothers find their women, one of whom has been kidnapped, and manage to disappear before they're arrested and killed for good? And how many times can they wake from the grave before fate is done with them? This makes the novel sound supernatural, but it's not really. The resurrections are simply one part of the plot, just as confusing to the characters as to the narrator or the reader, and the questions of why and for how many repeats gives an added tension to the plot. Life in the Great Depression is amply mined to show how the brothers' situation is difficult for the law to decipher: poor photos, lack of communication, piecemeal law enforcement. And the dialogue is often funny and very real, especially between the brothers. This is the second Mullen I've read, after "The Last Town on Earth", which I also gave 4 stars. Very enjoyable and recommended.

[johnhastie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

OK, so get this:

The novel starts with the notorious gangsters/bank robbers, The Firefly Brothers, waking on their slabs in a county morgue, riddled with bullet holes and short term memory loss.

Scrappers that they are, they lay aside their momentary confusion and hit the road to a) find out what landed them there, b) find out what happened to the money and personnel from their last heist, and c) reconnect with the loves of their lives and family members all the while, of course, trying to find a way to turn their highly celebrated "death" to their advantage.

In a refreshing twist the "supernatural" aspect of this auspicious beginning becomes almost secondary to a great adventure/morality tale that is also a vivid portrait of the Midwest during the Great Depression. The characters are real. The danger is palpable. And the pages turn.

Pulp at its literary best.

[tulikangaroo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers follows the ups and considerable downs of the Fireson family. Jason and Whit have turned to bank-robbing to survive the Depression and their saintly father's murder conviction, while their brother Wes clings desperately to an honest life in the shadow of his infamous brothers. After years of impossible escapes and increasingly daring heists, the Fireson brothers are finally killed - until they wake up again.On the run once again, Jason and Whit plan more heists and struggle with understanding how they can possibly be alive again, as well as how they died the first time, which they can't quite remember...I really enjoyed this. The premise could be hokey, but it is well written and the many mysteries unravel slowly throughout. Clever, entertaining, good.

[msf59 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the summer of’34, Jason and Whit Fireson wake up in the morgue. Apparently both have died from gunshot wounds, possibly in a police ambush. A miracle or a second chance? You’ll have to take a ride along with the Firefly brothers, to find out. They are a pair of Depression-era bank robbers, modeled after Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, reviled by the law and adored by the public.This is a well-written and exciting tale, chock full of machine-guns, kidnappings, double-crosses and of course car chases, with the intrepid police always in hot pursuit.Mullen writes in clean fast prose and he’s done his homework too. Highly recommended.

[girlmisanthrope · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book opens with the Fireson brothers', Jason and Whit, first death when they wake up in the morgue. While they are flummoxed as to how this happened, being "dead" comes in handy for serial bank robbers since no one is expecting them.The story bounces back and forth to the brothers past, which frustrated me a bit until it paid off toward the end when the author uses this to illuminate some of the mysteries. The book is divided into each death they experience. The author's research pays off; his descriptions of Depression-era America, of criminals, of Hoover, of the clothing of the period serve to completely immerse you in the story, allowing you to feel the awe of the phenomenon that is happening to the two brothers. Family and loyalty are strong themes. It was interesting to see some parallels between the Depression era and what's happening with our economy now.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't write a reasoned, objective review of this book because I loved it so, so much. If I were living in 1934, and the Firefly Brothers were, well, not fictional, I'd be filling scrapbooks with newspaper clippings of their exploits. The book opens with Jason Fireson waking up in a morgue. He's pretty good at sleeping anywhere, but he's never woken up naked on a metal table before. He's also got a row of welt-like holes on his chest. It doesn't take him long to find his brother on an adjacent table, wake him up and make their escape from the police station, thanks to an all too frightened officer they find in a locker room, who seems to think that they should be dead. The brothers can't remember anything of the last few days and so the book moves back and forth through time, telling the story of how they became infamous bank robbers and of what happened to them after they woke from the dead. There's a mystery here, too, of what happened to get them killed in the first place. Mullen takes the unbelievable and weaves it with a realistic depiction of how unrelentingly difficult the depression was for millions of Americans, sending families to live in ramshackle Hoovervilles and causing men to fight for any job available.

[nycbookgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Let me just say right here that I absolutely loved this book. LOVED it! Please go rent, borrow or buy this book and check it out! It's seriously one of my top favorite books I've read in the last few years.Here's the plot:It's 1934 and the Great Depression is in full swing in America. Jason and Whit Fireson have turned to bank robbing as their means of surviving. Jason is seeing Darcy Windham, the disinherited daughter of a wealthy automobile manufacturer. Whit has his hastily married wife, Veronica, and small son to look after. They've also left behind a mother mourning her late husband and a younger brother who is trying to make a living despite having the unfortunate last name of a couple of bank robbers. As the brother's notoriety rises, so does their fame with J. Edgar Hoover's team of newly created FBI agents tracking down America's public enemies.So this all sounds ok but what's the big hoopla about? Seriously, read the first chapter. The story starts out with Jason and Whit waking up naked in what appears to be their death beds in the back of a police station. They are assumed dead by the police and their death photos appear in all the newspapers. Thus begins the start of the many deaths of the Firefly Brother's as they attempt to score their last heist so they can retire. What happened that night?I loved how this book starts out and how the whole story unfolds. I loved each character even though they were all pretty flawed. I even enjoyed the side stories with Darcy, Veronica, and their brother Weston. The book is never boring. It's got police shootouts, bank heists, kidnapping, speakeasies, and really makes the setting of the Great Depression come alive.Go out, find this book and read the first chapter and I guarantee you will be hooked.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Depression-era bank robbers Jason and Whit Fireson (aka the Firefly brothers) are shot to death, but inexplicably find themselves returning to life in a police morgue hours later, with no memory of the events that lead to their deaths. It's an incredibly intriguing beginning, but unfortunately the rest of the book doesn't really live up to it. The story spends remarkably little time on the mysteries of what happened that night (which is eventually explained) and why they keep resurrecting (which really isn't). And there's very little forward momentum to the story at all for much of the novel. Instead, there's a near-endless series of flashbacks showcasing the brothers' family history, why they turned to a life of crime, how they met their girlfriends, etc. It's not entirely uninteresting, and eventually it pretty much all does tie in to the current-day plot, but it just doesn't meet the expectations set up by the premise; the characters simply aren't compelling enough for that. Indeed, I occasionally got the impression that Mullen might perhaps have been happier just writing a non-fiction book about the Great Depression's hard times and gangster legends, and dispensing with the story altogether.Which isn't to say that it's a bad book. It's quite readable. There's some decent action, and some moderately interesting revelations. But I just couldn't help feeling disappointed with it.

[gaskella_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's the mid-1930s in the height of the great depression, millions are out of work and bands of bank-robbing outlaws are regarded as folk heroes in the USA. Former public enemy number one, John Dillinger, has recently been sent to his grave and stepping up to the top spot on the G-Men's wanted list are the infamous Firefly Brothers.As the book opens, Jason and Whit Fireson wake up to find themselves laid out on tables in the morgue. They're both riddled with bulletholes, they should be dead but somehow they are inexplicably alive!So the Firefly brothers get a miraculous second chance. The next thing for them to do is to let their folks know they're not dead - complicated, as they know their Ma, younger brother, and their lovers will be watched. Jason is desperate to get some money to his Ma and misses his heiress girlfriend Darcy terribly, but until they can work out what happened, who sold them out and get some more money it's a problem - they'll have to play dead for a while.The one person missing here is the brothers' Pop, who didn't approve of the life Jason and Whit chose to live, yet ultimately ended up on the wrong side of the law himself. He was however a profound influence on both of them, and Mullen tells his story and how the boys became bank-robbers in between the current day episodes as the Firefly brothers try to sort things out and carry on with their 'endeavours' as they call the heists, and the all too real possibilities of getting shot again.This is much more than just a gangster novel, although there are some great set-pieces involving typical gangster types with appropriate nicknames, and Darcy as the rich girl who likes a bit of rough was great value. Beyond the fun, Mullen explores the hard times that punctured the American Dream and produced the bad boy heroes. The Fireson family dynamics and the sibling rivalry between the three brothers features strongly, giving the novel that epic generational feel, dare I say it, akin to The Godfather, (although Pop is no Don Corleone). Jason is a real charmer and a thinking-man's hoodlum; he justly takes the starring role, and gave this period-thriller solid substance which made it a pleasure to read.

[piratejenny_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Early Reviewer winWow. I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel. I'd already read The Last Town on Earth by the same author and was impressed with it. This novel is so different that I'm amazed it's by the same author.The Firefly Brothers--Jason and Whit Fireson--are bank robbers. It's the height of the Great Depression and the FBI has recently been formed. Dillinger is dead. And so, apparently, are the Firefly Brothers. Or so it's been reported. But something's a bit off. Jason and Whit wake up in a place they're not familiar with, unable to recall exactly what happened. The room is a morgue. The death of the Firefly Brothers has been announced by the local authorities. Clearly, however, the brothers are not dead. (Or even undead.) It gives them a bit of an edge and they're able to get back home and try to decide what to make of their lives. Then Jason's girlfriend is kidnapped.The book is reminiscent of Public Enemies, in language, in story, in style. It's a great crime story, but it's about the characters not their crimes. It's also very visual--I was watching the events unfold as I read.With such different novels told in such different styles. I have no idea what Mullen will do next, but I'm looking forward to it.

[kristenn_43 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fun, pulpy thrill ride. I'm much more interested in noir than in the supernatural, so I was happy with the balance struck there with the plot. Apart from that recurring bit of oddness, it was your basic caper story. The characters weren't all likable, but they were consistently three-dimensional. I didn't predict everything -- some nice red herrings -- but no reveal felt like an out-of-nowhere cheat. Appreciated how the context of the Depression had some really vivid historical detail without trying to make a point. It was more people with good luck and people with bad luck than villains and victims. Mullen puts a lot of effort into his language and sometimes it gets distractingly flowery. But the upside is when he really nails a passage. Not necessarily a book to read when you're under stress. I tried that and actually had to set it aside for a couple months. There are sequences where you can almost feel your pulse quicken. My mother read my copy right after I finished it and we disagreed on what exactly happened in a few areas, but areas that seemed deliberately ambiguous. I didn't mind that it left things to chew over. (There was a very unrealistically-timed nap near the end that still bothers me, but my mother thought it could happen.)

[c.vick · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Things I expected from this book: Great historical feel, a good mystery, excitement, and great characters.What I got from this book: Not those things.First and foremost, I was looking forward to a good historical novel, with a Depression era feel and some good info on bootleggers and gangsters. However, the overall feel of the novel was decidedly modern, with Mullen trying to make some obvious comparisons between the Great Depression and today's economic climate. There was nothing very period about the novel.I did get a good mystery -- several of them in fact. They were enough to keep me reading. However, there is no frustration like hanging on to a novel one is not quite enjoying just so one can at least find out the answer... only to not have the answer.Excitement was there, in between long gaps of dull non-action. The red cover, the fast-moving figure, the subject matter -- all these things promise fast pace, hard action and adventure. This novel was mostly introspective.And introspective works when the characters have depth, but most of these fell flat for me. I liked Whit, somewhat, but got mostly Jason and his girlfriend Darcy. Oh, well. Not my cup of tea... or my glass of bootleg whiskey.

[yourotherleft_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Should he believe this one? He'd lost track of the number of bank robberies attributed to his brothers - sometimes multiple banks on the same day, on opposite sides of the country. He was surprised that law enforcement hadn't found a way to pin the Lindbergh kidnapping on them, or maybe even the stock-market crash, or the depression itself. People seemed to believe his brothers possessed special gifts - that they could journey across space, multiply themselves, predict the future. They weren't men but ghosts, trickster spooks who disobeyed not only man's laws but God's as well.It's the middle of the Great Depression in the United States. Unemployment rates are off the charts. The Hoovervilles are growing as more and more people lose their jobs and are evicted from their homes. Men wander the streets and stand in breadlines hoping to make enough money and get enough food to get by another day, another week. Having failed to make a living the "right" way under these inhospitable conditions, Jason and Whit Fireson turned to making ends meet in more nefarious ways. After the death of John Dillinger, the Firesons also known as "The Firefly Brothers," have become number one public enemies. A pair of skilled bank robbers, with their bold and well-timed strikes against villified financial institutions the Firefly Brothers have become both loved and feared by the less fortunate and more law abiding citizens of the US. With the help of the media, their lawless deeds have ballooned into a modern mythology. However, there's far more to the Firesons even than what the papers suppose.The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers opens up a window on the lives of the unlikeliest of heros. Easily moving backward and forward through time from the perspectives of both themselves, Jason's girlfriend, and their decidedly less infamous brother, Mullen makes the "mythical" Firesons into the real people they are, for better and for worse. While it's a rollicking tale of dashing bank robbers, high speed chases, narrow escapes, and shootouts, The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is much, much more. It's a mystery wrapped in a touch of magic and modern day myth. It's an unfortunate yet vividly accurate picture of a painful era of American history when men were reduced to helpless shells of themselves who couldn't hope to provide for their families and found themselves looking to bank robbers to provide the hope and the power that was missing from their lives. It's a saga about a family derailed by a father whose American dream turned into a nightmare and a son who couldn't seem to do the right thing, even when he tried his hardest. It's a story that starts, literally, with a bang and an impossible surprise, and slowly peels off layer after layer until we know all the players intimately, revealing the resolution to the mystery bit by bit keeping the pages turning until the ending that, if you're anything like me, you'll never see coming.

[speakfreelynow · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really did not love this book. To be honest, I couldn't even get halfway through. I tried and tried, but it was just NOT pulling me in. The relationships between the brothers was interesting, as was the mystery of their rebirths, but the women bogged the story down, as did the boring descriptions of bank-robbing. Now, bank-robbing should not be boring. Neither should women. Hence my disappointment. I was disappointed because it's a good idea, with potential for interesting characters and got very good professional reviews. I'll pass it along to someone else in case they can love it, because I just can't. I can't even like it.

[allejean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am a fan of Thomas Mullen - I loved The Last Town on Earth, and The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is nearly the same quality. The Firefly Brothers takes a little getting used to. You are thrown into the book the first time the brothers wake up from death, and the reading experience is a bit confusing. Once I got used to the flow of the book, I enjoyed the story. It was fun to read about the Great Depression, and the book was full of factoids (which I assume have some basis in truth) about how people felt and dealt with extreme poverty. I liked the characters and the story and situations were exciting and unusual.The only problem I had was that Mullen spends most of the book - especially the first few sections - going back and forth between the past and the present. I haven't gone to the trouble of adding it up, but I would guess that more than half of the book takes place in the past, explaining how the Firefly brothers became outlaws and started dying. I understand why the book was written that way and I did get used to it fairly quickly, but I did get a little tired of the back and forth. This is the only reason the book lost a star.Mullen is a master writer and storyteller with a knack for picking historical topics with great relevance to the present-day. I will definitely recommend this book to a number of people, even those I don't normally tell about historical fiction.

[karieh_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gangs, molls and robbing banks. Just the ingredients for a good-old yarn, right? You can practically smell the gunpowder and spilled gin… And yet? “The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers” is more than that. Much more.First, I need to say that this Depression-era novel was eerily reminiscent of today. Of this time in our country where nothing is certain and days are filled with fear and worry about what the next day may bring. This book is set in 1934 – but there many similarities to what is making the news in 2010.“The reality we’d all believed in, so fervently and vividly, was revealed to be nothing but a trick of our imagination, or someone else’s, some collective mirage whose power to entrance us had suddenly and irrevocably failed. What…had happened? What had we done to ourselves? The looks I saw on people’s faces. The shock of it all. Capitalism had failed, democracy was a sad joke. Our country’s very way of life was at death’s door, and everyone had a different theory of what would rise up to take its place.”Jason and Whit Fireson rob banks. They steal money from the few places that still have money in 1934 – and they become anti-heroes to the Americans who are so desperate and so angry at seeing all they believed in and trusted being destroyed. Banks are foreclosing at constant rates, people are out of work, the stock market has crashed, and families are desperate. So when the pair starts garnering fame for stealing from those who are perceived as causing the financial chaos…they are dubbed the “Firefly Brothers” and their admirers start to outnumber their pursuers.I picked this book hoping for some pure escapism, but got instead a great story AND some great insights.“People tell their stories to place themselves somewhere solid in this great swirl that they can’t otherwise understand. The stories define what is possible, what the tellers yearn for, what they believe they deserve. The self-made man, the American dream, Capitalism, socialism, religion – all those narratives that try to contain everyone’s desires and fears within neat lines. Different tales, different obstacles, but the hero is always us, and the ending has us attainting what we’ve always wished for.”Wow…I just had to read that again.This really was a great story. It was a compelling tale of escape and adventure, of getaway cars and hideouts. Of double-crosses and dirty money. A chance to enter the mind of a criminal and look around.“The right thing was confusing, and difficult, and sometimes Jason wondered if it was in fact a nonexistent ideal, like heaven or the American dream. There was no right thing. You did what you did for whatever reasons occurred to you at the time, depending on whichever emotion was running thickest in your blood. Your desire and fear and adrenaline and longing. You made your choice and came up with the reasons later.” But what I keep coming back to is not what the story had to say about Depression-era criminals, but about us, about people in general. People who aren’t criminals, but who find themselves forced to consider choices they never expected.“We believe there are things that are possible and things that are not, actions we can imagine doing and others that are beyond the pale. But then doors are swung shut and what once was impossible, unthinkable, is there before us, happening to us. Sometimes we throw open the doors ourselves, sometimes someone else pushes them open and points at what lies beyond. Sometimes we don’t even want to look. But we never have a choice.”Law abiding citizens and criminals. Seemingly different sides of a coin – polar opposites. But in uncertain times, when the world seems upside down…identifying which one is good and which is bad becomes a much harder task.

[nextian_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers" begins when a couple of Depression-era bank robbers, Jason and Whit Fireson, wake up in a morgue. They have no memory of the previous day, but plenty of evidence suggesting that they had been killed. The novel follows them as they search for their missing girls and information as to how they died.This is one of the best books I've read in quite a while. The writing was excellent, the story was exciting and the plot was innovative. I definitly plan on reading more of Mr. Mullen's works in the future.

[lyzadanger · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

 Don't worry: You won't be bored. Thomas Mullen's sophomore effort combines gee whiz action scenes with the historical pathos of 1930s Americana and deceptively straightforward characters in a novel that ends up feeling bigger than the sum of its parts.The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is a study in cultural mythology. It's a look at the meaning of truth and the melding of reality with legend. It's a myth packed within a myth—the novel's specific arc, the story of the much-apotheosized bank-robbing brothers Fireson, is wrapped within some of our most romanticized 20th-century national memories: 1930s Depression-glam, replete with Tommy gun-toting gorillas, Packards, and speakeasies. The story opens in 1934, the country at the pinnacle of its economic grief. The criminal brothers, Jason and Whit Fireson, have just died. They have woken up in a rural Indiana morgue, riddled with gunshots, with no memory of how they perished. Never a dull moment: the action starts here and never stops. We find that the brothers' crime spree carries with it the implications of weightier things than their immediate motives of family grief and financial straits. Their crimes, which may or may not include ripping up failing mortgages and sparing regular Joes while targeting the fat cats, are also viewed by a desperate Midwest populace as acts of heroism, judgment, divine inspiration. So it's not surprising that, when their bodies go missing, there is a significant minority of Americans who think them invincible. And maybe they are. The brothers, who may or may not be alive, now have to contend with their missing sweethearts: Whit's impoverished wife, Victoria; Jason's brash automotive heiress, Darcy. Here more adventure and derring-do occur.It takes some pages and experience with his cadence to grow accustomed to Mullen's style. Though Mullen does drop some rather plunky dialog at times—it's not his strongest suit—what sometimes sound hackneyed in the rest of his writing is somewhat illusory. You see, the corniness is intentional; the narrator himself (and I suggest you consider while you are reading: who is this narrator?) is part of the warp and weft of the storytelling. Mullen writes neither sparsely nor densely, paving an interesting middle ground that often just stays out of the way of the gunshots and car chases. But then he'll drop a phrase so well-turned that one struggles to believe it isn't already a cliché or a proverb. I like things like these:'She didn't know what to do with that comment, so she dropped it onto the floor and they both looked at it for a moment.'
—Page 100The passage carries the bluntness and bravado of a hardboiled adventure without sentimentality, but also feels expressive. And despite its plain Jane ability to spin a yarn, the novel is quietly doing something more meaningful in the background the entire time. By the end—and I didn't know what that end would be until literally the last paragraph—its apparent that the characters have taken on a life of their own and maybe things aren't as you thought. Maybe you chose the wrong myth to believe.

[bccjillster · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely loved this book and was telling my friends about it when I was only a third of the way in. Mullen takes the 1930s gangster teams to a new level by turning the usual tale on its head right off the bat. Set at a time when bank robbers could just as easily be seen as hero or villain, because of all the foreclosures by the banks (sound familiar?), the Firefly Brothers' spree takes on legendary status and for darn good reasons. But...I won't spoil the fun. Suspend disbelief and take the ride with Jason and Whit; it's bumpy but you'll love the wind in your hair almost as much as Darcy did.Along the way we're forced to think about family relationships, brother to brother, son to father, and how moral choices are made and justified. We also get to 'feel' the Depression from ground level. But it's actually a lot more fun than all that sounds. Heck, just read it for the romping adventure and you'll enjoy it. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I was supposed to enjoy it quite this much. 100% guarantee that there will be arguments about the ending and I look forward to that fun. I can't wait to see what Mullen writes next and what my friends have to say about this book.