A fun idea that mostly works pretty well. The whole idea is that the main story, the heist, is a setup for an anthology of stories (by different authors) that traces the aftermath from the perspective of each individual character as they go their separate ways.

The only problem I had was that some of the characters weren't clearly defined to begin with so I had a little trouble keeping up with who was who and then following that along through their particular story. Not a major issue but it took me out of the reading a few times when I had to go 'Wait, now who was this?' and backup to get it sorted out.

Final result: A pretty good collection of stories.

A very interesting and unusual crime heist story. An anthology of short stories from multiple writers, including Zoe Sharp. With each writer telling the aftermath from a different character's viewpoint, think Reservoir Dogs.

Culprits is a crime anthology centered around a band of professional criminals who pull off a career heist. The short stories each follow a member of the crew in the aftermath of the opening stanza which introduces the characters and sees them execute their plan.

There's some top talent in crime fiction contributing to this well paced and plotted anthology including David Corbett, Zoe Sharp, and Gary Phillips to name a few. Each bringing a unique perspective to the fallout.

I really liked the structure of this anthology and consistency in the way the characters are portrayed throughout. While the number of characters is initially hard to follow, each is clearly defined by their role and individual circumstance following in the aftermath of the heist.

My rating: 4/5 stars, I was looking forwarding to reading Culprits and wasn't let down. This book has appeal to both readers of long and shorter forms of crime fiction.

Culprits is an interesting concept nicely done. The book is a series of short stories of what happens after a caper goes down. The initial story sets things up, introduces the gang and follows them through the robbery. Then a group of authors take individual gang members and provide their tale of woe following the tears that happen afterwards. Some survive, some are found out and suffer consequences, and a very few thrive. Outside of Westlake/Stark's Parker novels, the reader is not often shown the longer term results of a caper, so this book is a treat!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Culprits is a crime caper novel, fast-reading, full of action, hard to put down. That said, it’s also an anthology with the introductory part written by the editors and seven authors each contributing a chapter, kind of a fun parlor game for writers. Not the first time this has been done, but quite well done in this case. The trick with this type of book is to make the transitions seamless so that the reader feels as if it’s one while novel, not an anthology of stories by different writers.

The other interesting thing they did with Culprits is that, although it’s a crime caper novel, the planning and the adrenaline rush leading up to the incident, the robbery, the caper is over rather quickly because the real meat of the book is what happens to all of the players post-caper as they try to escape with the loot and hopefully without the proverbial knife in the back. This is where this novel really shines and is really fun to read.

Although it took a little bit to figure out who all these diverse characters are, eventually it becomes clear as you hear each individual story.