Nolan has been laying low for over a decade, dodging his former employers. Of note: he once killed an incompetent mobster who also happened to be the brother of an underboss.

Resume includes managing nightclubs for the Chicago branch of “The Family” and also a professional thief – a true master. However, a lot of the same characters are here and the story flows nicely from the ending of the first book.

It is more of a live action, mob action tale of intrigue and lacks some of the levity found in the first book. This book is a little different than Bait Money. Witnesses are being wiped out before Nolan can talk to them. Another daring robbery takes place and Nolan's future with the mob, once-assured, is no longer safe. Nolan is now operating a motel for the mob and his nemesis is nowhere to be found.

A year has gone by and things have changed and boy have they changed. Collins combines fast action with doses of humor of levity and does it well.īlood Money is the sequel. Its good old fashioned crime fiction set in the early seventies in the Midwest. It's a great story, well written, finely paced. The bulk of the tale is about how the daring daylight robbery is pulled off with only one professional in on the job and Nolan's eventual confrontation with his nemesis, Charlie. This is who he is going to use to help him rob the largest bank in town. So, instead, the Planner sets Nolan up with a virgin crew, a bunch of college kids who collect comic books and long-haired stoned out hippies. Unfortunately, none of the usual suspects are willing to work with Nolan until he makes permanent peace with the mob. Nolan must pay off his nemesis, Charlie, and can't use any of his socked-away assets. The call comes and an intermediary offers to negotiate a truce so that Nolan can get his hands on money he had socked away. Nolan ended up killing the mobster and fleeing with the Mob's money. Nolan, who originally was a nightclub manager for a mob-controlled enterprise, had a disagreement with a mobster, who ordered Nolan to kill a friend. It's a good solid story set in the Midwest, in Iowa to be precise. It is what readers like to call a page-turner. Collins explains in an afterward that Westlake's Parker character was the inspiration for his character Nolan and that, before creating a whole series based on the Nolan character, he discussed the enterprise with Westlake, obtaining approval.īait Money was his first published novel, but it is hard to imagine that this was Collins' first published novel. They are perfectly paired together here by Hard Case Crime. The second, Blood Money, was written as a sequel, but some years later. The first, Bait Money, was Collins' first book. Two for the Money consists of two stories that are two parts to the same story.

Two for the money max allan collins